Faced with mounting pressure from the city of Roeland Park, a local property owner has recommitted to rehabilitating a neglected and mostly vacant shopping center anchored by a Walmart.
The retail complex is located on a busy stretch of Roe Boulevard, just off Interstate 35, at the entrance to the small northeastern Johnson County suburb.
It’s fallen gradually into disrepair in recent years, with a former CVS store vacant since 2021 and several other storefronts standing empty, including a former T-Mobile shop and a one-time liquor store.
After nearly defaulting on its long-standing development agreement, the complex’s owner TMM Roeland Park Center LLC says it will now make significant improvements to the shopping center.
TMM is an entity linked to Kansas City-based commercial real estate firm Kessinger/Hunter & Company. (Johnson County property records show they have the same address, and a Kessinger/Hunter representative is listed on TMM’s business records with the Kansas Secretary of State’s office.)
The developer’s commitment includes attempting to find a new tenant for the former CVS, as well as other improvements to the site.
A “refreshing” turn of events
TMM was radio silent in 2023 when the city tried to reach out about plans for the former CVS Pharmacy property. A letter from the governing body to the property owner about the Walmart parking lot sent in 2021 also went unanswered.
City Administrator Keith Moody said the city kept trying to reach TMM but issuing a notice of default ultimately “brought them to the table.”
Mayor Michael Poppa, during last week’s city council meeting, thanked TMM and its representatives for working with the city on the amendment.
“It was really refreshing to be able to work together to get a resolution for this property,” Poppa said. “I want to let you know I very much appreciate it, I think we all do, and the residents of Roeland Park will definitely appreciate the improvements that will be happening on that site over the next several years.”
In addition to Walmart, the vacant CVS, former T-Moblie store and a Taco Bell, the shopping center is also home to The Roe Shops, a small strip mall with seven retail spaces. A beauty supply store, a video game shop and a mobile phone provider currently occupy spaces in that the strip.
TMM and its representatives did not immediately respond to the Post’s request for comment on this story.
The city council approves amendment to CID
- Last week, the Roeland Park City Council voted 7-0 to approve an amendment to a Community Improvement District, or CID, agreement created in 2012. Councilmember Jen Hill was absent.
What is a community improvement district? A CID is a type of incentive that uses revenues from temporary sales taxes within a specific area to reimburse developers for project costs. The temporary sales tax is applied in addition to existing local and state sales taxes.
- The city stopped collecting the proscribed 1% sales tax within the Roe Shops CID area in 2019. About $3.3 million accrued from the sales tax revenues currently sits untouched in the city’s coffers, waiting to be using by TMM to pay for site improvements.
- The amendment to the CID agreement approved last week specifies that the owner needs to work on finding new tenants for the vacant storefronts at the Roe Shops.
- It also says TMM is actively seeking a new tenant or tenants for the long-empty CVS building.
- Smaller improvements like repainting and window tinting at the Roe Shops and CVS properties specifically are to be completed by the end of this year.
A look at the amended agreement
TMM originally entered a CID agreement with the city in 2012.
That agreement placed a special 1% sales tax on purchases made at the Roeland Park Shopping Center from 2013 until 2019, according to city documents.
When the CID was in place, it generated about $3.3 million which is now sitting in a city CID sales tax fund. To date, the city has issued no reimbursements from that CID fund.
Here is a look at how the $3.3 million in that CID sales tax fund will be used, as outlined in the amendment to the agreement:
- TMM can receive up to a $1 million reimbursement for improvements made to the existing shopping center.
- There is another $1 million available for future, potential redevelopment of the shopping center.
- The remaining $1.3 million, which includes interest, is being transferred to the city’s economic development fund, which can be used for redevelopment anywhere in Roeland Park but is more meant for underutilized areas.
Other details of the amendment include:
- Public art valued at an equivalent to 1% of the total project cost must be installed at the site.
- The developer must provide the city with a written report every six months on redevelopment activities as long as the amended agreement is in place.
- TMM must install signage with a QR code that directs the public to a project webpage that will include project details and a timeline.
- A refresh of the Roe Shops and CVS properties — including repainting, window tinting and maintenance — needs to be completed by Dec. 15, but the developer cannot seek CID reimbursements for these upgrades.
Walmart, Taco Bell improvements dependent on approvals
In addition, improvements to the complex’s parking lot could be included in the project.
In order to make substantial parking lot improvements at the Walmart and Taco Bell properties, TMM needs to get approval from the entities that own those buildings, according to city documents, which are separate from TMM.
Moody confirmed to the Post that the same entity owns the Taco Bell and T-Mobile buildings and another entity owns the Walmart building.
The city is giving TMM until Aug. 1, 2025, to get the necessary approvals from each owner to move forward with parking log upgrades.
The parking lot work could include a reconfiguration of the parking lot to create a new traffic pattern throughout the shopping center and the replacement of existing curbs.
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