OVERLAND PARK, Kan. — Youth and amateur hockey is one step closer to coming to Johnson County, Kansas. A spokesperson from the Kansas Department of Commerce confirmed the agency gave preliminary approval for two developers to use STAR Bonds to build arenas.
BluHawk’s developer Price Brothers asked for more than $63 million from the state for its proposed arena and event space near 159th Street and Antioch Road.
Woodbury Corporation has proposed transforming the old Great Mall of the Great Plains in Olathe, Kansas, into a development called "Mentum" which will include a 4,000 seat arena to host the Kansas City Youth Hockey Association.
Next, the department of commerce and developers will complete a feasibility study before granting final approval. There is no indication when the feasibility studies will be complete.
STAR Bonds are loans from the state designed to support tourism-related developments. Sales tax dollars generated by the completed projects go back to the state to pay off the bonds.
Phase one of the BluHawk development is already open. Price Brothers dropped a proposal to build a satellite location of Hutchinson’s Cosmosphere Museum at the site.
Mentum and BluHawk both include retail, restaurant, hotel and living options as part of their proposals. Private financing will pay for the majority of the development.
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