Bel Aire working with development group on shopping center project
The city of Bel Aire and a private development group have announced plans for a shopping and entertainment center. The 580-acre Caban Marketplace will be located along Rock Road, from K-254 to 53rd Street North, with a retail area at the corner of 53rd and Rock, next to the Bel Aire City Hall.
A press release from Shopping Center Development and Consulting LLC said the Caban Marketplace will be an urban lifestyle center with park-like gathering areas. The shopping center will host retail shops, restaurants and entertainment, with a state-of-the-art destination aquarium. The project also includes two large sports complexes that will attract youth and adult teams, a movie theater and a destination hotel.
Bel Aire and the developers plan to ask for STAR Bond financing, which would be supported by sales tax revenues generated by the shopping center.
Bel Aire City Manager Ty Lasher said the project has been in the works for two years. He said it started as an effort to create a downtown area for the community.
The Bel Aire City Council approved a community improvement district and a STAR Bond district for the project. Lasher said developers are putting together a report with more details on the financing and the number of visitors that the development would attract.
That should be ready in the next couple of months. The report will be submitted to the Kansas Department of Commerce for approval of STAR Bond financing.
Lasher said some elements of the projects should begin construction in the summer, including a 200-unit apartment complex and the restaurants and retail shops.
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