Eudora plan to redevelop property at gateway to city is at a standstill

The city of Eudora’s goal of redeveloping an old school property at the main entrance into the community is on hold for lack of a commitment from an anchor tenant for the property.

The city bought the Nottingham Elementary School and adjacent Laws Field football stadium from the Eudora school district in 2015 for $850,000 with the goal of later selling the property to a developer. The Eudora City Commission’s objective was to control development on the 15-acre site immediately north of the Kansas Highway 10 and Church Street interchange.

In May 2016, the Eudora City Commission entered into an agreement with the Kansas City, Mo.-based CBC Real Estate Group, which committed the city to working exclusively with the CBC while the company looked for retail tenants for the site. That agreement was extended for six months in March.

Eudora Mayor Tim Reazin said the city did not renew the agreement with CBC but would continue to work with the company. CBC has been in conversation with a possible anchor tenant needed to make a plan for the property’s redevelopment work, but the candidate tenant has thus far been unwilling to make a commitment, he said.

“It’s still at a standstill,” he said. “We are waiting on one party to come through. I still think it is the best thing for our community to have control over one of the most attractive areas right off K-10.”

In April 2016, CBC released conceptual plans for redevelopment of the Nottingham property that showed 90,500 square feet of retail development, including a 30,000-square-foot anchor store. Those conceptual plans also showed second-story apartments above some retail stores, but Reazin said CBC later decided to eliminate the apartments.

Reazin said he would like the city to demolish the old Nottingham school building, which he said was an eyesore and a safety hazard. It could help spur an anchor tenant to make a commitment, he said.

The decision of developer R.D. Johnson to build out the final 27 homes in the Shadow Ridge Subdivision should make the community more attractive to retailers, Reazin said.

The city has added an incentive to make progress on the property’s redevelopment. The city financed the $850,000 purchase of the property with a temporary note. Eudora City Manager Barack Matite said that note wouldn’t come due until after April 2019. The Eudora City Commission has not discussed how the city would refinance the note, but Matite said one option might be to roll the debt into a city general obligation bond issue. He said, however, that he was optimistic such financing would not be needed.

“I’m very confident we and CBC will make significant progress on Nottingham in 2018,” he said.