by Mary Wilson
Gateway Village is one step closer to becoming a reality in
Grandview’s undeveloped portion of the MO-150 highway corridor. The Grandview
Board of Aldermen held a public hearing to consider the conceptual development
plan, submitted by PG Partners, LLC, for the project on Tuesday, February 23.
The plan allows for the development of a mixed-use project consisting of
fourteen synthetic turf soccer fields, an 83,000 square-foot field house, three
hotels, a grocery store, multi-family housing, parking garages and twenty-four
buildings to be used as mixed-use retail, restaurant, medical and pharmacy.
“We wanted to show the imagination part and how a lot of
effort and thought has gone into this,” said Developer Kurt Pycior. “When we
make a commitment and go after something, we’re very, very good at it.”
In 2009, Deron Cherry (part of the Gateway Village
development team) and his wife, Hope, met with Populous architect Craig Meyer
and began the conversation for Gateway Village. The Cherrys envisioned a place
where their own children could play soccer without traveling long distances.
“We constantly asked ourselves, ‘What kind of place are we
creating?’ The concept was never about a plan, it was about creating a
framework for the development of a place,” said Meyer. “We started out calling
it the ‘Architecture of Soccer.’”
Pycior and the Cherrys dreamed of bringing an urban
environment together with a soccer complex, which, according to Meyer, hadn’t
been done before. Together, they worked to create a Zona Rosa or Plaza
atmosphere combined with the feel of the Overland Park Soccer Complex.
“While we’re not recreating the Plaza buildings, we sort of
wanted to create that walkable environment,” said Meyer. “By the time visitors
get back in their cars to leave, they’ve done several things besides going to
the soccer match. They’ve had something to eat, they’ve shopped.”
The idea is to make Grandview, and more specifically,
Gateway Village, a family destination. Meyer added that the developers envision
the complex to be a place of inspiration and aspiration. The development,
located between Byars and Kelley roads, provides an interesting design
challenge to Meyer and his team due to significant grade changes on the entire
property.
“When you drive by the site, it seems relatively flat, but
that’s not the case,” said Meyer. “It can have a grade change of nearly twenty
feet in any direction.”
The footprint of the revised plan, unanimously approved by
Grandview’s Planning Commission, is very similar to the original plan and
continues to include a mix of uses. However, there have been changes to the
location and size of some of the uses as well as adjustments to the internal
street network. The number of soccer fields was reduced from 15 to 14, and the
location of those fields has been moved to the northern central area of the
development.
The amount of retail on the site has increased significantly
(approximately 55%), and the plan now includes a mix of surface parking and
parking garage structures.
“The parking that you see now was probably rearranged around
twenty times,” said Pycior. “The layout you see now is purposeful. We took into
consideration how far someone is willing to walk to get something to eat or how
far someone will drag their kids to get to a soccer game. There are a lot of
reasons on where we put certain things.”
Pycior added that Gateway Village will include something for
every member of a family whether they play soccer or not. Phase one of the
project, according to Pycior, will generate the completion and final phases of
the village.
Phase one of Gateway Village will include the retail
development, street networks, parking and 8-10 soccer fields completed for
matches to begin in April of 2017.
As of last week, Pycior announced that Gateway Village
signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) with PGA Tour Experience, which will include a
driving range combined with a pitch and putt range, along with other building,
office and accessory uses. The PGA Tour Experience will be located on the
eastern edge of the development.
“We’re very proud of the development,” said Pycior. “It will
be done to the very best. There is no other place in the world that looks like
this.”
The public hearing for the conceptual development plan for
Gateway Village was called to a close, and the Grandview Board of Aldermen will vote on
Tuesday, March 8, to approve the plan.
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