Following the Sept. 17 Lenexa City Council denial of a Special Use Permit for the proposed Homeless Services Center, the Johnson County Board of County Commissioners voted today to terminate the real estate purchase agreement with MAA Krupa Lenexa LLC for the La Quinta property. Given the timeliness of contractual requirements, the Board took special action outside of its previously published calendar.

“While I’m deeply disappointed in the Lenexa City Council’s denial of the SUP application, we needed to take swift action today to preserve as many federal COVID-19 relief funds as possible,” said Mike Kelly, Chairman of the Johnson County Board of County Commissioners. “Because we know there is a clear need to serve our unhoused population, we will work diligently to reallocate these resources toward investments that help vulnerable residents find permanent housing, employment, mental health services, and assistance with rent and utilities. While this project would have been a monumental step toward each of those needs, we knew that more work would always be necessary, so we will continue to collaborate with willing partners to address the housing crisis in our community.”

As part of the real estate contract, negotiations with the owner of the La Quinta property included $350,000 in earnest money. The payment schedule includes a final $150,000 payment due on Sept. 20, which following today’s action will no longer be required.

“Our staff has worked tirelessly on this project for over a year because we believe it fills a crucial gap in our continuum of housing services for unhoused adults,” said County Manager Penny Postoak Ferguson.  “We’re disappointed in the outcome but are proud of the momentum we’ve built. We will continue to partner with community members on efforts in finding solutions to homelessness.”

Johnson County had allocated $10.5 million from two different sources of federal COVID-19 funding for the purchase, due diligence and renovation of the property. Out of that $10.5 million, approximately $480,000 has already been spent in earnest payments and due diligence on the property.

Today, the Board directed county staff to provide the Board with alternative program and service options for $6.3 million of the funds with an emphasis on filling gaps in housing services and programs.

The remaining $3.7 million does not have the same timeline restrictions as the other federal dollars and will be reallocated by the Board.