Loretto Properties — run by Lamar Hunt Jr. — appears to be the developer behind a special incentive district expected to feature a fully accessible amusement park and a 5,000-seat sports complex in northern Olathe.
That’s according to a report from the Kansas City Star last week, which also details plans to build a hospital geared toward individuals who have disabilities as well as retail, dining, a hotel and residential units near 119th Street and Renner Boulevard.
If ultimately established, the Sales Tax and Revenue, or STAR, bond district would comprise roughly 132 acres in the area known as Olathe Gateway.
Hunt, whose father founded the Kansas City Chiefs football team and whose brother Clark owns the franchise, runs Loretto Properties with his son-in-law James Arkell. Forbes, shortly after the team’s Super Bowl victory in 2023, estimated the Hunt family wealth to be about $20.5 billion.
What comes next for Olathe STAR bond proposal?
The Olathe City Council is set to conduct a public hearing for the prospective district on Tuesday.
Afterward, the city council will mull an ordinance to create the district, a required step in the multipart process to establish a STAR bond district that also includes approval from the state.
Ultimately, the city council would also need to approve a project plan for the STAR bond district and adopt an associated development agreement down the line.
Previously, a request for information about the project that the Post submitted to the Kansas Department of Commerce was declined.
Patrick Lowry, the director of communications for the commerce department, said in an email that “any records pertaining to any potential STAR bond project in Olathe are not subject to disclosure” until a prospective project “is formally approved or rejected.”
The Post was unable to reach representatives for Loretto Properties for comment.
Additionally, at the time this story was published, the city of Olathe had not fulfilled the Post’s request for public records related to any site plans in the Olathe Gateway district.
What’s proposed for the Olathe Gateway?
A letter sent to the city in June by Kansas Commerce Secretary and Lt. Gov. David Toland describes the proposed development as an “ultra-accessible amusement park” as well as a “multi-use athletic facility” in a district that would also feature other mixed-use elements.
The letter puts the value of the project to be around $338 million, and it determines that the proposal would likely constitute “an eligible area” for STAR bonds under Kansas law.
Very little additional information is publicly available about the development so far, but a summary of the development plans released by the city last month suggests that it would comprise two individual project areas.
One area would be located southwest of the intersection and span about 63 acres. Another would be northeast of the intersection and cover about 69 acres.
According to city documents, the district could feature “some or all of the following uses:”
- an athletic complex for youth sports,
- an athletic complex for professional sports,
- an amusement park and other entertainment,
- retail and restaurants,
- general commercial development,
- hotels and residential development,
- amenities for patrons who are disabled
- and other visitor amenities.
What are STAR bonds?
- STAR bonds are designed to support development that will spur “major entertainment or tourism destinations,” according to the Kansas Department of Commerce.
- Projects supported by STAR bonds are supposed to attract at least 20% of their visitors from out of state and 30% of their visitors from at least 100 miles away.
- The debt accrued from the bonds issued to develop a project — along with interest — is then meant to be paid back over time with state and local sales taxes from within the project’s boundaries.
- STAR bond districts are usually in effect for 20 years, and in larger municipalities, have minimum investment and annual sale projection thresholds of $75 million.
- Other Johnson County developments that are backed by STAR bonds include Prairiefire and Bluhawk, both in Overland Park.
Hunt family involved in past STAR bond attempt in Olathe
A sport-focused venture in Hunt’s wider Loretto business group was part of a 2018 effort to use STAR bonds to redevelop the former Great Mall of the Great Plains property in southern Olathe into a sports and entertainment district dubbed Mentum.
Those plans would have brought to the 105-acre failed mall property a 4,000-seat hockey arena, an estimated several hundred thousand square feet of new retail, dining and office, as well as multifamily housing units.
At the time, Josh Woodbury, the primary developer of the project who was based in Utah, estimated the project would have brought a $300 million investment to the area.
“Redevelopment of the Great Mall has been a council priority and of our community for years really, and this has potential to be something truly special,” the late Mayor Mike Copeland said in early 2019.
Then-councilmember Karin Brownlee, who as a Kansas state senator sponsored the bill creating the STAR bond incentive, voted against the formation of the Mentum STAR bond district. She was particularly concerned about the proliferation of STAR bonds and whether the incentive was being used as intended across the state.
That development never materialized, in part due to the proximity of the Bluhawk STAR bond district focused on a similar development plan in southern Overland Park.
Additionally, Village Properties Inc. — a neighboring property owner — filed a lawsuit related to the development’s stormwater plans that also alleged the city violated its zoning standards in authorizing rezoning for Mentum.
By early 2020, the application for the incentive district was no longer considered active by the state commerce department, according to reporting from the Kansas City Business Journal.
The following year, Olathe-based technology company Garmin bought the property from VanTrust Real Estate, alongside nearly 90 acres of nearby land. The last vestige of the defunct mall — a Burlington department store — was demolished in early 2023.
Around the time of the Garmin purchase, the Kansas City Business Journal reported that the lawsuit related to Mentum was dismissed and the plaintiff’s property was also sold to Garmin via VanTrust Real Estate.
There have been previous plans to develop Olathe Gateway
- In 2018, a developer submitted plans to convert about 51 acres of property on the southwest corner of 119th Street and Renner in the Olathe Gateway district into a mixed-use project.
- About 350 residential units and 360,000 square feet of commercial were proposed.
- That development was expected to occur in four phases.
- Additionally, businesses like Main Event and Bass Pro Shops are located in the Olathe Gateway area, as is an Olathe firehouse and some dining options.
Keep reading: Olathe mulls new STAR bond project, but details remain unclear
