Overland Park will study ways to support reinvestment in the busy College Boulevard and Metcalf Avenue “employment hub.”
This week, the city is starting the public engagement leg of a months-long process to develop a College & Metcalf Overlay District Study.
The resulting document will focus on possible reinvestment in the corridor in the area bounded by I-435 and 119th Street on the north and south and Nall and Metcalf avenues on the east and west
The College and Metcalf area is changing
Today, the College and Metcalf corridor is defined mostly as an “employment hub,” said Keith Gooch, a senior planner for Overland Park who is the project manager for the study.
That hub features medical offices, Children’s Mercy Hospital, industrial uses and office spaces.
“This area is one of the largest employment areas, probably in the metro, but for sure Overland Park,” he said.
The area is also primarily defined by the presence of the Overland Park Convention Center and the Sheraton Hotel, which both opened in 2002.
However, there are few amenities in the area — such as restaurants — to serve the thousands of visitors who come through the convention center each year.
Some developments, like Galleria 115 and the evolving Aspiria campus where T-Mobile’s local headquarters are still located, have started to add other uses to the area, including more dining and entertainment venues as well as some planned residential spaces.
Overland Park mulling new College, Metcalf overlay district
What exactly the final product from the study will look like is unclear.
However, Gooch said, it could result in something similar to the form-based mixed-use-focused zoning code adopted in 2010 for the downtown Overland Park area.
To fit with that overlay district, the city rezoned everything in the defined downtown area to match the new zoning standard.
“You can see the redevelopment we’ve had down there, with all the larger buildings, residential and some commercial; those have all occurred after the form-based code was adopted in 2010,” Gooch said.
Something similar could happen with the College and Metcalf area, which would likely bring with it a specialized set of design standards and possibly widen the land-use types allowed in the area.
It could also make the approval process simpler by cutting down on the number of steps required to change land uses on specific parcels in the area, because multiple uses would be permitted in the wider district by right.
“We would look at what other opportunities there are; is there entertainment, is there more residential needed?” Gooch said.
Ultimately, he added, it could help support the employment opportunities that already exist in the corridor as well by offering more options for the workforce who flocks to the area for work each day.
“The goal is to further allow the continued growth of the employment in that area and make sure that they have other opportunities to maybe live there, maybe eat lunch, whatever it might be,” Gooch said. “We think there’s more opportunities in this area, a lot more opportunities.”
The study is also expected to consider walkability in the area, street design improvements that might be needed, alternative uses for aging office buildings, transportation modes and sustainable infrastructure.
Additionally, Gooch said the process will examine the viability of some of the “long-established” uses in the area as they stand now and into the future.
Overland Park has studied College, Metcalf area before
- In 2018, the city authored a new master plan for the area, called OP Central, which identified the area for future mixed-use development that could support existing employment opportunities in the corridor.
- Overland Park also conducted a College and Metcalf Mobility Study in 2021, that with the findings from the OP Central plan in mind, called for better walkability and suggested support for more forms of transportation.
- This new study just builds on those efforts, Gooch said.
- Overland Park acted upon those studies by completing a “road diet” of College Boulevard a few years ago.
Next steps:
- Overland Park is hosting the first public meeting related to the Metcalf and College Overlay Study at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 25. It will be at the BHC office at 7101 College Blvd.
- Later, at least two more public meetings are planned, and the city is talking to major landowners, companies and developers in the corridor.
- Gooch expects Overland Park to finalize the study by the end of 2024.
- Any changes to the city’s development ordinance or general codes related to a new zoning overlay would require public hearings and approval from the Overland Park City Council.
Keep reading: Overland Park is overhauling its long-range development plan. Where do things stand?
