Lenexa breaks off with Haile Group

Due to a disagreement over equity financing levels, the City of Lenexa, Kansas, broke off its three-year partnership with the Haile Group, a new urbanist developer based in Gainesville, Florida. The Haile Group drew up plans for, and was planning to develop, the 62-acre Lenexa City Center — a major town center slated to become the heart of this Kansas City suburb. “It is with the utmost respect that we make this announcement,” said Mayor Michael Boehm. “Bob Kramer and the Haile Group greatly advanced the com-munity’s vision for a new downtown.” Lenexa, which purchased the site near a Interstate 435 interchange for $10 million, still plans to develop a new urban downtown, according to Eric Wade, city administrator. It is unclear how closely the eventual downtown will follow the street layout and design of the City Center project drawn up by the Haile team. The current plan calls for 1,100 residential units (both rental and for sale), 750,000 square feet of offices, and 150,000 square feet of retail. The city plans to issue a request for qualifications to seek a new developer early in 2005. Those who are interested should look at the city’s website in mid-January: www.ci.lenexa.ks.us. The new developer will have significant influence over the planning of the City Center. The city felt that the Haile Group was not willing to put enough equity into the project, Wade says. In addition to the city’s investment in land (which it hopes to get back over time), Lenexa is willing to contribute to infrastructure development through tax-increment financing and a transportation district, and to set up a special benefits district, Wade says. The city was not willing to take on the role of primary developer, he explains. The Haile Group declined to comment on the severance of the agreement. u