Overland Park will support a $1.4 million effort to convert the historic Strang Car Barn building in the downtown area into a new event space.
Earlier this week, the Overland Park City Council voted 11-0, registering its intent to offer an incentive package of sales tax exemptions on construction materials for the renovation project that will reimagine the building into a weddings and events venue dubbed Stone Manor on 79th.
Councilmember Jim Kite was absent from the meeting on Monday.
Doug Glade, along with his wife Tacia, and Jack Epps are behind the project. The sales tax exemption is expected to save the developers nearly $130,000.
Councilmembers were supportive of car barn project
During the meeting on Monday, Council President Logan Heley noted that when the Overland Park Historical Society put the building on the market last year there had been some “consternation” from residents who fretted over its future.
“I think we found an owner,” he said, “that really cares about the history and wants to use it to its highest, best use with that cultural context, and so I’m very excited about moving this forward,” he said.
Heley added that he was grateful that the city council and his colleagues are “continuing to support downtown Overland Park.”
“I think we all see what a special thing we have going in downtown Overland Park that doesn’t happen in a lot of communities,” he said.
Councilmember Jeff Cox, usually an opponent to the use of incentives to support development, also backed the use of the economic development tool for the Strang Car Barn renovation project.
“It’s kind of an emotional thing almost to me. I know you guys think I don’t have emotions, but this is a really special building,” he said. “The idea that will preserve this building into the future. This is just a huge win to me, and I’m very excited to support this and support preserving that really special part of our city.”
Councilmember Holly Grummert was also supportive of the project, saying she sees the building as “a cornerstone for our downtown.”
“With any luck, this will help jump and create some real great synergy around downtown and getting some other projects moving downtown,” she said.
Other possible plans for the car barn building
Though it wasn’t the focus of the conversation this week, when the Overland Park City Council Finance, Administration and Economic Development Committee previously discussed this proposal for Stone Manor on 79th, much of the discussion focused on other potential futures for the building.
In September, the Urban Land Institute of Kansas City completed a conceptual plan for downtown Overland Park, a key piece of which centered on opening a boutique hotel in downtown Overland Park that would include the car barn building.
The plan, which was high-level and is by no means certain, called for keeping the original building and adding onto it to make a new three-story hotel and restaurant with space for at least 50 guest rooms.
A preliminary estimate from the Urban Land Institute’s presentation put the cost at around $22.5 million.
Though the hotel isn’t on the table at this point, Epps indicated that he had started talking to neighboring property owners about potentially putting a deal together to that end, and councilmembers on the finance committee were broadly in favor of the idea.
“It does make sense, and it allows me to recognize the vision of everything that would come, but we need a first mover,” Councilmember Gregg Riess said.
Next steps:
- The city council will have to vote one more time to fully approve the sales tax exemption for Stone Manor on 79th.
- Renovations on the building are expected to commence as soon as this month, with an estimated completion timeline of about four months.
- Glade told the finance committee last month that the venue is fully booked out for May already.
- Any decisions about a hotel at the site would likely be made at a later date.
More downtown Overland Park news: Concept aims to make downtown Overland Park a ‘destination.’ Will it become reality?
