KANSAS CITY, Mo. — There’s a proposal to build a restaurant in the parking lot on the north side of Leawood’s Town Center Plaza.
Developers won’t say the name of the restaurant, but describe it as a “top-drawer, sit-down restaurant” able to accommodate hundreds of guests that would be a “destination within the greater Leawood area.”
Not everyone is excited about the proposal.
The rub comes in the style of food the restaurant plans to offer and its location: American cuisine with steaks and fish in “kind of a chophouse environment.” The proposed restaurant would essentially share the same parking lot with Kansas City-based Hereford House, which is known for a similar style of cuisine.
One of the owners of the Hereford House Restaurant Group, Mary Holland, spoke to the Leawood Planning Commission during its review of the proposed restaurant, which would be located just south of 117th Street roughly half-way between Roe Avenue and Nall Avenue, in August.
“I sincerely, sincerely encourage the commission to deny this proposal,” Holland told commissioners on Aug. 24. “It will be detrimental to the Hereford House and others in Town Center Plaza.”
Ultimately, the Leawood Planning Commission voted 6-1 to recommend approval of the development, sending it to the Leawood City Council for final approval. Planning commissioners did include several stipulations as part of their approval.
The council was set to take up the proposal during the Sept. 20, 2021 meeting but tabled the item. The council is set to consider the development again at 7 p.m., Monday, Oct. 18.
