5 minute read
Annexation Bonanza
The Sunflower Army Ammunition Plant finds new purpose in De Soto.
ARTICLE BY Rachel Murphy
PHOTOS BY Kevin Anderson
If Irving Berlin were penning the story of the Sunflower Army Ammunition Plant, it might go something like this: “What do you do with a munitions plant when it stops being a munitions plant? What do you do with a munitions plant that’s retired?”
Until recently, this was the question for many in De Soto. Stretching over 9,000 acres of land, the Sunflower Army Ammunition Plant made propellant for three separate conflicts, starting in 1942, when it was founded to serve the efforts in World War II. The plant employed nearly 25,000 people at its height, bringing income and population into De Soto. While the land is in a prime location along Highway 10, its final destiny has been debated for decades. At one time, there were plans to build a Wizard of Oz theme park there, but without approval from the county and the governor, the whimsical park plan was shot down.
In 2004, the U.S. Army struck a deal with a private developer based on the promise that the Army would complete the significant environmental remediation the Environmental Protection Agency required. Eliminating heavy metals, asbestos, and other hazardous substances from the soil and water was the first step toward a new life on the land. For their part, the developers promised to raze old buildings for a fresh start.
But the timing wasn’t on their side. With the 2008 economic crash and controversy about what needed to be remediated, the project stalled, eventually ceasing in 2010 as years of litigation began. With the resolution of the lawsuits in 2017, the Army started cleaning the property in earnest, concentrating on a plot of roughly 1,000 acres located on the north side.
Part of the property annexed by the City of De Soto.
The newly reimagined Sunflower Redevelopment Group (SRG), a collective of developers, is ready to move forward with the blessing of De Soto and Johnson County. In January, the city of De Soto annexed just over 6,000 acres of acres of the entire former munitions’ property, nearly doubling the city’s land area. Now, the hard work begins, according to city administrator Mike Brungardt.
He says that after the Army clears the property of environmental concerns, abandoned structures and other barriers to development will remain. The City recently formed a Tax Increment Financing district (TIF) to incentivize the cleanup of these impediments. A TIF is a financing tool used to generate revenues to clean up blighted properties.
“It’s really a blighted property, and this [effort fits well with the intent of a TIF district}, which is to provide an income stream to clean up blighted and distressed properties just like this one,” Brungardt says.
So what will the land be? Brungardt says the first phase will focus on light industrial or warehouse space, with the newly announce Panasonic EV Battery plant as the first project.
“There’s a likelihood that there will be a need for commercial nodes to support, like gas stations, hotels, and support activities like that,” he says. “We anticipate a mix of uses long term.”
Outside of commercial uses, the Sunflower Redevelopment Group presented plans for several donations of land to benefit the community. According to documents submitted to the Johnson County Board of Commissioners in February, the first designation will gift 5 acres of the reclaimed land to the Northwest Consolidated Fire District for a new fire station. Other public gifts of land will include 500 acres for the University of Kansas and Kansas State University. The land will be used for agricultural research.
Another 2,000 acres will be donated to the Johnson County Parks Department, but there’s considerable cleaning to be done before that happens. Parks land must be remediated to residential standards.
Brungardt and the developers are anxious to get started, and the pieces seem to be falling into place. Only a few steps remain before turning ground on the initial 1,000 acres. Brungardt says the city is waiting to cement a deal with a potential tenant, and construction will start as soon as the deal is struck. Even without the deal, he expects progress within 24 to 36 months.
In the partnership for the future of the Sunflower Ammunition Plant, the City of De Soto is working on building strong connections, expanding its borders, and looking forward to the future.
FOR MORE
DE SOTO CITY HALL
32905 W. 84TH ST.
DE SOTO, KS 66018
CITY ADMINISTRATOR’S OFFICE: 913-586-5253
MBRUNGARDT@DESOTOKS.US
Four water towers continue to stand guard over the property that formerly held the Sunflower Army Ammunition Plant near De Soto.
Some of the buildings left from the former Sunflower Army Ammunition Plant will need to be razed as development plans progress.
Some of the buildings left from the former Sunflower Army Ammunition Plant will need to be razed as development plans progress.
Some of the buildings left from the former Sunflower Army Ammunition Plant will need to be razed as development plans progress.
