A much-watched property in Overland Park that was once home to a Shawnee Mission School District office building and later eyed for an AdventHealth nursing facility could now be redeveloped into new housing instead.
The four-acre property in question is at 7235 Antioch Road, right on the border of Overland Park and Merriam. Crews began demolishing the former 38,000-square-foot McEachen Administrative Building last year.
Now, Gravel Development LLC wants to buy it to convert the site into a mixed-density multifamily housing development with duplexes, triplexes and quadplexes.
45+ units are proposed in Antioch Homes project
Dubbed Antioch Homes, the project from Gravel Development features a total of 47 units spread across 21 buildings of different sizes. Each unit will also have two-car garages.
The duplexes in the development will sit near the eastern edge of the property and will be single-story. More duplexes on the southern edge will be one-and-a-half stories. There will be additional two-story duplexes toward the center of the site, plus some triplex buildings.
The tallest buildings in the plan, which will be three stories, would sit along Antioch.
Though each unit has garages, there will also be some additional parking around the development for visitors.
Since the property is currently zoned for R-1, single-family residential development, it will need to be rezoned to make way for the Antioch Homes project. Gravel Development is requesting a change to the RP-3 designation, which allows for some lower-density multifamily projects.
Additionally, the city’s comprehensive plan, Framework OP, has identified that area near the Merriam boundary for Traditional Neighborhood development, which includes some lower-density multifamily residential options, like duplexes and townhomes.
Former school district property once slated to be a medical facility
The original plan for the site, when the school district sold the property in 2016, was to convert it into a 120-bed, 85,000-square-foot care facility, operated by what was then Adventist Health, now known as AdventHealth.
That same year, Overland Park approved a special use permit to allow the use on the property zoned for residential use, followed by preliminary and final plats.
During the initial approval process, some neighbors in both Overland Park and Merriam pushed back, concerned about the intensity of the use for the health care facility and the size of the building planned compared to the old school district office.
Since the school district vacated its former building in 2017, the property has sat mostly untouched over the past decade, aside from the demolition work last year.
According to Johnson County land records, AdventHealth still owns the site through the entity Shawnee Medical Center, Inc.
AdventHealth has a large footprint in that area, including its sprawling Shawnee Mission campus just to the south of the property at 75th and Antioch.
Some details still need to be sorted out in the development
The rezoning application came to the Overland Park Planning Commission for its first look on Monday, though the body voted 9-0 to continue it to a later date to make some changes at staff’s urging.
“I think we’re on the right track here,” said Commissioner Jameia Haines.
One detail is the site amenities — like outdoor picnic areas or patio spaces — that city planning staff found to be insufficient for the size of the property.
Additionally, members of the planning commission felt that the different design schemes presented for the different types of residential buildings within the development were inconsistent with each other. Multiple commissioners pushed the developer to reexamine that.
Some commissioners also asked the developer to consider adding more green space to the site, as well as fencing along some of the property lines.
In general, commissioners were supportive of the project, with some noting that they were glad to see housing coming to the property that has sat unused for the better part of a decade.
“I like the idea of providing multifamily housing in places where we have that opportunity,” said Commissioner Tirzah Gregory.
Commissioners Matt Masilionis and Holly Streeter-Schaefer were absent from the meeting.
Neighbors have concerns about stormwater, other impacts
Some neighbors to the project from both Overland Park and Merriam raised concerns about the development. A common thread was the strain the townhomes could put on stormwater infrastructure in the area.
Multiple speakers on Monday said they feared the existing stormwater drain in the area, which is crumbling in some sections, might attract kids looking for a place to play. They urged the developer to consider adding fencing.
Resident Larry Bethel said historically there have been flooding issues in the area, and recent big rainstorms have reignited those worries. Plus, this development would add impervious surface — a manufactured surface, like a street or pavement, that keeps the natural ground from absorbing water — to the area.
“We continue to have to question whether or not there is a plan to manage that water that is adequate,” he said.
Amy Kesler, who lives in the Milburn Estates neighborhood and built her home there decades ago, worried that the Antioch Home development’s proposed density would affect her property value and make her home “less desirable.”
“I feel they’re trying to cram too much into this small space to satisfy the bottom line,” she said. “Obviously, I’m not for doing this project at all.”
Next steps:
Since the planning commission voted to continue the rezoning application, it is now scheduled to return during the Aug. 10 meeting with some revisions.
At that time, commissioners will make a recommendation on whether to approve or deny the project as presented or to again continue it.
After that, it will go to the Overland Park City Council for consideration, potentially as early as Sept. 14.
Later, Gravel Development will need to submit a final development plan for the project, which would go to the planning commission for a vote.
Looking back: Long-empty former SMSD building in Overland Park is being torn down. What is going in its place?
