Leawood council unanimously approves Holbrook North rezoning, sets up TIF and incentives for VanTrust/Lockton project

Leawood Mayor Mark Elkins and an eight‑member council gave unanimous approval Wednesday night to a rezoning and preliminary development plan for Holbrook North, a proposed 34‑acre mixed‑use project by VanTrust that includes a possible Lockton headquarters, multifamily housing, a hotel, retail and structured parking.

The council approved height deviations for four buildings and then adopted an ordinance rezoning the site from a planned office district to an MXD (mixed‑use development) district. The votes were followed by an ordinance establishing a redevelopment (TIF) district and a separate council action approving the form of a nonbinding memorandum of understanding that lays out the proposed incentive package, which staff described as a pay‑as‑you‑go mix of tax‑increment financing (TIF), a community improvement district (CID) sales tax, transient guest tax redirection for the hotel and industrial revenue bonds for construction‑material sales tax exemptions.

Why it matters: The developer says Holbrook North will bring roughly 1.48 million square feet of space — including office, residential, hotel and retail — to the northwest corner of College Boulevard and State Line Road and is projected to be a multiyear, multi‑phase investment expected to catalyze expansion in the corridor. The city framed the incentive package as structured and performance‑based: the developer must build and generate the incremental revenues before incentives flow, and staff emphasized the ‘no city bond risk’ nature of the pay‑as‑you‑go financing.

Project and approvals: City planner Julie Hurley told the council the preliminary plan anticipates 11 buildings totaling about 1,482,000 square feet, roughly 400 residential units, a 65,000‑square‑foot hotel with about 145 rooms and…