Council Approves Incentives for $1B MXD

For example, the developing partnership of Three Trails Redevelopment LLC, made up of Lane4 Property Group Inc. and OnGoal LLC, must garner a large office tenant for the first phase of office and begin construction within four years. No tenant has been signed yet, says Owen Buckley, president with Lane4, though he says the venture is in "serious discussions, not negotiations" with a large office user. "We've purchased 200 acres to date, and we're preparing for the mall demolition, we hope to get started on that in the next 60 to 120 days," he tells GlobeSt.com. "To have these approvals makes a big difference. Kansas City is not the easiest place to garner incentives, we wanted to get them done and then go out to the potential tenants." He says he can't say the name of the firm being courted, though reportedly the venture has been talking with Cerner Corp., a health care technology firm that put up a new 750,000-square-foot tech center across Bannister Road from the planned Trails site.

Cerner executives are involved OnGoal, the owner of the Wizards. The team now plays out of CommunityAmerica Ballpark in Wyandotte County, sharing the park with the Kansas City T-Bones Northern League. Robb Heineman, CEO of the Wizards, said in a statement that he hopes demolition of Bannister Mall will begin soon.

The 2.4-million-square foot former mall has been a shell for years, and is associated with reported criminal activity around the vacant property. However, Buckley says there's a few reasons why new retail would do well at the site. "For one thing, the Grandview Triangle that was a traffic nightmare has been fixed, with the highways widened, now 250,000 cars pass through a day, and the roads are built for 400,000 cars," he says. Also, the venture will start small, with a first phase of about 500,000 square feet to 600,000 square feet, and will build a smart, safe environment, he says.

The location still has demand from more than 5,000 homes in the area, Buckley says. "Even though retail has slowed down across the country, we've found retailers aren't just sitting on their hands. They're preparing for the future, and when it comes back, they're interested in talking about stores that can open in 2010 and beyond. When we say we're opening in 2011, that gets their attention," he says.