Headway on Mission Gateway as entertainment venue Cinergy hits construction milestone

An aerial view of the Mission Gateway site shows the progress made on the Cinergy building. Photo courtesy of Heartland Drone Company, credit Andrew Patch.

After 15 years of fits and starts on the project, vertical construction on a structure at the Mission Gateway site in underway.

The construction of the Cinergy complex — which will account for 90,000 square feet of the mixed-use development project at the former Mission Mall site — should be completed by late summer 2020, said Andy Ashwal, vice president and senior asset manager for GFI.

“Vertical construction on any large-scale construction project is exciting, and it is especially exciting for Mission Gateway,” Ashwal said. “This is the first component of the development that will replace the Mission Mall that was demolished all those years ago.”

The city of Mission shared an inside look at the construction progress on Twitter, stating that “each solid wall panel weighs approximately” 45 tons. Additionally, the city tweeted that “exterior design and finishes” will be added soon. Renderings for the entire project are available on the city’s website.

“Now that the project is beginning to take shape, it’s nice for everyone to start to see how different elements will be oriented on the site,” said Emily Randel, Mission’s assistant to the city administrator. “We encourage everyone to look at the project renderings and see what is still to come.”

The first building with walls up at the Mission Gateway site is Cinergy, the 90,000 square-foot entertainment venue.

Although vertical construction is no small feat, GFI is looking ahead at what comes next for the entertainment venue: getting the building watertight to allow the team to focus on interior construction, Ashwal said. For Gateway as a whole, he said the completion of the retaining wall along Roeland Drive and the construction of the parking garage are scheduled to begin the first week of March.

Cinergy will be equipped with a 10-screen movie theatre, a 16-lane bowling alley, escape rooms and a game floor, according to the city’s website. Ashwal said a conversation at a Kansas City real estate conference touched on mixed-use development being “anchored by destination entertainment, and food is the common thread in the most desirable communities.”

“This is Mission Gateway,” Ashwal said. “We are excited to add this to the great Johnson Drive retail corridor and help support the city of Mission as a desirable destination to live, work, play and stay.”