After years of missteps, false starts, and drastic changes in the local community and economic development climate, there may soon be real progress and real development happening at the Citadel Plaza project at 63rd and Prospect. If it does, it will be because the City of Kansas City, Missouri has backed the project – literally.
The project has been in various stages of planning since the early 1990s, when it was one of the original projects – “Project G” – identified in the Southtown Tax Incrementing Financing Plan. Over the last decade, many factors have contributed to the project languishing in development limbo. Health Midwest’s sale to HCA left the project without the institutional sponsorship that had helped other Southtown TIF projects advance. Federal and local financing funds and tools have significantly diminished. The project’s master developer, Community Development Corp. of Kansas City, has had ongoing conflicts with the Blue Hills neighborhood and the Southtown community over property acquisition and relocation of residents as well as concerns over lack of environmental remediation. And the sheer passage of time has meant that project costs have continued to grow, so much so that, according to the developer, city support in terms of tax-increment financing and city-backed bonds were required.
On September 23, the Finance & Audit Committee voted to endorse the plan that has been crafted by the developer, the Tax Increment Financing Commission, and City Councilman Terry Riley, among others. The plan calls for the project to use $43.7 million in tax increment financing and two issuances of city-backed bonds to finance the development costs, but only if a long and detailed list of commitments and prerequisites are met. These include completion of development schedule milestones and environmental reviews, and leasing commitments of 55 percent of the project’s estimated 307,000 square feet. Most importantly for the community, the agreement allows that if the developer fails to meet any of its requirements, the City has the right to terminate the agreement and seek a new developer.
The $90.5 million, 35 acre project proposes a “village-style” retail center anchored by a grocery store. The project would be the first large-scale commercial development adjacent to Bruce R. Watkins Drive since its opening, and would likely be seen as a bellwether of the corridor’s commercial viability to other developers. The project would also retain easements for the use of proposed light rail lines and pedestrian trails that are currently proposed for the area, amenities that might also contribute to the development’s success.