Leawood council approves Holbrook North rezoning and begins TIF process for $760M mixed‑use project

The Leawood City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved a rezoning and preliminary development plan for Holbrook North, a proposed 34.2‑acre mixed‑use project at the northwest corner of College Boulevard and State Line Road, and opened the requested incentive process by establishing a tax‑increment financing (TIF) district and approving the form of a memorandum of understanding with developer VanTrust.

The approved preliminary plan covers 11 buildings and, as presented to the council, would include roughly 1,482,000 square feet of new construction: three office buildings (about 850,000 square feet), two multifamily residential buildings (about 500,000 square feet and 400 units), a 145‑room, 65,000‑square‑foot hotel with an associated 10,000‑square‑foot event center, a 14,000‑square‑foot childcare center, roughly 16,000 square feet of retail and about 3,673 parking spaces in surface and structured parking. The developer said the first phase would include the headquarters building and associated infrastructure and that later phases would occur based on market demand.

The council first voted to grant height deviations needed for the proposal’s tallest buildings — including a proposed 12‑story, 200‑foot headquarters building (Building A) and two 10‑story multifamily buildings at about 120 feet — and then approved the rezoning from SD‑O (planned office) to MXD (mixed‑use development) and the preliminary development plan. The height deviations and the rezoning passed unanimously; the rezoning and plan were approved on an 8‑0 roll‑call vote.

Why it matters: VanTrust told the council the project is a potential headquarters relocation site for Lockton, a large Kansas City‑area insurance firm that said it is evaluating the site for a long‑term campus. City officials and the developer told council members the project would expand Leawood’s commercial tax base, add new housing and retail, and create trail connections to City Park and Leewolf Dog Park.

Design and density details Julie Hurley, the city planner who presented the plan to the governing body, told the council the full build‑out concept includes 11 buildings, structured and surface parking, and a mix of uses intended to activate the adjacent parkland. Hurley summarized project dimensions: Building A is shown as 444,000 square feet and 12 stories; Building B (a future headquarters expansion) as 258,000 square feet and eight stories; Building D as 274,000 square feet and 225 residential units; Building E as 225,000 square feet and 175 units; and Building K as a 155,000‑square‑foot, five‑story office building. Hurley also said the applicant is requesting deviations related to setbacks, floor‑area ratio (FAR) and height allowed under the city’s Land Development Ordinance (LDO).

The applicant…