Shawnee recently awarded a grant loan to help a local coffee shop bring its business downtown.
On Monday, the Shawnee City Council voted 5-3 to approve a $50,000 grant loan to Current State Coffee Roasters to help with renovations at its future location at 11217 Johnson Drive.
Councilmembers Tony Gillette, Mike Kemmling and Jacklynn Walters were in dissent.
The money comes from the Shawnee Entrepreneurial and Economic Development grant program, or SEED, which is a city-run program that provides one-time payments in the form of forgivable loans to businesses as part of the city’s efforts to encourage expansion of existing businesses and attraction of new employers, according to city documents.
The business will both roast and brew coffee
Current State Coffee Roasters will both roast coffee beans and serve coffee at the location, a brick building across the street from The Flying Cow Gelato Shop.
It will be run by three Shawnee residents, including Josh Greenlee, who spoke with the city council about the business. They also run Selono Coffee in Overland Park.
“We set out to create a community hub in downtown Shawnee that provides excellent coffee and pastries, a warm and welcoming environment with unrivaled customer service, a place to gather for all members of our community, and a unique cafe destination for the entire KC metro,” he said.
The company will roast and sell its coffee beans at local Shawnee businesses, Greenlee said, as well as feature a large tasting room where people can sit and drink coffee.
Their future location needs updates
The building Current State Coffee Roasters will move into was renovated in 2015 by its previous owner, Pediatric Home Service.
“(Before it was renovated), it was a mess, and they did a great job restoring the character (of it), bringing back the barrel roof,” Greenlee said.
The previous renovations modified the building to serve as office space. Current State Coffee Roasters will have to alter it again it to serve as a retail space.
“We have the task of converting it to retail, which is a change of use and includes a bunch of additional requirements, obviously, some of them foreseen, some of them unforeseen,” he said.
Those renovations include major electrical and plumbing upgrades, ADA required additions, roof and exterior repairs, the addition of garage doors, patio seating and a fire exit, Greenlee said. It will cost about $250,000.
The money will be disbursed in phases
The SEED loan will be given to the business when it meets two benchmarks, said City Manager Paul Kramer.
The first $25,000 will be disbursed upon successful issuance of a building permit from the City of Shawnee, and the city is satisfied with proof from the business that they dedicated the appropriate amount of money needed to complete the project.
The second $25,000 will be issued upon final inspection and when the business is open to the public.
If the business is not open for three years upon completion of the project, the business will have to reimburse the city for the total amount of the SEED grant, Kramer said.
The loan is not something the business takes lightly, Greenlee said.
“This is not a gift. It’s not free money. It’s an investment by the city. We take it seriously,” Greenlee said. “In return for it, we commit to constructing the project to code and abiding by the development agreement (and) being involved in support of the downtown Shawnee community for the long term.”
Some councilmembers were excited by the project
Some city councilmembers, like Angela Stiens, said they were happy to have a new, local coffee shop downtown that’s invested in the area.
“I like what you said about investing in being here because I do think that’s important. It does show that you’re really investing in our community and wanting to do what’s best,” she said.
With McLain’s Market also downtown, Councilmember Gillette expressed concern about having two coffee shops in the area. Current State Coffee Roasters is more focused on roasting coffee beans and serving beverages, Greenlee responded.
“(McLain’s) has a lot of food options, and they also have coffee. We’re kind of the opposite in that we’re a European-style cafe, really heavily coffee-focused,” Greenlee said. “We’re nerds about it and very passionate. We roast it ourselves. We source it ourselves. We know the farmers. We do all of that.”
With McLain’s often being busy, Greenlee said there should be room for both in the area.
“I think that the city would benefit from another place for daytime business feeding into the west side of the downtown corridor where we are. I think there’s plenty of room, plenty of business, and I don’t consider us to be direct competitors with McLain’s,” he said.
While Councilmember Kemmling said he supports more businesses coming to the area, he said, like many of the city council’s SEED grant votes, he was going to vote against it.
“I like the plan there that you have. I like coffee. But I’ve not been a supporter of the SEED grants in the past, and so I won’t be a supporter of this one as well,” he said.
What’s next
Current State Coffee Roasters’ owners hope the business will be open by the end of the year, Greenlee said.
“There’s a bunch of work to do, but luckily, it’s not massive and not successive. … I still want to try and get open by end of year. But, you know, stuff happens, as they say in small business, and it may not quite be that, but I would say (it would be) three months max (to open),” Greenlee said.
Other Shawnee SEED grant loan news: This Shawnee coffee shop is so busy it needs more parking
