A proposed reuse of excess parking in the key College Boulevard corridor has hit a snag, but the project might get a second chance soon.
Price Brothers, an Overland Park-based developer, had wanted to convert extra parking at the Lighton Plaza office towers at 7500 College Blvd. into a four-story apartment building with 160 units and some retail with drive-thru restaurants.
However, the developer’s inclusion of auto-centric uses for the site, particularly the number of proposed drive-thrus, diverges from the city’s vision laid out for the College corridor in the new long-range development plan for the city and decades of planning for the area, city officials have said.
In the past, members of the Overland Park City Council, as well as the Overland Park Planning Commission and city staff, had expressed discomfort with the original interaction of the plan due, in part, to the drive-thrus. That’s because this part of College around Metcalf Avenue has long been planned to be remade into a more pedestrian-friendly, mixed-use environment.
After initially facing pushback, the developer had amended the plan, reducing the number of retail buildings and altering the proposed site layout. However, for both the planning commission and the city council, the amended plan was still insufficient.
That being said, on Monday, in their 10-1 vote to deny the rezoning application, the city council included a provision to waive the typical six-month application waiting period that is typically applied to properties after failed rezonings. That means the city could see a different application to repurpose the site sooner than is usually allowed.
Councilmember Chris Newlin cast the dissenting vote, willing to support the amended Lighton Plaza redevelopment as proposed. Councilmember Richard Borlaza was absent from the meeting.
Lighton Plaza proposal included housing, retail
With Lighton Plaza, the developer wanted to convert some of the excess parking at the office towers into new uses, including a four-story 160-unit apartment building with some below-building parking and two retail buildings with enclosed drive-thru restaurants. (The previous interaction of the plan had three retail buildings.)
Under this plan, multistory office buildings that span close to 500,000 square feet would remain on the property, be untouched by the redevelopment and maintain office zoning.
In order to add those new uses to the property and remove some of the extra parking, the developer requested part of it be rezoned to the RP-6 (Planned High-Rise Apartment District) and CP-2 (Planned General Business District) designations.
On paper, reusing seas of unused parking around aging office complexes has been a priority for the city, which city staff acknowledged, as had adding housing units to meet a widening shortage.
However, some of the project’s proposed elements, specifically the drive-thrus and the intent to rezone part of the property to the CP-2 designation, diverge from the city’s other goals.
The concern from city staff, the planning commission and now members of the city council was that this zoning category could potentially allow for several, more intense auto-centric uses (like car sales, auto repairs, car washes, etc.) by right if the Lighton Plaza proposal fell through down the line.
Overland Park wants remake the College Blvd corridor
Located just west of Metcalf Avenue, the 7500 College Blvd. property falls within a corridor that local officials have long wanted to reinvent as the city backs away from traditional corporate office complexes that have historically defined the area and served as the primary economic hub for the city.
The idea is to replace some of these aging office buildings and repurpose their seas of unused parking lots with higher-density residential, community retail, parks and pedestrian amenities to serve both visitors and the employees who work in the hub.
In the past several months, Overland Park has started to put money toward improving the walkability and bikeability in the area. Additionally, the city announced plans to move its city hall to an old office building in the corridor as well.
This all falls under the OP Central vision, which mirrors closely the Vision Metcalf concept that also seeks to redefine that economic backbone for the city.
Plus, in the new comprehensive plan called Framework OP, this College Boulevard corridor was given the Regional Activity District character type. That’s a unique designation given to areas like downtown Overland Park and the College corridor, which are ripe for mixed-use redevelopment.
“These areas can transform existing commercial areas into vertically mixed, walkable places that provide key nodes for future transit service and are regional destinations,” Framework OP reads. “Phasing of development over time may include infill on surface parking lots to frame the development, incorporating new uses that create a true mix of non-residential and residential, and increasing intensity in core areas of the site.”
While the Lighton Plaza development as proposed may check a lot of those boxes, Overland Park’s Current Planning Director Brian Monberg said the drive-thrus and other auto-oriented uses would not be supported in the Regional Activity District under Framework OP.
Councilmembers urge developer to “think bigger”
For the most part, councilmembers seemed intrigued by the Lighton Plaza plan and were happy to see a developer taking a stab at delivering on some city priorities in the College corridor. But, many of them also lamented the ways in which the project falls short of the city’s other goals.
Councilmember Drew Mitrisin urged the developer to “think bigger” on what could be possible for the site and the mixed-use redevelopment potential, including denser, taller residential buildings with structured parking.
Other councilmembers, including Councilmember Inas Younis, echoed that sentiment.
“We are eager to see this area get developed, but to be more consistent with our vision for the future,” she said.
What’s next?
Normally, after a rezoning application is rejected by the city council, a developer must wait six months before resubmitting a new application for the same property. However, the city council included a waiver of that waiting period in their motion to reject the Lighton Plaza project as presented, opening the door to a new application on a quicker time table.
“Denial does not mean the end of this project; it’s just part of the process,” Mayor Curt Skoog said. “I look forward to seeing that back up here in the near future, so we can come together on a project that moves College Boulevard and the community forward.”
Patrick Reuter, from Klover Architects and a project representative who presented Lighton Plaza to the city, suggested the applicant would be eager to submit a new application for the site soon, though the exact timeline is unclear.
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