Update: Monday, June 3
The two items related to the Metcalf South apartments originally put on the agenda for the Overland Park City Council’s Monday meeting have been continued to a July meeting.
Original story continues below:
A plan to build apartments at the former site of a Sears department store — the last vestige of the old Metcalf South mall — is poised for a key vote before the Overland Park City Council.
The requested rezoning and an associated revised preliminary development plan for the broader Metcalf South area are listed on the city council’s agenda for Monday evening’s meeting.
The proposal from Thompson Thrift proposes more than 300 apartments near the corner of 97th Street and Metcalf Avenue, replacing a past plan to build a Life Time Fitness health club on the site.
Last month, the Overland Park Planning Commission voted 7-1 in favor of the rezoning to the Planned High-Rise Apartment District, or R-6, albeit with some hesitation. The body also voted 8-0 in favor of the revised preliminary development plan, which would divide the proposed apartments from the other sections dedicated to commercial development on the property.
Since that meeting, neighbors opposed the apartment project submitted a valid protest petition against the rezoning. That means the city council will need to have at least 10 votes to approve the project.
What’s proposed at the Metcalf South site?
- In total, 303 apartments are proposed at the site of the former mall.
- Those would be divided up between two four-story buildings.
- Additionally, the plan shows a clubhouse, a dog park and a pool.
Neighbors have opposed the apartment plan
The project has faced significant pushback from residents in the neighboring single-family neighborhoods, specifically Pinehurst Estates and Nall Hills.
That opposition manifested at the planning commission, where the vast majority of more than a dozen speakers expressed adamant resistance.
In particular, neighbors are worried about safety, traffic and privacy. They are also concerned that the scale of the development would fit poorly in the area and dwarf their homes.
Some people offered alternative development options to the apartments Thompson Thrift has proposed, showing a preference for more retail, dining and entertainment options.
“I feel this project is really too big, too massive for the site that it is being proposed,” Pinehurst Estates resident Donna Mountain said during the May commission meeting.
Metcalf South redevelopment is years in the making
- The mall and the wider retail district at the corner of 97th and Metcalf served the community for about 50 years.
- A decade ago, the Metcalf South mall closed, but the Sears store held on until 2017.
- In the years since, efforts to redevelop the site have seen some mixed success.
- At one point, there was a different apartment proposal for the site of the Thompson Thrift apartments, and later, a commercial proposal anchored by a 93,000-square-foot Life Time Fitness.
- Last year, Texas Roadhouse and QuikTrip both opened new locations on the site near 97th and Metcalf.
Keep reading: QuikTrip opens 100th KC-area store on Overland Park’s changing Metcalf corridor
