The aging 14,000-square-foot building currently home to the Merigold Retail Liquor and Cigar Outlet could soon get major upgrades designed to attract new business to downtown Shawnee.
Later this month, the Shawnee City Council will be asked to vote on a development agreement that includes a $1.5 million funding request for the building at 5919 Nieman Road.
Earlier this year, the city and Merigold began negotiating the development agreement for the space, which sits directly south of McLain’s Market.
The council is expected to vote on the actual funding package at its March 27 meeting, real estate broker Sheryl Vickers told the Post.
$1.5 million requested for redevelopment
- The Merigold redevelopment support request mixes money from the city’s American Rescue Plan Act account — comprised of federal pandemic relief dollars — and the Shawnee Entrepreneurial and Economic Development, or SEED, forgivable loan fund.
- They are also requesting industrial revenue bonds to access sales tax exemptions on construction materials but have not asked for community improvement district status.
- The whole project, land included, is valued at about $5 million.
- When the proposal was first submitted to the council, there were a few skeptics, but multiple councilmembers supported it.
- “Yes, it’s a lot of money but man, it’s the last piece of Nieman and downtown that really needs a kick in the rear to bring it up to make it a useful space,” councilmember Tony Gillette said in January.
There are plans to attract an ‘upscale’ restaurant
- Ann Smith-Tate, president of the Shawnee Chamber of Commerce, told the city council in January that a restaurant had signed a letter of intent for the space.
- Vickers told the Post it is “locally-owned” and an “upscale destination restaurant” that should bring in people from all around the Kansas City metro.
- It will have a 6,500-square-foot dining room and a large outside dining space.
Merigold Liquor also intends to stay in the building
- The Karra Family has owned the liquor store for about 25 years but has only owned the building itself for five years.
- They plan to still use a renovated 4,500-square-foot space inside the renovated large strip building for their shop, which will be renamed Merigold Wine and Spirits.
The Merigold project aims to bring other improvements
- Between the planned restaurant and revamped liquor store, about 3,000 square feet of retail space will be left.
- Vickers said that could be taken up by one tenant or split between two.
- Ideally, she said, it would be used for other types of tenants, such as a juicery, ice cream place, fitness studio or retail boutique.
- The plans also make space for nearly 40 new public parking spaces that could be used by anyone in the downtown area.
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