Johnson County Department Store Closed 5 Years Ago—Now Construction is Underway
CNS –
First Washington developers celebrated the reconstruction of an abandoned Macy’s building in Prairie Village on Monday with a ceremony.
The grocery store Hen House will shortly move from its current location adjacent to the 80,000-square-foot new retail space at 7070 Mission Road. Three or four additional retail tenants, who have not yet been disclosed, will also occupy it.
As guests applauded, local officials and developers hammered golden hammers into a wall to signify the start of construction.
Eric Mikkelson, the mayor of Prairie Village, stated, “It would be difficult to overstate the positive impact we expect this to have on our local community.” “It is welcome to update and beautify it while maintaining the aspects of Prairie Village that we adore.”
The renovation has been planned for years.
In 2020, Macy’s closed. A few months later, First Washington announced a “once-in-a-lifetime” makeover for the area at The Shops of Prairie Village. However, proposals that were submitted to the city kept running into problems.
Genesis Health Club had previously stated that it would open there. However, according to updated plans in 2023, a gym was no longer being planned.
According to Mikkelson, several community members are worried about what will happen to the building while people wait.
To be clear, some people are worried that it hasn’t been renovated in a while. However, we always knew it would happen and that it would be executed flawlessly when it occurred,” Mikkelson remarked. “… The wait will have been worthwhile.”
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Hen House will be on the first level of the two-story finished structure. To the west of the structure will be its entrance. The second story, which opens to 71st Street, will house more retail tenants.
A courtyard and upgrades to the landscaping in the neighborhood are two further additions.
It is anticipated that the building will take 18 to 24 months. According to Gregg Zike, senior vice president of First Washington, developers will start the drawn-out process by tearing down the third story in order to better “align with the scale” of the overall property.
It is anticipated that tenants will begin operations in mid-2026.
Zike expressed that transforming this 75-year-old building into a cutting-edge retail destination is not a simple task.
Zike admitted that residents of the community have sentimental attachments to the building. The Jones Store, which had been there since 1958, was located there before Macy’s came in 2006.
The historic Hen House at 6950 Mission Road is open while redevelopment is underway, but Zike told The Star his team hasn’t decided what will take its place.
In the early 1990s, the supermarket shop from the Kansas City area took over the space. However, Balls Food Stores’ chief financial officer, Mike Beal, claimed that the location is ineffective for the company.
“There isn’t any space behind there, so we can’t even take a regular-sized truck from our wholesaler,” Beal stated. “So, we’re thrilled about the process, which excites all our teammates.”
This past weekend, Penny’s in the Village, a Thai restaurant, quietly debuted across the street at 4160 W. 71st St. It opened with regular business hours on Monday.