For a little over the past year. The land right across the street has been going through some drastic changes. First, it started out as a tall grass hill. Then, a construction company started to tear it up, and it became more of a dirt hill. Then it all stopped for a few months. Now, it is just a flat dirt landscape. Everyone is starting to wonder exactly what they are building here. There have been plenty of rumors going around of what it may be. A restaurant, a shopping mall, or even apartments. However, no one really knows for sure.

The building Permit was first requested Feb. 8, 2023, and it was approved on Aug. 15, 2023. The company that had requested the permit was Andretti Indoor Karting & Games. This building would be an indoor go-karting facility. They have many different locations around the south and the east coast of the U.S. Georgia, Florida, and Texas are some examples. So having a location in Kansas City is significant because it would be the farthest North they have gone.

For a while it looked like they were making good progress on the construction of the building, but it just seemed to stop. According to Lesilie Karr, the director of Planning and Development Services on the Overland Park City Council, one of the reasons for this was that there were concerns about traffic, and there was a need to coordinate traffic improvements with the city of Leawood, since the intersection of 117th and Nall is right on the border of Overland Park and Leawood. 

Overland Park City Council member (Ward 5) Dr. Faris Farassati said, “I have not heard of a TIF going there.” What is a TIF? The acronym “TIF” stands for Tax Increment Financing. What this means is that when a company is granted this benefit by the city, it allows them to not pay taxes for an agreed upon time, and thus allows them to borrow money at a low-interest rate.

City records report that there are many different conditions that still need to be met in order for the final Certificate of Occupancy to be granted to Andretti Indoor Karting & Games. A Certificate of Occupancy is a document that states that the land is suitable for occupancy. There are many different safety codes and requirements that need to be met.  For example, the floor plans need to be shared with the local fire department and need approval. There needs to be an on-site test of the fire alarm system as well.

Anything that is submitted to the city is public. On top of that, when a new project is going to happen the developer is supposed to come out and notify the neighboring buildings about the project. They have to be transparent with the public about it, and not keep secrets. The role of the city was to review how appropriate the project would be for the current location where it was being built. Once it is submitted, it is sent to the planning committee for it to be reviewed.