A plan for a proposed apartment development off Metcalf Avenue near downtown Mission is once again changing to include townhomes and a third residential apartment building.
During a work session last week, the Mission City Council heard Block Real Estate’s updated plan for what it now calls Foxridge 57, on Foxridge Drive just east of Metcalf, a plan which began three years ago as a single apartment building on the site of a former call center.
Block wants to now repurpose the existing 10-story Broadmoor office tower nearby into apartments and add four-story townhomes along the east side of the project site, connected to a planned parking garage.
If approved, the revised project would encompass three apartment buildings and the townhomes, totaling more than 650 living units in all.
During their March 25 work session, Mission councilmembers signaled support for the project, though no formal action was proposed or taken at the meeting.
For this latest portion of the Foxridge 57 project to officially move forward, Block would need to submit formal plans and go through the approval process.
Watch the entire meeting online here.
How we got here
In 2023, the city approved Block’s $114 million, five-story luxury apartment project at the site of the former JCPenney call center just off Metcalf.
Last year, the city council granted Block up to $14.8 million in tax increment financing, outlining specific sustainability standards the developer must achieve, such as earning two “Green Globes” under the Green Globes Initiative.
A few months after the old JCPenney call center was demolished last year, Block returned to the city council proposing a significant change to the plan: A second five-story apartment building to replace the office tower at 5700 Broadmoor St.
Block officials said they had run into financial constraints that had delayed the start of construction of the original five-story apartment building at 5665 Foxridge Drive. Construction has still not begun on that originally approved building.
Block told the city council in February that the second apartment building would appeal to investors, helping them gain the necessary capital to start construction.
After proposing demolishing the Broadmoor tower to make way for apartments, however, the developer discovered “long-term cell equipment leases” atop the tower.
The cell equipment leases are expensive and time-consuming to move, store or work around, Block representatives told the city council on March 25, which prompted them to revise the plan again.
The latest iteration calls for 651 total units
Now, Block is proposing repurposing the Broadmoor office tower into apartments rather than tearing that building down.
Block is also proposing 15 new townhomes to the north of the repurposed office tower, connected to a parking garage structure.
These changes are in addition to the planned original apartment building at 5665 Foxridge Drive and the second apartment building at 5700 Broadmoor pitched in February.
The unit breakdown now is as follows:
- 289 units at 5665 Foxridge Drive, the apartment project that has already been approved by the city council that will be built on the old JCPenney call center site.
- 188 units in a five-story apartment building to the south of 5700 Broadmoor, where a parking structure for the office tower currently exists.
- 159 units at the repurposed 10-story Broadmoor office tower directly across the street from Broadmoor Park.
- 15 townhome units in a four-story structure connected to the six-story parking garage between 5665 Foxridge Drive and 5700 Broadmoor.
The changes to the plan allow for additional green space on the site, including early proposals for a dog park for residents. Block says skybridges will also connect residents between the parking garage and the apartment buildings to the north and south.
Original apartment building only part of project approved so far
Aaron Mesmer, executive vice president of Block Real Estate Services, told the city council on March 25 that the cell equipment leases on the top of the office tower “make the teardown of the building impossible.”
The developer can either pursue renovating the building, which is more expensive than tearing down and building new, or dropping the deal to buy the building altogether, Mesmer said.
Block needs the city council’s support on the newest iteration of the project in order to move forward, he said.
Councilmember Debbie Kring asked if phase one of the project — the original five-story apartment building at 5665 Foxridge — would be dead without the purchase and renovation of 5700 Broadmoor Street.
“No, the plan still exists,” Mesmer told Kring. “We still have approvals and the development agreement with the city. It’s not null and void, it’s just going to take longer to get done.”
Councilmembers Ben Chociej, Mary Ryherd and Brian Schmid — nearly half of the city council — as well as Mayor Sollie Flora all signaled general support for the latest iteration of the project.
Kring said she lives near the project, and her neighbors are concerned about hundreds more units coming across the street from Broadmoor Park. She said she needs answers to how it will impact streets, police and ultimately the cost to the city.
No formal action was taken by the city council.
Keep reading housing news: Nonprofit wants to convert unused city land in Overland Park into $400,000 homes for teachers, nurses
