Olathe has cleared the way for a new animal shelter to be built along the evolving Santa Fe corridor — and the city plans to use incentives to help cover the $19 million price tag.
The new shelter will take over the site of an old lumber yard near Santa Fe and Ridgeview, just off Interstate 35. Next steps are demolishing a building on site to make way, and designing the new shelter to be roughly six times larger than the current one.
In operation for more than three decades, the city’s animal shelter off Sunvale Drive is outdated and outgrowing its capacity, city staff have reported. A city analysis two years ago also found that conditions are deleterious to animals and the humans caring for them.
On Tuesday, the Olathe City Council voted 6-0 to earmark the funding for the animal shelter, officially defining the scope of the project. Councilmember Kevin Gilmore was absent.
The city wants to fund the bulk of that price tag with bonds, but about $1 million in funding would come from the Santa Fe & Ridgeview tax increment financing (TIF) district, according to city documents.
Additionally, the city council adopted an amendment to the associated architectural agreement with SFS Architecture.
The items were part of the consent agenda, which means the city council did not individually discuss them before voting on them alongside a series of items.
How do TIF districts work?
- TIF districts work by turning over tax revenues earned from increased property values at a site to a third party — typically a developer — to reimburse costs incurred in the development of a specific project or wider area.
- The city of Olathe formed the Santa Fe & Ridgeview TIF in the early 2000s in an area that has long been the focus of redevelopment.
Olathe’s current animal shelter no longer meets the need
Located on the Olathe Public Safety Campus off Old Highway 56 at 505 E. Sunvale Drive, the Olathe Animal Shelter opened more than 35 years ago.
Over the years, the 4,000-square-foot facility hasn’t seen any “any major additions or renovations,” according to a 2023 staff report. The shelter has also experienced “chronic space shortages, high maintenance costs and inadequate” conditions for animals and shelter staff.
The project sheet from 2023 from Olathe’s capital improvement plan describes the current animal shelter space as “woefully undersized, outdated, and in need of significant repairs.”
In 2023, the city looked at repurposing the Ironwoods warehouse building near the Olathe Robinson campus for the new animal shelter. That plan had about a quarter of the price tag as the current one does.
Since those conversations nearly two years ago, the city moved away from that idea and eventually settled on making the new animal shelter a new standalone construction project as part of the budget process for 2025.
The new plan, which the city council firmed up this week, puts the estimated square footage for the new animal shelter closer to 26,000 square feet, roughly six times larger than the existing animal shelter building.
Olathe has its eyes on Santa Fe in general
Olathe has grown increasingly interested in the future of Santa Fe as it prepares to invest in its largest-ever infrastructure project designed to remake the interchange at Interstate 35 and the surrounding corridor.
That long-anticipated project has been at the center of several recent city decisions, including an early 2025 special use permit vote.
At the time, the city council’s discussion was colored heavily by the project.
“We’re trying to provide a different image when people are coming off I-35,” Mayor John Bacon said in January.
Councilmember Marge Vogt, who is is Mayor Pro Tempore, said the city is looking toward “a different kind of vision for the area,” adding that the hope is to make it more of a destination.
“The city is investing a lot of money with the intent that we’re going to have a corridor there that offers more than what we’re offering right now,” Vogt said.
Additionally, the corridor is considered a special study area in the development of the city’s new comprehensive plan, Elevate Olathe. Exactly what will become of that is unclear.
Next steps for the animal shelter:
- According to city documents, Olathe expects to start preparing the site for the new animal shelter this spring, possibly beginning demolition of an existing structure as soon as this month.
- The design process for the project is expected to take much of 2025 to complete.
- Then, crews will begin construction in early 2026, and work is expected to last about a year.
- In the meantime, the city council will have to officially vote to include the animal shelter project in the TIF district already covering Santa Fe and Ridgeview.
- That puts the anticipated opening date for the new animal shelter in 2027.
More on the new Olathe animal shelter: Olathe paves way for bigger animal shelter to replace ‘woefully outdated’ one
