Ch-ch-ch-changes, for KCK shopping plaza

A landmark business plaza in Kansas City, Kan., that has been under extensive renovations in the past year is set to see further changes.

The Board of Commissioners of the Wyandotte County Unified Government voted unanimously last week to approve the sale of the Advanced Auto Parts property in the Wyandotte Business Plaza.

Legacy Development, then RED Legacy LLC, bought the business plaza at 78th Street and State Avenue in 2013. Legacy invested $25 million in redevelopment.

“Our request here is to sell a piece of private property,” said Wes Grammer, a consultant with Legacy.

While Legacy owns the majority of property on the Plaza, it still requires permission from the city to sell properties per the developer’s agreement put in place by Legacy.

Grammer gave a presentation to the board that highlighted how the business plaza has flourished under Legacy’s development. Grammer cited the appraisal value of the project, which increased from $6.8 million to $19.7 million during the renovation.

“We had no intention of blocking the sale,” Mayor Mark Holland said.

Legacy did not comment on potential buyers for the property.

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In other news from the meeting,  County Administrator Doug Bach recognized Lew Levin and his service to Wyandotte County.

Levin worked in the government for the last 40 years, with the last eight as chief financial officer. Levin will retire in March and plans to spend more time with his family.

“I believe I have a strong staff and department heads that are in a position to go forward,” Levin said.

Levin smiled warmly to a standing ovation from all present.

Also at the meeting, Chris Slaughter, the Land Bank manager for Wyandotte County, introduced a new online portal to view real estate for sale in the area.

An interactive map platform allows users to filter properties based on various specifications and view them on a map. This format is an improvement in efficiency and accessibility from the previous system, which was to print a PDF of an Excel spreadsheet listing the properties.

“This is not costing us a dime,” Slaughter said.

The new system will allow potential buyers to view property for sale in Wyandotte County with ease.

The portal lists about 1,100 of 2,100 available property listings in the area and is being updated with more properties daily. It can be accessed through the Wyandotte County Unified Government website.

This story is part of a reporting project from KCK/Wyandotte County, produced by UMKC journalism students as part of an education collaboration between KCPT’s Hale Center for Journalism, KCUR, and UMKC.