A long-delayed mixed-use development in Lenexa experienced another setback after developers withdrew its application earlier this month.
At the Lenexa City Council meeting on Oct. 15, city officials announced that Price Development Group had withdrawn the revised Renner 87 plan in order to make more tweaks to it.
It’s the latest apparent setback for development at the northeastern corner of 87th Street Parkway and Renner Boulevard, near Lenexa City Center.
The withdrawal means developers will have to restart the process of getting city approvals if they do come forward with a revised plan in the future.
“All we know is that they plan to make some improvements that would need to go back through the process,” said Scott McCullough, Lenexa community development director.
Price Development Group, as well as Klover Architects, who is listed as the design professionals on the project, did not return calls for comment from the Johnson County Post.
Previously approved by the Lenexa Planning Commission on Oct. 2, the revised Renner 87 proposal was said to be the most “feasible” one yet, developers promised.
“We feel like today we do have a better plan, a more feasible plan, a more viable plan. We feel it’s a better looking plan,” Chris Bennish, a partner with Price Development Group, said at that Oct. 2 meeting.
The project will have to start over
Previously pitched twice to Lenexa’s governing body, in 2018 and 2021, plans for Renner 87 received approval from either the planning commission or city council, but paused after that because of financing issues.
“I think the previous (2021) project was also a victim to some market conditions,” Bennish said earlier this month. “We’re still in a little bit of that turmoil now with challenges to get projects to be financially feasible.”
Because Price withdrew the project, they will have to re-submit the project to the city and go through the entire consideration process again, including presenting it to the planning commission first, said Sean McLaughlin, Lenexa’s city attorney.
The city is continuing discussions with the developer about the project.
“We continue to speak with them about revisions,” McCullough said.
The project was proposed as a multi-family development
The proposal by Price Development Group envisioned the 7-acre development as apartments and commercial spaces stretched over two separate four-story buildings.
In total, the project in its latest iteration would have contained more than 10,860 square feet of commercial space, along with 215 planned multifamily units.
During the commission meeting on Oct. 2, Bennish said he worked hard with the city to work out a viable plan for the space.
“Master development staff pushed us hard on this,” he said. “At the end of the day, I think (city staff) did really influence the design, and we all got something that we’re pretty proud of here.”
The planning commission responded positively to it at that time, approving it with a 7-0 vote, with two commissioners absent.
“I like this plan. Actually I like it better than the other one,” Commissioner Curt Katterhenry had said. “I think it’s a great project.”
Go deeper: After prior false starts, Lenexa moves on new plan at prominent intersection
