The developer in the Mission Gateway project is looking for a new anchor tenant after Walmart decided last week not to be part of the project.
The news means Mission continues to lose tax money because the property at Shawnee Mission and Nall is vacant.
Mission Mayor Steven Schowengerdt explained that the previous mall generated $1 million a year in taxes for Mission. He said the developer informed the council last Thursday that Walmart was no longer part of the deal, and he is looking for new retailers and a new plan for the prime land.
Walmart planned to close its Roeland Park store and move it to the Mission Gateway location. Now that Walmart is not part of Mission Gateway, the Roeland Park store will remain open.
Three years ago, taxes were raised in Roeland Park to prepare for Walmart to close. Now that it will not close Joel Marquardt, the mayor of Roeland Park, said there will be a discussion about next year's budget and whether or not the tax should be lowered.
Longtime Mission resident Betty Benson is 95 years old. She owns the Mission Artists Workshoppe. She is disappointed that the land is still vacant and hopes a department store will become the anchor tenant.
"When we had Dillard's we loved it, when we had Macy's we loved it," said Benson.
A number of individuals and some neighborhood groups in Mission fought the project that morphed over the years into a track and apartments on top of the Walmart.
On October 13 and 14 at Mission City Hall, Mission residents will have a chance to express their opinions about what restaurants and businesses they would like to see on the land.
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Cynthia Newsome can be reached at Cynthia.Newsome@kshb.com.
