Lee’s Summit, MO – The Lee’s Summit Economic Development Council hosted its first Windshield Tour on Wednesday, September 21st, 2022. The trolley tour was led by LSEDC’s CEO & President, Rick McDowell, and the City of Lee’s Summit’s City Manager, Mark Dunning, who guided participants through Lee’s Summit development sites. Attendees included LSEDC board members Bill Brown of Paragon Star, Mike VanBuskirk of Newmark Zimmer, Tom Jackson of Central Bank, Mayor of Lee’s Summit Bill Baird, Keith Dorrian of A.L. Huber Construction, and Laurel Hogue with the University of Central Missouri, as well as LSEDC staff and advisory board investors.
Paragon Star, a $250 million, 190-acre, mixed-use development, and active investor in the LSEDC, showed their current construction site featuring 10 FIFA-sized fields. COO, Bill Brown explained the project from conception all the way through completion plans. Paragon CEO Flip Short, CFO Chris Travalent, Director of Development Strategies Ben Short, Director of Sports Operations & Events Chris Duke, Director of Facility Operations & Recreation Kelli Votypka, Director of Events & Customer Experience Neill Smith, and Executive Assistant Kristel Reiman were also in attendance.
Another active investor with the LSEDC, Newmark Zimmer highlighted several projects on the tour. Mike VanBuskirk dove into Unity Village’s progress, along with their new conceptual project ‘Discovery Park’. Their hope is to add over 4,400 jobs to Lee’s Summit with the addition of 660,500 SF of retail, office, entertainment, and hospitality Space. Newmark Zimmer also lists the Lee’s Summit Commerce Center, a Class A, 767,860 SF development currently under construction.
As Lee’s Summit continues to grow, so does the air traffic. Tour participants stopped at Lee’s Summit Municipal Airport on the ground at Hanger 1 for an update. Airport Manager Joel Arrington described future expansion plans, including another hanger to accommodate increased sky traffic as more people choose to fly into Lee’s Summit.
Guests on the tour with advanced economic development acumen said that they learned more about Lee’s Summit in a few hours on a trolley than they have in years. LSEDC will continue showing the momentum of development in Lee’s Summit to investors, consultants, and community stakeholders in hopes to educate and grow opportunities.
Newmark Zimmer and Collins Webb Architecture sponsored the Windshield Tour.
Questions about these projects? Contact the LSEDC: 816-525-6617