After getting held up previously, a developer’s plans to build more than 300 apartments at the former site of the Metcalf South shopping center in Overland Park narrowly advanced Monday night.
At its meeting, the Overland Park City Council voted 10-3 to approve the Thompson Thrift apartment proposal near 97th Street and Metcalf Avenue, with Mayor Curt Skoog casting the deciding vote required to override a valid protest petition from neighboring residents.
Earlier this month, the rezoning request got stuck in “limbo” after the city council failed to muster enough votes to approve the project over the petition but also didn’t have sufficient votes to reject it against the advice of the Overland Park Planning Commission.
At that meeting earlier this month, Councilmember Inas Younis was absent. On Monday, with Younis present and voting with the majority, the rezoning passed.
Councilmembers Gregg Riess, Scott Mosher and Jeff Cox maintained their dissenting votes for a second time Monday.
Additionally, the city council approved on Monday a revised preliminary site plan for the former Metcalf South property, where the old Sears department store, the last vestige of the mall, stood before being demolished in 2022.
This new apartment plan takes the place of a previous proposal for the site approved by the city council last year that envisioned a 90,000-square-foot Life Time fitness center at the heart of the development.
300+ apartments planned at 97th, Metcalf
- In all, 303 apartments are proposed at the site, split between two separate four-story buildings.
- This particular portion of the property was last used by the Sears store, which held on longer than the rest of the Metcalf South shopping district but was ultimately demolished a few years ago.
- The site will also have a dog park and a pool, according to the plan.
Neighbors fret about apartments
Between the planning commission, the previous city council meeting and the meeting on Monday, many neighbors from the surrounding single-family neighborhoods Pinehurst Estates and Nall Hills, as well as a nearby duplex community, have strongly opposed this latest apartment development.
Specifically, they’ve expressed concern about possible negative impacts on their property values and a loss of privacy.
Additionally, neighbors have said they’re worried about traffic, crime, density and safety, and also questioned whether the high-rise apartments fit in with the community in the area.
Neighbors ultimately submitted a valid protest petition against the apartment plan following the planning commission’s recommendation for approval earlier this year. Such a document raises the threshold of approval needed from the city council.
Councilmembers’ views unchanged on rezoning
- Of the councilmembers who were in attendance at the meeting earlier this month, none changed their stance on the development.
- What changed was Councilmember Younis’ attendance at the meeting on Monday, and she ultimately cast the final vote required to supersede the protest petition.
- During the meeting Monday, multiple councilmembers alluded to Overland Park’s Vision Metcalf plan, which calls for redevelopment in this key corridor that encourages walkability and emphasizes housing.
- Councilmember Drew Mitrisin called this apartment project at 97th and Metcalf “a positive step in the right direction” of realizing those goals.
- Curtis Petersen, an attorney who has presented on behalf of the developer on this project, is Mitrisin’s brother-in-law.
Looking back on this project: Plan for apartments at former Overland Park Sears site ‘in limbo’ after city council impasse
