An unnamed Fortune 500 financial technology company is looking to open a new regional hub at Overland Park’s Aspiria campus, and the firm is asking for a boost from the city with a partial property tax rebate.
The company, given the code name “Project Turtle” in city documents, intends to lease out more than 400,000 square feet of existing office space on the mixed-use Aspiria campus for the 2,000 employees the company expects to have on-site by spring 2030.
“I’ve been now involved with the city for 20 years, and this is the biggest job-creating project that we’ve worked on in my time,” Mayor Curt Skoog said about the proposal.
On Wednesday, the Overland Park City Council’s Finance, Administration and Economic Development Committee voted unanimously to advance the incentive request, directing staff to start negotiating with the company to hammer out a formal agreement.
Little is publicly known about the company
Officials from the city, Overland Park Chamber of Commerce and the Kansas Department of Commerce in attendance at Wednesday’s committee meeting remained tight-lipped about the company, but a few details were offered up during the discussion.
Specifically, the company is planning a 15-year lease at Aspiria for two existing office buildings spanning 420,000 square feet.
As part of that arrangement, the company plans to invest roughly $125 million in upgrades to the buildings.
They picked Overland Park’s Aspiria after a lengthy search that looked at other, bigger cities for a new regional headquarters location, said Alex Leath, an Alabama-based attorney representing the firm.
Leath also said the firm plans to have a fully in-person operation, which means they’d expect their 2,000 employees to be in the office for the full work week.
He described it as a “white collar” firm that employs highly educated and skilled individuals with an average annual salary of $125,000.
The actual name of the firm will be announced later, Skoog said, when the company is ready to make the announcement. The exact timeline for that is unclear.
How would a tax rebate for the firm work?
During the meeting, Leath did say that the property tax rebate “is an important component” of getting the firm to come to Overland Park.
According to city documents, the company has requested what amounts to a roughly 40%, 10-year property tax rebate program. Property taxes paid to the Blue Valley School District and Johnson County Community College would be exempted from the rebate.
For the rebate, the company would pay their full property tax bill annually and then request that money back through an application process of sorts, Skoog said Wednesday.
Under the proposed agreement, the city would have the power to deny a rebate to the firm or claw back money if they aren’t delivering on their promises.
While Overland Park does use a variety of other incentive types with some regularity — like Community Improvement Districts and sales tax exemptions tied to economic development revenue bonds — this is the first time the city has offered a property tax rebate to a new company as an incentive.
Kristy Stallings, deputy city manager, said the rebate could offset an estimated $1.3 million in property taxes for the mystery company over the next 10 years, assuming an annual 5% valuation increase on their office space.
Committee voiced support for the property tax rebate
Though there are several details that still need to be hammered out, members of the finance committee were broadly positive about using that type of incentive to seal the deal with the firm.
Councilmember Scott Mosher, who in the past has voiced skepticism about using incentives to entice new development or bring firms to Overland Park, did lend his support for this plan, noting that he liked the idea of reusing existing office space.
Additionally, Councilmember Sam Passer was supportive. He said he sees this as a chance to further solidify the metro as a driver of technology, particularly financial technology.
“I think that we’ve got an opportunity to really seize the ball,” he said.
Councilmember Chris Newlin, who chairs the committee, agreed, saying that “it’s no wonder” Overland Park has been able to attract a firm like this, given the growing local “technology landscape.”
Looking back on Aspiria
Reaching the full vision for Aspiria — which has evolved over time — is likely to take years, if not decades.
The Aspiria campus started as an office development as part of the former Sprint World Headquarters, but the plans for that never fully panned out.
In 2020, Wichita-based Occidental had the 200-acre campus rezoned for mixed-use development, effectively paving the way for a variety of uses. That, so far, has included a major focus on offices as well as entertainment venues and other types of operations.
Earlier this year, Overland Park greenlit a final development plan for some more retail near 115th Street and Nall, and construction on a new indoor go-kart facility and entertainment complex is underway, too.
The campus has been in the news recently after a local sports talk radio host last month suggested the Royals planned to take over the campus for a new stadium. Occidental quickly denied those claims.
“This is just a rumor, and we are not talking with the Royals about moving to the Aspiria campus,” Chad Stafford, from Occidental Management, said in a news release.
The developer said it continues to be “committed to keeping Aspiria a mixed-use space” that includes entertainment, restaurants and office space.
Next steps:
- The full Overland Park City Council will take action on this item next.
- Later, the property tax rebate terms will likely come back to the finance committee before going again to the city council for consideration.
More Aspiria news: Are Royals eyeing this Overland Park spot for new stadium? Developer says it’s ‘just a rumor’
