A long-vacant, former Kmart site is inching closer to redevelopment southeast of Antioch and Vivion roads.
Purchased by the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority (KCATA) last year, the site is planned as a Transit Oriented Community with KCATA facilities surrounded by projects, including an apartment complex, child-care center and more. Businesses that currently surround the property, like Papa Johns, QuikTrip and Taco Bell, would remain.
In April, KCATA issued a request for qualifications from which they tentatively selected Drake Development for the project. Based in Overland Park, Drake has been involved with similar projects in Johnson County. KCATA’s negotiations with Drake are under way to focus the scope of the work on the 16.4-acre location after the company was named the preferred developer by a committee last spring.
Other features shown on a preliminary map during those discussions included a workforce training center, electric vehicle charging, covered waiting areas for transportation passengers and a green space. KCATA’s original request targets a finished development focused on transit connectivity with area employment centers, commercial and residential areas.
For more information, view this subscriber-only article by staff writer Thomas Friestad in the Kansas City Business Journal.
