Parking is free on the upscale shopping district, which was one of the country's first outdoor shopping areas to accommodate automobiles as well as pedestrians. However, Highwoods Realty Limited Partnership, owner of the Country Club Plaza, is set to ask city, county and state officials to create a taxing district that would allow the company to collect the half-cent sales tax for up to 20 years.
The company wants to use the funds to pay for a $14-million parking structure on the southeast corner of 47th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue and for improvements to at least eight other parking garages.
Highwoods company officials estimated the special tax could generate as much as $1 million yearly, but Plaza sales estimates show that the tax could easily bring in double that amount. Highwoods officials maintain the revenues would still be less than half of the money that the company is putting into public improvements on the Plaza.
A company spokesperson said that the Plaza's parking project to date was about $80 million. Also, an additional $165 million had been spent by the company for the new Valencia Place office building and the renovated Seville Square, which houses a movie theatre and restaurants.
The additional sales tax would raise the tax in Plaza stores from 6.6% to 7.1%. According to state statutes, a special tax district can only be developed if the property owners within the district agree. In this case, the owners are Highwoods, the Kansas City Tax Increment Financing Commission and Saks Fifth Avenue Inc. The petition is under review by the TIF commission and could go to Jackson County Circuit Court in the next few weeks. Three years ago, the city approved a TIF plan to help pay for some of the garages that are also included in this proposal
Want to continue reading?
Become a Free ALM Digital Reader.
Once you are an ALM Digital Member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking commercial real estate news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical coverage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
*May exclude premium content© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
