ShawneeDispatch.com

The developer involved with the Shawnee Crossings shopping center along the city's western boundary this week took another step toward increasing the economic viability of the Kansas Highway 7 corridor.

Shawnee Planning Commissioners on Monday approved a rezoning request and a preliminary development plan for almost 240,000 square feet of mixed office and retail space in the 22700 block of Midland Drive, directly south of the Shawnee Crossings retail center.

The site, which should see a good share of construction activity within the year, is designed to incorporate 16 one-, two- and three-story buildings on 10 lots ranging in size from 4,900 to 81,000 square feet, according to preliminary design documents.

The complex, to be developed by Tom Zarda, will include medical and general office space, as well as retail and restaurant facilities. A streetscape concept also will be developed to encourage pedestrian traffic throughout the area.

"The only thing that has come close to this is the development in old Shawnee, and that was a long time before I came around and started developing properties," Zarda told the Commission.

"It is a unique design and having that come efore the city has taken us a lot more time to come to this point," Zarda said.

Zarda said that three tenants already have entered into contracts for space in the project and at least one has expressed interest in occupying space in one of the buildings by 2005.

"Those people are getting kind of antsy," he said. "They want to be able to get under construction as quick as they can."

The concept is one of the largest commercial developments in the city's history and borders the Shawnee Mission Parkway-K-7 interchange to the northwest and commercial lots to the north, east and west.

Conceptual street and landscaping features are designed to give the development a downtown feel, according to city staff documents, and the plan is intended to create a space similar to the popular Massachusetts Avenue commercial center in Lawrence.

Planning Commissioners on Monday enthusiastically approved the rezoning request and preliminary plan design for the project on a unanimous 8-0 vote.