Olathe City Council members on Tuesday signed off on a developer’s plan to request $69.5 million in Kansas state tax incentives to build a hockey arena and a mixed-use development at the former Great Mall of the Great Plains site.
The 6-1 vote came despite the concerns of at least one resident and even some of the council members themselves that the project, called Mentum, could be on a collision course with a proposed development 10 miles away in Overland Park that is also seeking more than $63 million in state incentives and would also include a hockey arena.
“I’ve spoken to a number of financiers, and they agree that only one will probably be built in Johnson County,” said Mayor Michael Copeland. “The community can’t support two.”
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