Reflections at City Center

Source: Vantage Point picks Lenexa City Center area for its first Kansas City-area project

Wichita-based Vantage Point Properties Inc. plans to enter the Kansas City market with the construction of an approximately $120 million mixed-use development on the northwest corner of 93rd Street and Renner Boulevard in Lenexa. The development will be called The Reflections at City Center and span 32 acres. The developer closed on the land in 2018 but saw office demand plummet during the Covid-19 pandemic. After taking a year to watch the market, Vantage President and founder Paul Jackson decided the firm would shrink its office plans by half and add apartments, which are in high demand.

The Lenexa Planning Commission will hold a public hearing Monday evening on the developer's rezoning request and two preliminary plans. It has two requests: one for the three-building office portion that spans 140,000 square feet, and the other for a three-building, 338-unit apartment complex on the south side of the site. The project will surround and connect to a central park, which will be a focal point of the development, according to city documents.

The developer plans to start construction on the apartments immediately upon approval, though construction on the offices is dependent on tenant leasing. "We hope to bring a mix of both local and national users because by bringing in companies, you bring in jobs, and we want to help bring workers to the Lenexa submarket," Jackson said. "We're excited to develop in a suburban office field that's mixed in with some urban feel."

Each of the 2.5-story office buildings will range from 25,000 square feet to 65,000 square feet. The apartment buildings will be five stories, offering studio, one- and two-bedroom units. Amenities include a clubhouse with a chef’s kitchen, business center, fitness center, swimming pool, hot tub, fire pit lounges, outdoor kitchen/dining area, pet park and outdoor sport pavilions, including pickleball courts, a basketball court, bocce ball and cornhole areas.

The apartments also will offer a total of 613 parking stalls, including surface parking, detached garages and some structured parking in the lower level of two of the three buildings. The Planning Commission also will vote on the developer's revised tax increment financing plan. In 2019, the Lenexa City Council approved a 20-year TIF plan and development agreement for a 32-acre, $90 million office development, which intended to reimburse the developer as much as $26.6 million for expenses, according to city documents.

The new TIF agreement will cover the same acreage, but this time with a reimbursement of $25.8 million because of major revisions to Vantage's preliminary plan. City Attorney Sean McLaughlin said the plan changed from building three pads for retail and restaurant space and 315,000 square feet of offices to eliminating the commercial space in favor of residential units. If the commission approves the plan, the Lenexa City Council will consider it July 5, then later hold a public hearing and vote on final approval on Aug. 16. Olsson is the civil engineer, and Wichita-based Spangenberg Phillips Tice Architecture and Krehbiel Architecture are the architects. Colliers is handling the office leasing, representing the building owner. The general contractor is Titan Built.

Jackson said Reflections at City Center will be the largest financial project in Vantage Point's history. The firm was established in 1992.