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Mayor touts large economic projects: data center claim, Noland Fashion Square and new retailers
Summary
Mayor Roy Rowland highlighted major economic projects including a planned Noland Fashion Square redevelopment (with a Price Chopper), a large incoming data center the mayor quoted as a $155 billion project, and a Wally's retail development that the mayor said would bring hundreds of jobs.
Mayor Roy Rowland used the state‑of‑the‑city address to spotlight several private and public investments he said will reshape parts of Independence.
He described a developer plan to redevelop Noland Fashion Square at the intersection of Noland Road and Highway 40 — naming Price Chopper as a planned tenant — and called the project an important reuse of long‑vacant property. Rowland also said a Wally's store is planned for Noland Road at I‑70, and that the store is expected to create about 200 permanent jobs and 150 construction jobs; he added a potential April 2 groundbreaking date but said paperwork from Wally's was still pending.
On a larger scale, Rowland announced a forthcoming Nibius data center project and quoted a city impact figure of "155 billion" (the mayor emphasized "that's with a B"). He said the data center will bring construction jobs and significant regional impacts for school districts and institutions such as the Mid‑Continent Public Library District and Metropolitan Community College; the dollar figure and details were presented by the mayor and were not independently documented during the speech.
Rowland also noted the Mavericks hockey team signed a three‑year agreement to remain at Cable Dahmer Arena, and he said the team has clinched the 2026 Kelly Cup playoffs and posted a strong season record.
What happens next: The mayor presented these projects as underway or imminent; he asked the audience to await further notices and said some approvals or documentation (in the case of Wally's) were still pending.
