De Soto ? Well-heeled metropolitan area residents soon may head to De Soto to work on cars, store recreation vehicles or stow boats.

Carriage Houses of Johnson County hopes to develop what eventually will be a 362-unit “garage condo” at 29230 W. 83rd St., north of Kansas Highway 10 and west of Kansas Highway 7.

Frustration and a shared entrepreneurial spirit led a group of friends to propose the complex that applies the individually owned condominium concept to garage space, said Greg Earlenbaugh, CEO of Carriage Houses of Johnson County.

The friends and boat enthusiasts were having trouble securing a place to store their boats. The group also was on the lookout for business opportunities.

Earlenbaugh said the garage condo concept started on the coasts and has spread inland. The closest complexes are in Denver and St. Louis, he said.

“The concept has worked pretty much all over the county,” Earlenbaugh said. “Franchises have started as well, so it’s been pretty successful.

“We started looking at: Would it work here.”

The friends plan to market to residents of subdivisions with covenants preventing them from storing or working on recreation vehicles, boats, cars or motorcycles or people facing urban space limitations, Earlenbaugh said.

“What we are after is an upscale clientele who have cars or boats they want to tinker with or RVs but can’t keep them on their property,” he said.

The garages also would be available for non-retail businesses, Earlenbaugh said.

The 10.3-acre site shares the immediate neighborhood with a landscape business, railroad and fields and has room for an eventual buildout of 362 units. About a half-mile from the nearest residence, the complex will be gated, monitored 24 hours a day and have an onsite business office. They will be priced from $22,500 to $59,900, depending on size, Earlenbaugh said.

“It’s intended to be like your own garage at your own place,” Earlenbaugh said. “There will be covenants in place pertaining to noise so as a courtesy we can keep noise down after 11 p.m.”

De Soto city engineer Mike Brungardt said the De Soto Planning Commission will consider the rezoning Dec. 23.