Major changes to a once-derelict shopping center in Shawnee are expected to be completed in time for the World Cup.
At a Shawnee City Council meeting in January, the owner of the Westbrooke Green shopping center at 75th Street and Quivira Road gave an update on the ongoing renovations to the complex, including what shops will likely be coming.
The presentation was part of an agenda item to amend an agreement between the city and Westbrooke Partners LLC, the shopping center’s owners, and extend it by six months, to July 31, for work to be completed. The city council unanimously approved it.
“The project momentum is there, so I’m hoping that you guys understand I’m not asking for any more money. The money was already approved. I’m just asking for a little bit more time to drive this thing home,” Paul Guastello, Jr., owner of Westbrooke Partners LLC, said to the city council.
Talks have been ongoing for over a decade
Previously called Westbrooke Village, the plaza once housed a Dillon’s supermarket as its anchor. After Dillon’s closed in 2008, surrounding businesses followed suit.
In November 2017, its previous developers received millions in tax increment financing and community improvement district funding, with the plan making it a combined mixed-use residential and retail space. They renamed the site Westbrooke Green and pressed forward.
While some progress was made in the form of razing old buildings in the plaza and building The Chadwick Apartments at Westbrooke Green, city leaders were still concerned about the lack of movement made to the storefronts.
“I love that we have more occupants here in Shawnee. But we’re not getting what we were promised from the developer,” Jacklynn Walters, a city councilmember at the time, said to the developers at an October 2023 city council meeting.
In 2024, Westbrooke Partners took over the redevelopment project and reached a new agreement with the city with a Jan. 26, 2026, deadline.
Fresh Market will anchor the shopping center
Along with a new look for the shopping center, it will be getting new tenants, with the anchor store being a Fresh Market supermarket in the old Dillon’s space.
During the past several months, the supermarket space was gutted and its interior is being rebuilt with new plumbing, paint and flooring. Shelving, freezers, cooling structures and compressors are expected to arrive by April, with work being completed by June, Guastello said.
“Everything that you see is brand new construction, so it will be a brand new store when the patrons come to visit,” he said.
The hope is to have it up and running by the time the World Cup comes to Kansas City in June and July.
“We have a bunch of people coming to the city. All the hotels are booked. So I’m sure the grocery store will be something that people are using frequently during that time,” he said.
Other stores are coming
In addition to Fresh Market, construction has been ongoing for the other storefronts.
Other pending tenants, who were not named by Guastello, include:
- Mexican restaurant
- Chinese restaurant
- Barbershop
- Nail salon
- Coffee and donut shop
- A national pizza franchise
“We have a diverse tenant mix. So, we have the daily needs with the grocery store (and) also, have some luxury needs with the nail salon and such … (It’s a) walkable location for a lot of residents. There’s a lot of multifamily around that. So, producing (a) product that could be walked to and it services the area is very important,” Guastello said.
In particular, Guastello said he was excited by the pizza franchise.
“It’s not Domino’s, it’s not Pizza Hut. So it’ll be a new franchise to the Kansas City metro market, and they plan on opening up 20 stores. So that’s something that’s kind of neat. Shawnee, you’ll have the first store within 500 miles (to) the closest franchise,” he said.
The shopping center is looking to retain one current shop, Q Liquor, while it will be losing another, Mi Pueblito Meat Market, one of the only currently operating stores in the plaza, because the owners decided not to renew their lease, Guastello said.
Businesses from the shopping center are expected to generate $40 million in annual sales, he added.
The shopping center’s look has been revamped
To prepare for new tenant, the shopping center received a new look.
Dilapidated wooden have been replaced with aluminum windows. Torn vinyl awnings were swapped out for new ones made of cedar and metal.
In addition, the parking lot has also been revamped, with new asphalt, islands and curbs, which will now properly direct wated to drain from the lot to the detention pond, where a fountain has been installed.
The goal is to make it not only a source of commerce, but also one that residents can be proud of.
“(We’re) taking that old blighted building and kind of bringing it back to life, not just from an economic standpoint, but from a visual standpoint, where people could live in the area, proud to live around it, versus it being an eyesore,” he said.
City leaders support the project
Prior to Guastello’s presentation, City Manager Paul Kramer expressed his support for the project.
“When we believe a good faith effort and a lot of progress has been made, we bring that to you,” he said.
Councilmember Jeanie Murphy, who lives near the development, said she was excited by the new look of it.
“I live in the neighborhood, and I got to see the fountain actually running. It’s a great thing to see. (I’m) very excited to have a neighborhood grocery store again,” she said.
Go deeper: This Shawnee strip mall has been decaying for years. Will a new plan to revamp it be different?
