Preliminary site work is finally underway at the long-awaited Mission Gateway development, but the City Council has also approved a delay in the start of a tax incentive for the project.
Korb Maxwell, a Kansas City attorney working with the developer, told the City Council on Monday night that the required development milestones are being met. He said earth-moving equipment is working at the site bounded by Shawnee Mission Parkway, Johnson Drive and Roe Avenue. The development agreement required New York-based Cameron Group to start work by Oct. 31 on the first of three phases of the $200 million project. That first phase is 170 market-rate apartment units in three buildings along Johnson Drive and Roeland Drive, with first-floor retail shops. Completion of that phase is expected in April 2020. It’s the first tangible sign of progress after years of false starts. The former Mission Mall was demolished in 2005, but the 16-acre parcel has been vacant ever since.In October 2017, the city council adopted an ordinance establishing a community improvement district, which was to impose a 1-cent sales tax on retail activity within the district to help pay development costs. At the time, the CID was to take effect Jan. 1, 2019 and last for 22 years.
But on Monday night, the council agreed to push the start date of that tax to July 1, 2020, to correspond with the time when retail activity will have started.
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