A new potential future for downtown Overland Park drawn out by the Urban Land Institute of Kansas City suggests turning the area into “a destination” surrounding its popular farmers’ market.
The conceptual vision for downtown — the area primarily between Santa Fe Drive and Metcalf Avenue, and 79th and 80th streets — includes a boutique hotel, new parking garages, infrastructure improvements prioritizing pedestrian and bicycle access, and a plethora of mixed-use redevelopment.
Last Thursday, the firm completed a two-day technical assistance panel that concluded with a brief presentation about their suggestions for downtown Overland Park at the Matt Ross Community Center.
The group that conducted the review was comprised of a handful of volunteers from various industries, including architecture, financing and hospitality. The process included a community tour, interviews with community members and expert discussions.
The study — prompted by a partnership with downtown Overland Park and the city — casts a prospective and completely conceptual future vision for the area.
So far, the Overland Park City Council has approved none of the suggestions offered by the Urban Land Institute group, nor has it promised any new funding toward the effort.
Overland Park to spend $34M in downtown market
- Earlier this summer, the Overland Park City Council approved $34 million for a long-anticipated renovation of the popular downtown Overland Park Farmers’ Market.
- On track to break ground later this year, the project will replace the open-air market pavilion with a larger, enclosed structure.
- At the same time, the city plans to update the Clocktower Plaza patio nearby and do stormwater and accessibility upgrades in the area.
- The city has also dedicated grant funding to finance a collection of new wayfinding signs for the downtown area, which are likely to arrive by next spring.
Boutique hotel centerpiece of recommendations
One of the key points of the Urban Land Institute group’s presentation last week identified a market for a potential boutique hotel.
Chris Harlow, of True North Hotel Group, said a potential site for that would be the historic Strang Line Car Barn that sits at 79th Street where Santa Fe Drive terminates.
Harlow detailed a high-level plan to keep the original building and add onto it to make a new three-story, high-end hotel and restaurant with 50 to 65 guest rooms that would also feature a rooftop patio that offers “an eagle eye view of downtown.”
The Overland Park Historical Society recently sold the car barn building to a family who plans to convert the space, which was used as a furniture store for a number of years, into a new event venue for weddings called Stone Manor on 79th.
Last year, a developer sought to convert the historic Overland Park Presbyterian Church at 8029 Overland Park Dr. into a four-story, 30-room boutique hotel, but so far, those plans have yet to materialize.
Parking, infrastructure, mixed-use also at heart conceptual plan
The Urban Land Institute also suggested several public infrastructure improvements, including more sidewalks, protected easements for foot and bike traffic and raised intersections for traffic calming.
Chief among the recommendations was a series of parking garages placed throughout the downtown area with various numbers of parking spots.
One suggested parking garage would feature around 120 spots on Marty Street, possibly facing the farmers’ market pavilion. It could also reserve about 10,000 square feet for business incubator activity and be encased in some sort of public art, according to the group’s concept.
Still, the city’s new long-term plan, dubbed Framework OP, includes a key goal of trying to encourage public transit and other transportation alternatives over car traffic. It is unclear how those diverging visions might ultimately be compromised to accommodate each other, if at all.
In addition, to the infrastructure recommendations, the Urban Land Institute’s presentation emphasized mixed-use development that still prioritized maintaining green space in the community.
In all, four prospective mixed-use projects downtown were suggested as part of the presentation, primarily around Floyd Street between 79th and 80th.
Details about those developments were not fully hashed out, but DJ Johnson, an urban planner from BNIM and a member of the study group, said they could be multi-story mixed-use buildings with retail on the ground level and residential units on top.
Downtown Overland Park needs a “gateway,” panel says
One of the insights that emerged from the group’s interviews with neighbors, elected officials and local business owners was a need for more defined entry points to let people know when they’ve made it downtown, Mark Sherfy from BHC Civil Engineering & Surveying said.
“Let people know they’ve arrived somewhere,” he said.
Floated as a solution to that was more obvious “gateway” monuments.
One concept for such an idea included in the group’s presentation was a metal archway with clocktower motifs over 80th Street, facing Metcalf, that says “Welcome to Downtown Overland Park.”
Some kind of arrival monument was also suggested for 79th and Metcalf.
What would all of this cost?
No price tags are certain since the Urban Land Institute’s proposed projects themselves are entirely speculative at this point, but there were still estimated costs offered:
- One parking garage would cost $5.2 million, plus an additional $48,000 for annual maintenance.
- Basic infrastructure improvements would cost between $1.7 and $1.85 million.
- Gateway signage and associated infrastructure upgrades for major gateway intersections would cost $1.6 million.
- A boutique hotel would likely cost around $22.5 million.
Where would the money for all of this come from?
One of the primary funding mechanisms suggested by the group was the formation of a Transportation Development District, or a TDD.
In a TDD — like a Community Improvement District — revenue to reimburse some development costs is raised through an extra sales tax applied on all purchases in a defined area for a set amount of time. There’s usually a maximum reimbursement amount set at the time a district is formed.
Overland Park has used TDDs before and currently has eight active throughout the city.
Currently, the city is considering some updates to its policy governing TDDs alongside its other economic development tools in light of the new comprehensive plan’s designation of strategic investment areas.
The Urban Land Institute’s proposal ponders a 1% TDD tax in an area bounded by 79th and 80th streets at the north and south and Foster Street and Floyd Street at the west and east. The model suggests such a tax could raise just shy of $455,000 each year based solely on retail already located in the area.
Those funds could help pay primarily for infrastructure improvements, like raised medians, protected walk or bike lanes or other elements.
Additionally, Garrett Pfau from Landmark National Bank, said state and federal grants, as well as some tax credits for historical properties, could also be tapped into. Other incentives, like a Tax Increment Financing district, or TIF, were suggested, too.
Pfau also suggested collecting some kind of fee from developers who are building downtown in lieu of following the city’s parking requirements.
Now what?
- The Urban Land Institute’s presentation suggests a three-phase approach, starting with the hotel, infrastructure and parking additions. Later phases would focus on the mixed-use developments.
- However, the group’s vision for downtown Overland Park is not necessarily something that will be fully realized.
- Adoption of any or all of the concept’s aspects would likely require additional studying, public engagement and a series of development and funding decisions.
- Plus, if the city did choose to pursue any of this, it could take years or longer to come to fruition.
More on downtown Overland Park: Overland Park Historical Society set to move into former Strang depot next year
