South KC is booming!

Cover Photo: The Madison Retirement Center will soon hold 150 units at Wyandotte and 150 Hwy.

Everything’s booming in south KC! 

From the Telegraph Staff 

Here are the latest exciting updates to what’s booming in various neighborhoods in south KC.

Martin City

The Burger Joint – The drive-thru Burger Joint, 130th & Holmes, is being built by the owners of Martin City Coffee located next door. They are their own general contractors and as such, not ready to commit to a completion date but are shooting for winter. 

Fishtech – 13333 Holmes Rd.  Work has begun on the outdoor pavilion, the walking trails, and the par 3 golf hole behind the newly built Cyber Center.

Forest Ridge Villas – Over 10 acres along Charlotte St., immediately east of Jack Stack BBQ in Martin City, are in the final phases of approval by the City for a 195-unit apartment complex overlooking Jackson County Parks. The apartments will be leased at market rate and will include walking trails, a pool and possible dog park. Now approved by the city, construction will begin by year end.

135th & Holmes Apartments – Christie Development Associates have purchased 20 acres at the corner of 135th Street and Holmes Rd. which include Martin City Paintball. Paintball remains open as developers work out details on extending 135th Street east.  The complex will include 260 units and four retail (restaurant) spaces. 

The Madison – Ground was broken in September to begin building a 150-unit retirement center on 10 acres at the west corner of 150 Hwy and Wyandotte St. The Madison will be a moderately priced residential complex with a therapeutic pool, salon, fitness center, movie room, men’s game room and a 24-hour kitchen. Planned completion is May 2020 for Independent Living, June 2020 for Assisted Living and July 2020 for Memory Care.

Red Bridge

Wonderscope Children’s Museum of Kansas City – Wonderscope Children’s Museum of Kansas City hopes to start construction of its new 30,000-square-foot museum and child development center in the northwest corner of the Red Bridge Shopping Center in the Fall with construction completed in 9 to 12 months. A capital campaign to raise $15 million is underway. 

Red Bridge Branch of MCPL –  The Red Bridge library is planning to temporarily close its current facility in late August for approximately a month in order to relocate its collection to the new location at 453 B Red Bridge Rd., adjacent to Euston Hardware. The new library will be more than 2,300 square feet larger than the current branch and include a large community room, small collaboration/conference rooms, a children’s area, new computers for public use, new furnishings and an outdoor seating area.

Avila University – Avila University at 119 and Wornall will have a new exterior face as the Goppert Theatre is renovated this school year. The $7 million expansion will house increased rehearsal space, an expanded 200-seat black box theatre and a new stage shop for stage design production.

State Line Rd

Conroy’s Public House – Conroy’s Public House in Leawood, located at 12924 Stateline Rd., Leawood, KS opened its doors on June 10th.  It took over the space that formerly housed Bogey’s Bar & Grill. Conroy’s offers authentic Irish food and everything is handmade from scratch.  

Elite Physical Therapy – Elite Physical Therapy is currently constructing a new freestanding building in Leawood around 127th and State Line Rd.  Construction is expected to be completed by November 2019, and the clinic hopes to open its doors before Christmas. The new location will feature 16 treatment rooms, which offers more privacy for patients, and a large gym with eastern facing windows that will offer a bright atmosphere.

Barstow School – Barstow School is adapting the former HyVee supermarket, 121st and State Line Rd, into a 62,680 square foot learning environment.The building will be called IDEA*Space (Innovation, discovery, entrepreneurship and arts). The facility will have  a series of workshop-style areas where students of all ages can transform their ideas into reality, an e-sports facility, a blackbox theater, dance/yoga studios, multi-purpose indoor courts and an early education center. Interior work has begun. It is expected to open the end of 2020. 

 

Will this be a Possible Tesla showroom at State Line Shopping Center? It is anyone’s guess. Photo by Bill Rankin. 

Watt’s Mill

KM Nail Spa recently opened in the same location as the former Opi Nails & Wax, 1219 W 103rd St, next to Tavern on 103^rd.

Silver Lining Motors is taking over the old Berbiglia building in front of the Price Chopper on 103^rd Street.  The used car lot expects to be open by the end of the year.

Tesla has signed a lease for the anchor location at the north end of the State Line Shopping Center, where the Office Max used to be.  They are expected to occupy the refurbished building by the end of the year. 

99th & Holmes

Penny’s Street Tacos should be opening later this summer in the old Cookie Dough Madness location.   

Second Best Coffee will be opening their second location in the old Davis Family Dental spot.  Once completed, the Gomer’s Corner location will house the roasting operation currently located at their Waldo location, 328 W. 85^th St.  Expect a Gomer’s Corner opening by the end of the year.

Mr. John’s Professional Dog Grooming recently opened where Freeman’s Plaza Barber Shop used to be.   

The Gas Pipe tobacco shop has opened in the long vacant Shamrock Dry Cleaners location..

Ward Parkway

Burns & McDonnell – The 550-stall parking garage on the south side of Burns & McDonnell’s world headquarters at 9450 Ward Pkwy. was completed in May. An adjoining office building is currently under construction, with work on the steel frames starting in early July. The new building will contain 780 office seats, 42 conference rooms and two large training rooms. Its completion date is Summer 2020. 

Cerner’s Innovations Campus. Photo by Bill Rankin

Bannister 

 Bannister Federal Complex – Bannister Transformation & Development (BT&D) that now owns the 227-acre site, is about a year ahead of schedule, and redevelopment of the western half of the site where there was much less contamination is almost two years ahead of schedule. That half will be ready for redevelopment this fall or early 2020 and can accommodate two 450,000 sq. ft. buildings. Altogether, the site should be able to accommodate 2.5 to 3 million sq. ft. of industrial buildings and a small number of retail/commercial spaces on the east side of Troost outside the floor wall. The entire site should be ready for redevelopment by 2021. 

Cerner Innovations Campus – Phases 3 and 4 are currently under construction next to phases 1 and 2 on the site where Bannister Mall once stood. Tower 3 will stand 11 stories and is expected to be completed in July 2020. Tower 4 will be eight stories and will be completed in February 2020. 

Elite Sports – The former Home Quarters (HQ) will include eight 70 x 115 feet indoor fields or courts, batting cages, an adult fitness area, pediatric and sports medicine facilities, meeting rooms and snack, juice and coffee areas. Plans call for enlarging the approximately 134,000-square-foot building which recently has been used for storage by Walmart by about 17,000 square feet to accommodate the batting cages and medical facilities.

River Birch – River Birch, an upscale multifamily housing complex, may be built on about 50 acres of vacant land south of I-435 and west of I-49. It will contain 204 units with garages in 51 two-story fourplexes.  The development is currently at a stalemate.

85th & Wornall

Wornall Village Shopping Center- Earlier this year the city council granted a 40-year one-cent CID for the shopping center located on the northwest corner of 85^th & Wornall.  Anchor tenant Price Chopper intends to expand their location into a vacant shop immediately to their north, allowing them to expand their liquor department and offer a drive-through pharmacy.  A one-way drive will be added to the back of the property, providing easier access to delivery trucks. The CID will also pay for the demolition of the former Church’s Chicken, as well as the construction of a new building on the northeast corner of the lot.  

McDonalds – The McDonalds restaurant at 84th and Wornall is undergoing a complete exterior renovation, an updated dining room and new handicap parking.

Aid Animal Hospital – In order to make room for more parking, Aid Animal Hospital at 84th and Wornall is demolishing its former location.

Kentucky Fried Chicken – It might look like the former Kentucky Fried Chicken is planning to become a White Castle. But it is KFC protocol to paint their buildings white to remove all branding after shutting down.

Grandview 

Gateway Sports Village  – The Gateway Sports Village, a mile east of I-49/71 Highway between Byers Road and Kelley Road, is a $400 million-dollar project by former Kansas City Chiefs Deron Cherry. Gateway Sports Village will be a mixed-use sporting complex with over 1 million square-feet of retail, office, dining, hotel, entertainment and residential development. The complex will feature 12 all turf soccer fields featuring a new safe, cooler organic infill that emphasizes quality of play and safety for players. According to President of Block & Company Inc. Realtors, and former Kansas City Chief, Bill Maas, Gateway Soccer Complex is “hoping to have shovels in the ground by this fall.”