MISSION CENTER
Johnson Drive and Roe Avenue
Mission, Kansas

One of Kansas City, Kansas' first post-war shopping centers was built on a 26-acre tract, located 5 miles south of downtown Kansas City, Kansas. MISSION CENTER was developed by Moseley & Company Real Estate Brokers, under the auspices of Mission Shopping Center, Incorporated. Howard T. Fisher Associates of Chicago designed the open-air, strip-type complex. Ground was broken on March 17, 1955.

Encompassing 190,000 leasable square feet, MISSION CENTER eventually housed twenty-four stores and services. Its official grand opening was held on July 30, 1956. During the festivities, Sylvester Powell, Junior (Mayor of Mission) cut a ceremonial ribbon. A Chuck Wagon Breakfast was held in the main parking area. Entertainment was provided by L.D. Keller & His Ozark Jubilee Promenaders (a square dance group) and Frankie Kay's Western Band.

Anchoring MISSION CENTER was a 2-level (70,000 square foot) Macy's Kansas City. Charter tenants included Parkview Rexall Drug, a W.T. Grant variety store, F.W. Woolworth 5 & 10 and Kroger supermarket.

The strip center was in business for over 30 years. Its Macy's was rebranded by Dillard's in March 1986. By this time, the shopping venue was in decline. It was demolished in 1988, leaving only Dillard's standing. This store was incorporated into a bi-level, fully-enclosed mall also known as MISSION CENTER.

Covering around 351,000 leasable square feet, the complex was dedicated on March 15, 1989. It featured a multilevel parking structure, which occupied the north end of the property. There were spaces for fifty-two tenants, including a "double header" Dillard's operation.

The largest of these, Dillard's South, occupied the original Macy's. This store sold women's apparel, accessories and items for the home. The smaller (60,000 square foot) Dillard's North dealt in men's & children's wear. Other MISSION mall retailers included The Limited, Express, Wolf Camera, Foot Locker, Rene's Hallmark and GNC.

The community-type mall did well enough, even though there were several competing enclosed shopping centers in its vicinity. These included METCALF SOUTH CENTER (1967) {4.7 miles southwest, in Overland Park, Kansas} and OAK PARK MALL (1975) {6 miles southwest, also in Overland Park}.

MISSION CENTER was acquired by the East Syracuse, New York-based Cameron Group in February 2006. Plans were devised to tear down the "outmoded" mall and replace it with a mixed-use retail, office, hospitality and residential development. The MISSION CENTER mall was shuttered on February 12, 2006 and demolished in March of the same year.

By 2008, four tenants had been secured for a 307 million dollar mixed-use project. THE GATEWAY was to encompass 800,000 square feet. Its primary attraction, a 3-level salt water aquarium, was to be joined by Urban Active Fitness, a Studio Movie Grill 8-plex and luxury hotel.

Unfortunately, The Great Recession seized up the credit market and made retailers wary of any kind of expansion. The bank that was to provide financing for the project raised the minimum number of tenants necessary to free money for construction.

The project sat idle for 3 years. In November 2011, it was announced that WalMart had agreed to build a 150,000 square foot store as part of the development, now promoted as simply GATEWAY. In retrospect, this seemed odd, given that a similar redevelopment proposal, including a WalMart store, had been rejected by the City of Mission and local residents in 2004.

With WalMart on board, GATEWAY construction was scheduled to commence in the spring of 2012. The facility was to include the aforementioned aquarium and multiplex cinema. There would also be an additional 150,000 square feet of retail, 150,000 square feet of office space, a fitness center and over 300 residential units.

In early 2012, the neighboring city of Roeland Park, Kansas challenged state-supplied financial incentives that were being given to GATEWAY developers. Roeland Park's circa-1996 WalMart, a major sales tax generator for the city, was to close as a new GATEWAY store opened.

In mid-2012, the project was presented with another delay. It was announced that plans for the hotel and aquarium had been dropped. The point of contention over state funding being used for construction had been removed. With this hurdle out of the way, it was hoped that construction could get underway in late 2012...6 years after its commencement had been originally scheduled. The groundbreaking date was moved up to the spring of 2013 and delayed -again- in the summer of 2013.

The project was assumed by New York City's Aryeh Realty, Limited Liability Company in 2016. From all appearances, it looked as if the GATEWAY project was back on track. Construction on a first phase was plotted to begin in March 2017. This would entail building 168 residential units and 50,000 square feet of retail. A second phase would consist of a two hotels, one with 150 rooms, the second with 50. Phase three would add 110,000 square feet of selling space to the complex. The beginning of construction was scheduled and then delayed.
 
Plans for a third GATEWAY incarnation were made public in February 2018. As proposed, a 225 million dollar facility would be built in three phases. When fully realized, it would contain a Cynergy Entertainment Complex (with 10-screen megaplex, game room and Escape Room attraction), 2-story Food Hall, 75,000 square feet of office space, a 200-room Marriott hotel and 170 residential units.
 
Construction finally got underway, but was halted by repercussions of the Covid-19 pandemic. Two GATEWAY structures were started but never completed. In January 2023, a third redevelopment proposal was approved by the Mission City Council. However, the developer failed to catch up on $449,000 in overdue property taxes. The City Council ended their participation in the project in July 2023. 
 
In 2025, the GATEWAY site sat abandoned and growing weeds. The developer defaulted on a construction loan, owing 26 million dollars. There was also a bill for 10.5 million dollars from contractors who say they were never paid for GATEWAY project work. The issue was being litigated and could possibly require a bench trial to resolve.
 
At this juncture, we can't help but offer a bit of personal (anti-lifestyle center) philosophy. It would have been more prudent to have left the "outmoded" MISSION CENTER mall standing.

Sources:

The Kansas City Star
"Dual Anchor Shopping Centers 1952-1965" / Richard Longstreth
http://www.kcmo.org
Kansas City, Kansas Public Library
https://www.jocogov.org / Johnson County, Kansas
http://www.shopmissioncenter.com (website on Internet Archive Wayback Machine)
http://sunpublications.com
http://www.mission-ks.org
http://www.thegatewaylife.com
http://www.kansascity.com
http://www.cameronllc.com / The Cameron Group
https://www.missionks.org