OP City Council votes to change penalty to incentives carrot for long-delayed project

A downtown Overland Park project that actually was approved as the city’s first tax increment financing deal in 2007 is back in the spotlight.

According to the Shawnee Mission Post, the original Market Lofts TIF project never got started as the Great Recession took its toll. However, developer Paul Goehausen, managing principal for Goehausen & Co., has been working to keep the project at 80th and Marty streets going for more than a decade.

The Market Lofts development, which includes 36 apartments, 5,700 square feet of retail and an underground parking garage, started moving toward construction again in 2015. That’s when Merriam-based general contractor 2Point Construction Co. signed on to be the general contractor for the $8.9 million apartment building and retail space.

As the developer neared its July 31, 2018, deadline for completing the project, the Overland Park City Council opted to deliver a warning shot by reducing the project’s incentives cap.