The Olathe City Council will take up two major development items on the agenda Tuesday.
Lenexa developer Michael Christie wants to build an outdoor soccer complex just southwest of Ridgeview Road and K10 Highway.
The multi-million dollar project would include nine fields, 27,000 square-feet of retail, and a 120-room hotel. It would be the fifth new soccer complex in the Kansas City metro.
The council is meeting with Christie Tuesday to make an agreement on initial stages.
Christie's company would pay for the city's cost to evaluate and plan.
Christie is requesting tax increment financing (TIF), which would use sales and property taxes the development generates to pay for any costs. The area would be designated as a Community Improvement District (CID), which could add another one percent in sales tax to goods sold within the development.
The council will also hear a request from Garmin on Tuesday.
The company, which broke ground in August on a massive expansion plan at its Olathe headquarters, is asking for incentives.
Garmin wants a 10-year, 75 percent tax abatement on the first phase of the expansion, which will build a new 750,000 square-foot manufacturing facility.
On top of that, the company plans to apply for $200,000 in industrial revenue bonds that Olathe would issue. The bonds are tax-exempt, and Garmin would pay for it.
Garmin's expansion is supposed to take two years and create 150 jobs over a decade. Employees would make close to $65,000 in the first year, and around $85,000 in the tenth year.
Pete Heaven, a Lathrop & Gage real estate attorney representing Mike Christie, said their study shows there is a need for soccer fields in the area. Heaven said it's easy access from K-10 and that the land is perfect for soccer.
"It's partially the terrain. It's a tough piece of property to develop in a commercial sense. Plus, you can see there are high power lines. Things that would discourage commercial development. That are perfect for soccer and athletic fields," explained Heaven.
Heaven said if the city council decides it's not a good use of taxpayer money the project may not go through. If the council does, soccer fields could open up here as soon as 18 months.
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Sarah Plake can be reached at Sarah.Plake@KSHB.com
