KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A report Friday suggests Fiserv, a Milwaukee-based Fortune 500 financial technology company, is the firm behind "Project Turtle," a development project in Overland Park.
The development is a $125 million project estimated to bring up to 2,000 new, high-paying jobs to the area.
According to the Kansas City Business Journal, Fiserv conducted a nationwide search to select a site for its regional headquarters, called "Project Turtle," and decided on Overland Park, beating out cities such as Nashville.
The company would lease roughly 420,000 square feet of existing office space on the Aspiria campus. The campus was previously home to Sprint’s global headquarters.
The company expects to hire up to 2,000 full-time employees by March 2030 with an average salary of $125,000.
A company spokesperson told KSHB 41 News Friday that they had no comment on the report. Overland Park officials also declined comment.
According to documents reviewed earlier this week on the city's website, Overland Park Mayor Curt Skoog, city staff, the Overland Park Chamber of Commerce’s Economic Development team and the Kansas Department of Commerce have developed an incentives package including a 10-year property tax rebate on property taxes paid for leased space.
The group presented more information earlier this week at an Overland Park City Council committee meeting.
The rebate would come from the Overland Park, Johnson County and Blue Valley Recreation Commission portion of property taxes. It would not include property taxes from the Blue Valley School District and Johnson County Community College.
The rebate would be contingent on factors such as the developer investing $125 million, employing 2,000 people with an average annual salary of $125,000, becoming a member of local economic development organizations and using Overland Park amenities for business functions.
Rumors started swirling outside the Aspiria Campus, across the street to Best Regards Bakery. Its owner, Robert Duensing, is still holding out hope that the Kansas City Royals will move in.
"If you look at the campus and the layout of it, and the unfulfilled potential that they have, there’s room for both of them," Duensing said.
Best Regards opened when the Aspiria Campus was the Sprint Campus. Duensing said foot traffic from the campus has dwindled since, and he'd love to have it back.
"It’s like a big convention that’s in town, but it’s every day," Duensing said.
The business owner believes this news is proof of how far the area has come.
"Just to know that we have a community, greater community of Kansas City that’s attracted to a big company like that, specifically our area, it highlights everything that we’ve got going for us," Duensing said.
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