The Metcalf Makeover

A desolate area of empty parking lots, boarded up windows and broken glass bottles litter the 95th and Metcalf area. This contrasts what the area used to be, which was a bustling hub of retail social life when the Metcalf South Mall was in its prime.

But Lane4, a local property group, plans to revitalize the area to its previous splendor. They want to tear down every existing structure, and fill the 63-acre area from 95th and Metcalf to 93rd and Glenwood with a combination of housing, retail, office space and restaurants. They call this new potential development Central Square. The project is still in its beginning stages, but Lane4 hopes to get approval from the Overland Park City Council on March 16. On Feb. 11, Lane4 held a public meeting outlining their vision for the project. The president of Lane4, Owen Buckley, led the forum.

“At this stage, the plan is very conceptual and we’ve now introduced it to the city council and the city staff,” Buckley said. “On March 16 we will ask the City Council if this plan has enough wheels to consider a public and private partnership.”

By public and private partnership, Buckley means that the citizens of Overland Park will be involved in paying for the project through tax revenues if the City Council approves the plan next month. According to Buckley, the municipality and Lane4 would both invest in the development with the hope of raising enough money necessary to start construction. The exact amounts at this time haven’t been determined.

English teacher and Overland Park citizen Jeanette Bonjour remembers the days of Metcalf’s past, and is excited that they’re revamping it. Bonjour has fond memories of visiting the mall’s Santa every year as a child, eating at new fast food restaurants and shopping for clothes.

“That was my mall,” Bonjour said. “It used to be so alive and functioning.”

Metcalf South, which opened in 1967, used to be the equivalent of today’s Oak Park Mall, one of the most popular galerias in the entire metro; a place where adults, teenagers and children all gathered to eat, shop and socialize.

However, in the last 15 years, Metcalf South has deteriorated significantly, with more and more businesses leaving every year. Little remains of the mall Bonjour once held so dear, now just empty storefronts sitting abandoned.

The project has yielded mixed results from Overland Park residents. Some praise the proposed plans and others criticize them, citing tax increases and incompetent construction companies as reasons to oppose. East parent and Overland Park resident Celia Lustig has mixed feelings about Central Square.

“Of course I want to see something fill those vacant spaces but I’m also not looking for more construction gumming up the works and increasing my taxes,” Lustig said.

Lane4 purchased the property last February. They started surveying the land to see what could and could not be built there based on the environmental factors. They then started brainstorming what would fit into the makeup of the neighborhood and overall community. Lane4 held two board meetings last April to get ideas from Overland Park citizens.

“There was a really unprecedented response from the community on what they’d like to see here,” Buckley said. “The results of that were residential office, retail and entertainment. And that was somewhat typical. We were anticipating a lot of that, but now were figuring out how to lay it out starting with a blank canvas.”

The next step according to Buckley is getting the project approved so they can move forward with the development of Central Square. He emphasized that nothing is set in stone and the plans are still flexible.

“What I really wanna stress right now is this is really complex, it’s hard, it’s fun, it’s challenging, it’s wonderful.” Buckley said. “The sky’s the limit.”

Lane4, with the help of the city of Overland Park, hopes to build a successful housing, retail and entertainment settlement, once again making 95th and Metcalf something to talk about.

“No one enjoys driving past the project today. It’s just not a nice reminder,” Buckley said to conclude the meeting. “Everybody wants to see it developed sooner than later, so we’re asking the city right now if we can move forward.”