The tower at southwest Topeka’s former Villa West Shopping Center will be torn down as part of a redevelopment project aimed at helping that center get a fresh start and shed the notoriety of its past, which includes having deteriorated while being owned by developer Kent Lindemuth, Topeka’s governing body learned Tuesday evening.
The demolition will be part of an $18 million project Overland Park-based 29th Street Partners, LLC, plans to carry out in multiple phases to redevelop the property on 14 acres at the northwest corner of S.W. 29th and Wanamaker Road while renaming it “Sherwood Crossing,” said Ferd Niemann IV, that company’s director of development.
Topeka governing body members voted 9-1 late Tuesday to establish a tax-increment financing district to potentially benefit the proposed project. Councilman Tony Emerson cast the lone dissenting vote while questioning whether Tuesday’s move was consistent with the policy the city has in place regarding TIF districts.
(Read more: Local – The Topeka Capital-Journal)