Driving toward the intersection of Shawnee Mission Parkway and Johnson Drive in Mission, Kansas, the view of the “Mission Gateway” site features a half-finished parking garage, concrete beams and a weed-infested empty lot where the Mission Mall once stood.
The mall closed in 2005. In 2020, some walls went up for a planned entertainment venue — then the pandemic hit. Work stopped.
Year after year, the property has remain unchanged. The city of Mission finally terminated its redevelopment agreement in 2023 after the owner failed to pay property taxes.
A Johnson County judge recently ruled that Metropolitan Community Bank could foreclose on the long-dormant site. Now, that would put the bank in a position to finally sell the land so that it can be redeveloped.
Mission Mayor Sollie Flora says the city’s ability to address this problem is limited, as it does not own the land — and never will due to the cost. But Flora said the Mission Gateway's future is a priority.
“We are making it a focus,” she explained. “We had a council work session and visioning process to align with, you know, what we would like to see at that site. (It could be) similar to the plan that came before and was approved by the council and (we’re) also looking at meetings with the development community.”
There have been several local developers who have expressed interest in the Mission Gateway site, according to Flora.
“Our city administrator and myself are always happy to take those meetings and tell folks why we're a good place to work. And like I said, I think if you look at around town, at other projects, you'll see that developers really like working with the city of Mission.”
Still, even when the site is eventually sold, a timeline for redevelopment is not clear.
