What’s happening: Demolition of the former Overland Park Sears building near 97th Street and Metcalf Avenue has begun, taking with it the last remaining portion of the once prominent Metcalf South Shopping Center.

• The other half of the Metcalf South site, which once contained a Macy’s and the Glenwood Arts theater, is now a Lowe’s, which opened in 2018.

What’s next: Klover Architects is hosting a neighborhood meeting on Zoom this Thursday, Sept. 1 on the latest plans for the site at 97th and Metcalf.

• New designs included in the packet for that meeting show that Klover is now proposing a mixed-used development with several pad site restaurants, retail spaces and a roughly 110,000-square-foot athletic club.
• A previous redevelopment plan called for a 164,000-square-foot office building and 14,000 square-foot daycare center which no longer appear in the latest designs for the site.

Background: After nearly 50 years in business, the Overland Park Sears at Metcalf South closed in 2017 and the site has since undergone several changes in its redevelopment plan.

• After sitting vacant for over a year, developers initially submitted plans to bring a mixed-used development to the site in 2018, which featured apartments and a movie theater.
• Neighbors expressed concerns about the proposed 300-unit apartment complex, and the redevelopment was delayed over the next three years.
• In May, steakhouse chain Texas Roadhouse gained approval from the city to construct a restaurant at the southeast corner of the development, the first known tenant on the site.

A bit of Overland Park history

Sears has been a staple business at Metcalf South since the shopping center first opened its doors in August of 1967, according to JoCoHistory.

• After many years of dwindling business, Metcalf South was sold and closed in 2014, with the entire structure slowly demolished over the summer of 2017.
• However, Sears remained untouched and in business until late 2017, as it was technically its own building separate from the shopping mall.