What exactly a mini-golf entertainment concept planned for near 95th Street and Metcalf Avenue will look like now is uncertain after an Overland Park committee declined to advance the developer’s application for public incentives.
Bob Johnson, a Polsinelli attorney representing the owners behind Tap Ins at the Greenhouse, told the committee this week that some city support is necessary to ensure the full vision for the project comes to fruition.
Notably, Johnson said escalating construction costs created by the Trump administration’s tariffs and uncertainty with labor costs in the construction workforce amid the White House’s immigration crackdowns are creating headwinds for the project.
With that in mind, Tap Ins requested a sales tax exemption on construction materials valued at an estimated $630,000 and up to $19.6 million in economic development revenue bonds (a debt financing tool that a developer would be responsible for paying back to bondholders).
The southeast corner of 95th and Metcalf has been a chief focus of redevelopment energies in Overland Park, and Tap Ins looks to occupy one of the last major parcels left on the former Metcalf South Mall site.
But on Monday, the Overland Park City Council’s Finance, Administration and Economic Development Committee questioned whether the project fit with the city’s policies on incentives.
Though councilmembers broadly supported the Tap Ins concept, the committee lacked the consensus to move forward with incentives for it.
What that means for Tap Ins going forward is unclear. Owner Ryan Patton warned that it could mean some parts of the entertainment complex are changed, delayed or canceled altogether.
Still, he emphasized Tap Ins would still be built in some form.
“We are going to try and move forward with it. We’re this far along,” Patton said on Monday. “But we are pretty significantly over budget.”
What’s planned for Tap Ins?
- Tap Ins is an entertainment concept that features mini-golf planned at the southeast corner of 95th and Metcalf, near Lowe’s, Texas Roadhouse and the future Thompson Thrift apartments.
- It is expected to feature an indoor and an outdoor mini-golf course, as well as yard games, a beer garden, an American-style restaurant, smaller dining options and multiple bar concepts.
- Johnson told the committee on Monday that Tap Ins is on track to open by the 2025 holiday season.
- At the same time, Patton said some of the “periphery” things planned — like event spaces, party rental structures, the yard games, etc. — could be pared back or eliminated.
Committee, staff doubt project fits in with incentive policies
During the committee meeting Monday, city staff expressed skepticism about whether the project’s plans fit in with the policies Overland Park typically uses to govern when it issues incentives to support development. (The city has started reviewing its full list of incentive policies following the adoption of a new comprehensive plan that lays out strategic investment areas.)
The main hang-up, according to city documents, seemed to be that staff felt the development plans were not “closely aligned with Vision Metcalf,” a long-range guide for revitalizing the busy commercial corridor that’s seen as Overland Park’s economic backbone.
Staff also raised concerns that broader redevelopment efforts on the former Metcalf South Mall site have occurred piecemeal and lacked a cohesive plan. They said that has been a priority for issuing incentives for redevelopment projects.
Some councilmembers echoed those worries. They supported the Tap Ins project and appreciated seeing more redevelopment at that corner but remained skeptical about offering city support.
Councilmember Chris Newlin, who chairs the committee, said he’s supported the plans “from day one,” but that he was torn on how to proceed.
“I don’t think I’m there quite yet. I don’t think I’ll be there on this one, so I think I’m leaning no,” he said. “It’s still a great concept, and something that this community will want, I think it will be wildly successful.”
Councilmember Melissa Cheatham, who represents that area of Overland Park, had similar reservations, adding that she’s heard a lot from constituents about Tap Ins, but the reviews were mixed on whether or not to support incentives for it.
Councilmember Holly Grummert also said she couldn’t support incentives because she felt like a good product could be delivered without them, even if the plans have to change.
Additionally, Gregg Riess said he was disappointed to see something like this come up now, and would have preferred to see an entertainment user be the first to the redevelopment site instead of come up near the end. He said he would have preferred to have the conversation be “started” there, not ended there.
“This is kind of outside of the box”
On the other hand, Councilmember Jim Kite was fully supportive of offering the bonds and sales tax exemption to Tap Ins.
“This is kind of outside the box,” he said. “This is outside our norm. If this doesn’t fly there, what will? And so I would like to advance it.”
Councilmember Sam Passer also seemed at least willing to consider incentives for Tap Ins, mentioning how neighbors had asked for more amenities and commercial-oriented development during the sometimes-fraught approval process for the apartment complex nearby.
“Not to put words in anybody’s mouth, but it seems like this is the type of development that they were asking for,” he said.
Passer also suggested that he saw Tap Ins as more closely aligned with Vision Metcalf than some of the other auto-centric drive-thru uses that have popped up at the former Metcalf South site, even if it doesn’t offer the kind of cohesion the plan strives for.
OP has granted similar incentives for other recent projects
Overland Park has previously authorized a similar incentive package for a project, though it was located in the city’s downtown core — an area widely considered a top priority for reinvestment.
That project was the Stone Manor on 79th event space in Overland Park’s historic Strang Car Barn. Overland Park gave the green light to nearly $1.5 million in bonds and around $130,000 in sales tax exemption on construction materials.
Last year, councilmembers were fairly enthusiastic about that renovation project, excited to see the iconic stone building see new life without getting demolished.
Later on Monday, during its regularly scheduled meeting, the full Overland Park City Council also signed off on the bonds and sales tax exemption for the renovation of the old Strang Car Barn building at 79th Street and Santa Fe Drive.
Aside from the Stone Manor project, Overland Park also set up a special sales tax via a Community Improvement District to help pay for the renovation of the Stanley Square shopping center at 151st Street and U.S. Highway 69, which falls outside of the city’s designated strategic investment zones.
Nonetheless, councilmembers were vocally supportive of the use of an incentive to support that effort, hopeful it could become a catalyst for other revitalization efforts in that corridor.
Lucie Krisman contributed to this story.
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