Some deadlines on a remaining section of the Overland Park side of the Mission Farms development are shifting.
Last week, the Overland Park Finance, Administration and Economic Development Committee unanimously recommended approving amendments to the initial development agreement. They also voted in favor of a resolution to extend the deadlines tied to issuing economic development revenue bonds.
The mixed-use Mission Farms development touches both Overland Park and Leawood, but the development agreement is specifically tied to the footprint of the project area in Overland Park, west of Mission Road.
What’s planned in this phase of Mission Farms?
- Called Mission Farms West, the Overland Park side of the wider development is expected to see more multifamily construction in the next phase.
- That will include two low-density four-story multifamily buildings with a total of 42 units between them (called the North Buildings).
- It will also include another four-story multifamily building with 132 units (called the East Building) right on Mission Road.
- Overland Park has already greenlit the final site plan for this leg of the project, according to a letter sent to the city from Polsinelli.
Mission Farms development began in the early 2000s
The development — started by the Sutherland Family Trust — dates back at least to 2007, making it “one of the oldest development projects” to use economic development tools in Overland Park, said Todd LaSala, an attorney from Stinson who represents Overland Park on many development projects.
The focus, for the city, was on flood control and other infrastructure improvements in the area, which included a new public bridge, street extensions and other flood mitigation.
So, in 2008, the city approved a 22-year 1% Transportation Development District — a type of incentive where funds to reimburse some development costs are raised through an extra sales tax applied on all purchases in a defined area.
Under the initial agreement, the TDD sales tax would begin collection in 2012, and amass just shy of $9 million in reimbursement for Mission Road Farms L.P., the developer of record.
Deputy City Manager Kristy Stallings said those upgrades were necessary to make the area “developable” and addressed “long-standing” flooding problems from Indian Creek, but they did make the project way more expensive than initially contemplated.
Additionally, the economic crisis in 2008 delayed the project, and changes to the development plans shrunk some of the reimbursement opportunities.
Mission Farms incentive milestones have shifted before
- In 2011, the city delayed the start date of the new sales tax for the Transportation Development District to 2017 and later adjusted it to 2019, according to city documents.
- Additionally, the developer requested an exemption on construction material sales tax expected to help recoup some of the excess costs from the infrastructure improvements that would have begun by the end of this year.
- However, the developer has requested that the effective date for the sales tax exemption be delayed to the end of 2026.
- They have also asked to delay the construction deadline of the planned multifamily buildings in the next phase to the end of 2028 and any further construction completion to 2030.
Next steps:
- The amended development agreement and the resolution extending the deadlines go to the Overland Park City Council for consideration next.
- Both items are scheduled for the city council’s meeting on Monday.
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