Roxie Hammill  - Overland Park

40-acre Metcalf Village project would remake this south Overland Park site

The Overland Park Planning Commission unanimously approved rezoning for a proposed 40-acre mixed use development on an undeveloped tract of land at the southeast corner of 159th Street and Metcalf Avenue. Image via Google Streetview.

A 40-acre development of 11 buildings with 906 residential units and 35,000 square feet of commercial space passed its earliest approvals at Overland Park Planning Commission on Monday.

The Metcalf Village project, submitted by developer Lux Living, received 9-0 approval to rezone for a mixed use of apartments and commercial space on the lot at the southeast corner of 159th Street and Metcalf Avenue.

The proposed boundaries of the Metcalf Village project in red. Image via Overland Park Planning Commission documents.

Metcalf Village details

The plan also includes four parks, three pavilion buildings and 1,073 parking spaces and is laid out with an interior grid street system.

City documents list the following plan for individual buildings:

  • Building 1 – A four-story building with 274 units wrapped around a parking garage. Amenities proposed include a bistro/cafe, shared work space for residents, a gym, theater and bowling.
  • Building 2 – Four stories with 219 units wrapped around parking, large interior courtyard and basketball gym
  • Buildings 3 and 4 – Three or split three and four stories with residential units, surface parking, a small one-story parking garage and retail space
  • Buildings 5 through 8 – Mostly three stories with retail, residential and surface parking.
  • Building 9 – Three-story mixed use building with 40 units and 20,000 square feet of retail.
  • Buildings 10 and 11 – Three-story townhome buildings with 10 and 12 units respectively.
An aerial view of the site plan for the Metcalf Village proposal. Image via Overland Park Planning Commission documents.

Previous plans for the site fell through

This is the latest iteration of planning for the property, which was annexed into Overland Park in 2007.

A plan was approved for a commercial shopping center with a Lowe’s home improvement store and multi-family use in 2008, but no development took place.

In 2018, multi-family zoning was approved, but that approval lapsed because it was never published.

The city until recently owned just short of an acre on which a fire station was located. However, that property was sold to the developer in June.

Some nearby residents raised concerns

Planning commissioners praised the walkability of the plan’s layout and the large buffer park on the east side that will be open to the public.

The plan was presented to neighbors from Blue Valley Riding, Willow Bend and Sylvan Lake neighborhoods in four meetings.

Two residents spoke of their concerns during the meeting about traffic and about the density of a project so near to Blue Valley High School.

Jeff Pfaff said he worried about the inexperienced drivers at the school and how they would deal with extra traffic attracted by the project.

What happens next

The full city council will vote on the rezoning at its Aug. 7 meeting.