Downtown Overland Park is growing up: Retail, high-rises are ‘the way of the future’

After decades of trying to revitalize Overland Park’s historic downtown, community leaders say the area is finally in the midst of a modern renaissance.

A short walk from the first commercial building ever constructed in Overland Park and a 70-year-old independent theater, hundreds of luxury apartments and several modern office spaces are popping up. And now something completely new is opening in the quaint downtown: a coworking space for entrepreneurs to get start-up restaurants off the ground.

Strang Hall opened Friday at the new Edison District, at the corner of West 80th and Marty streets. In the style of Parlor KC in Kansas City or the Public Market in Lenexa, the food hall is the latest addition to the district’s five-story business incubator catering to young entrepreneurs.