Lane4 gives update on Red Bridge grocery store

By Bill Rankin/Kathy Feist

Lane4 Property Group CEO Owen Buckley was the guest speaker at the Center Planning and Development meeting on October 24 at the Trailside Center where he gave an update on the new grocery store planned for Red Bridge Shopping Center.

He said the Red Bridge Farm Fresh Market is planned to open in April and is currently being refurbished. Updates to the property will include improvements to the lighting and parking lot and a roof replacement. The exterior will also sport a new façade and the store entrance moved south 15 feet. 

The refrigeration system, which has been a hotly contested problem with Lipari’s Sun Fresh for years, will be replaced. New lighting, a fresh meat counter and bakery will be added. The store will carry liquor but not the amount that was seen in the later version of Sun Fresh. 

The new store, which is owned by Kaw Fresh Market in Kansas City, Kans., will carry products by Associated Wholesale Grocers. But the meat and produce will be supplied from elsewhere. Pricing at the store will be competitive as a result. 

Lane4 would submit plans to the City on November 1st. 

Kaw Fresh Market owns several grocery stores that often serve the Hispanic community. (The Fresh Market at Longview Road and Blue Ridge Boulevard is their nearest.) The Red Bridge grocery store will be their first store that will be American-based. A second one planned for 105th and Metcalf is also in the works.

In other news, Buckley said they were still looking for a tenant to fill the former library at the Red Bridge Shopping Center and that their newly acquired property, the former extended parking lot for FEMA directly south of the shopping center, may be used for future patio homes. 

Center Planning and Development Council also featured Sean Smith, Jackson County 6th District Legislator, whose district covers the county east of Raytown Road and includes all of Lee’s Summit. In a generalized discussion, Smith, who is a software developer, said the system used by the Jackson County Assessment Department “was and is disastrous.” He said there is a state audit currently investigating the process.

Smith urged voters to vote no on the November 7th ballot regarding the county use tax. He believes the costs will be passed on to the consumers by out-of-state (internet) retailers who will be hit with the tax.

Smith promoted a “Quad Pay” that will go into effect April 24. Quad Pay allows seniors to break up property tax payments into four spaced payments. The program must first be applied for by the qualified property owner.

Finally Jackson County residents who had appealed their property tax bill but had still not had a hearing were urged to pay under protest. Assistance in this matter can be found at the Center Planning & Development’s new website.