Leawood council approves Holbrook North rezoning, opens incentive process as residents raise flood concerns

The Leawood governing body on Oct. 9 unanimously approved an ordinance rezoning 34.2 net acres north of College Boulevard and west of State Line Road to an MXD mixed-use development district and approved a preliminary development plan for Holbrook North, a multi‑phase project led by developer VanTrust that names Lockton as the proposed anchor office tenant. The council also approved height deviations and moved forward with establishing a redevelopment (TIF) district and related incentive steps; final incentive agreements will return for later review.

Why it matters: The project is the largest private investment proposed in Leawood to date — roughly $760 million in full build-out as described to the council — and would add a headquarters office campus, 400 residential units, a 145‑room hotel, event space, retail, a daycare and structured parking adjacent to existing Leawood Park. The scale of the plan, and the city’s consideration of tax increment financing, a community improvement district and other incentives, prompted sustained technical review and public comment about traffic and downstream flooding.

City and developer approvals and next steps The governing body voted 8–0 to approve: (1) deviations for building heights for the proposed headquarters and residential towers; (2) the rezoning and the preliminary development plan submitted as Planning Commission Case No. 73‑25; and (3) the form of a memorandum of understanding (nonbinding) that outlines proposed incentives and a calendar for further hearings. City bond counsel and staff described a path that would bring a formal TIF project plan and related community improvement district (CID) and industrial revenue bond (IRB) actions back to the council for final action at a December public hearing if the schedule holds.

VanTrust and Lockton described the development components and timing. VanTrust said phase 1 would include the headquarters and supporting retail, hotel and residential components; the developer projected breaking ground on the headquarters in 2026 with that phase substantially built out by about 2029–2030. Lockton’s chief marketing officer, Julie Gibson, told the council the firm considers the site “a special site” as it evaluates a long‑term headquarters location.

What’s planned and how it would be built Planning staff described the overall program and technical requests: the project covers 34.2 net acres and lists roughly 1,482,000 square feet of total building area. The program shown to the council included three large office buildings totaling about 850,000 square feet, two multifamily residential buildings totaling about 500,000 square feet (roughly 400 units, or about 11.8 dwelling units per acre), a 65,000‑square‑foot hotel with 145 rooms, a 10,000‑square‑foot event center (about 280 seats), a 14,000‑square‑foot childcare center, about 16,000 square feet of…