Tag: Unified Government Commission

A public hearing date was proposed for the Yards II apartment redevelopment project east of the Kansas River, west of State Line Road, north of Kansas Avenue and south of I-670 in Kansas City, Kansas. The development is near the Rock Island redevelopment project at the Kansas River.

The proposed public hearing on the first phase project plans will be Oct. 29, according to officials at the Unified Government Economic Development and Finance Committee meeting Monday night.

Another public hearing on the project is coming up this week. Katherine Carttar, Unified Government economic development director, said a public hearing is scheduled Thursday, Aug. 13, for the proposed tax increment funding district, the Riverfront Redevelopment District, and a resolution adopting the development agreement for the Yards II Apartments.

The developer, Flaherty and Collins, will build a first-class river overlook apartment building, she said. It will complement the work being done on the levee, she added.

The first phase, with project costs of $40.7 million, will have 225 to 245 units, she said. It would have about 6,000 square feet of retail space.

The project includes a health and fitness center, outdoor kitchen and grills, patio space, and a dog park, she said.

The incentives for the first project area include a pay-as-you-go TIF, with no bonds; a public incentive cap of $11 million and not more than 23 percent of the total project cost; and equal to 100 percent of the increase in property taxes for project area 1 for up to the maximum 20 years, according to UG information.

According to Carttar, the project is expected to stimulate future riverfront development; bring residents to the Kansas side of the stockyards district and West Bottoms; increase sales tax and PILOT revenues; and leverage the Kansas River as an asset.

Stimulating residential development brings additional development to an area, she added.

The project was also moving through the zoning process on Monday night at the City Planning Commission meeting.

The EDF committee approved the hearing date, and the item will go to the full UG Commission.

Quindaro Ruins trust to come back to later meeting

Also on Monday night, commissioners delayed a proposal to establish a Quindaro Ruins trust after Commissioner Gayle Townsend requested more information on it, including a more detailed map.

The proposal is an agreement between Western University Association of the AME Church and the Unified Government to form a trust to own property, seek grants and donations and develop the Quindaro Ruins project. The commission did not discuss the details of the project on Monday night at the Neighborhood and Community Development meeting. The project is expected to come back to a future NCD Committee meeting.

A project to sell 24 acres of Unified Government-owned property near The Woodlands to Scannell Properties, a developer, moved forward on Monday night.

The Economic Development and Finance Committee voted to approve the purchase agreement for Scannell Properties to buy 34 acres of UG-owned land, and donate 70 acres to the UG Parks Department in the Woodlands redevelopment project.

This was a smaller part of the overall Woodlands sale to Scannell. The dog and horse racing track at 97th and Leavenworth Road closed in 2008 while awaiting a better deal from the Kansas Legislature on its proposed slots revenue, and never reopened.

The larger deal is a private one, where owner Phil Ruffin is selling around 400 acres to Scannell Properties for a warehouse redevelopment, with some small neighborhood retail planned at 99th and Leavenworth Road. Scannell has an agreement to purchase the Woodlands property.

Katherine Carttar, UG economic development director, said the agreement would allow Scannell to purchase 34 acres from the UG at 99th and Leavenworth Road, for a price of $2,031,495.78, based on $59,055.11 per acre. The UG had acquired the land in a tax sale, according to Carttar.

As part of the deal, Scannell would donate 70 acres to the UG for parks land. The land is close to Wyandotte County Lake Park and would be used for parks and trails, according to Carttar. That land will act as a buffer for the warehouse development.

Rezoning for the project and a master plan change has already been approved.

The first phase of the project is around 100 acres, with a 1 million square foot building, Carttar said, then there is 94 acres of undeveloped property for park land on the east side, and over 200 acres is still available for future development.

There is no request for tax abatement, Carttar said. She said the taxes today would be about $400,000 on the 415 acres. Once the first building is complete, they would be looking at over $2 million in taxes on the building, and an additional amount for the land, she said, estimated at $2.2 million a year in taxes.

Laurie and Adrian Torrez, who live near the Woodlands, spoke at the meeting.

Laurie Torrez said the Woodlands’ owner should not set the price on the land, and they should have an independent appraiser look at it. Adrian Torrez said he felt like it was already a “done deal” and his neighborhood had become a sacrificial lamb because of the need for the UG to do a development.

In answer to a question by committee member Jeff Bryant, Carttar said the UG did not have an independent appraisal done, but the appraisal was done by the UG’s own appraisal department.

The UG decided the purchase price for the land should be the same rate as the Woodlands land, according to Carttar. She said she thought it was a fair price. To the $2 million the UG will receive for the land will be added the land being donated for parks, and also $75,000 Scannell is donating to help with improvements to a shelter and improvements to trails on the park land, she said. At the rate they are paying for the other property, the donated land would be worth about $6 million, she said.

The project now goes to the full UG Commission for approval.

The purchase agreement for Scannell Properties to buy 34 acres of Unified Government-owned land, and donate 70 acres to the UG Parks Department as part of the Woodlands redevelopment is on tonight’s agenda for the Economic and Development Financial Committee.

According to agenda documents, the proposed purchase price is $2,031,495.78, based on $59,055.11 per acre.

The EDF Committee meeting will begin after the completion of the Neighborhood and Community Development Committee meeting, which begins at 5 p.m. Monday, Aug. 10. It is a remote Zoom meeting.

Also on the EDF Committee agenda is a purchase agreement for the sale of three UG-owned parcels on 18th Street Expressway, totaling 1.68 acres, to the new Rodriguez Mechanical headquarters at 1900 Osage.

A third amendment to the development agreement of Scavuzzo’s KC Foodie Park, and a first amendment to an acknowledgment and assumption agreement, modifying phase 1 minimum improvements commencement date, is also on the agenda. The development is on the former Indian Springs mall location at 47th and State Avenue.

Also on the agenda is setting a public hearing for the Yards II Apartment redevelopment plan, an apartment complex west of State Line Road and east of the Kansas River, north of Kansas Avenue and south of I-670.

Also, a discussion of the Homefields project was on the agenda.

The UG agenda has instructions on how to connect to the Zoom meeting and how to follow the meeting on cable TV and YouTube at https://www.wycokck.org/Clerk/Agendas.aspx.

NCD Committee meeting

The Quindaro Ruins project is on tonight’s Neighborhood and Community Development Committee meeting agenda.

The remote meeting will be at 5 p.m. Monday, Aug. 10, on Zoom.

A memorandum of understanding between Western University Association of the AME Church and the Unified Government stated that the two intend to form a trust to own property, seek grants and donations and develop the Quindaro Ruins project.

Also on the NCD Committee meeting agenda are a Land Bank application from Rogelio Avalos for new construction at 2725 Farrow Ave., and an update on the Land Bank rehab program.