Paragon Star LLC has closed on the sale of $31 million in transportation sales tax revenue bonds that will be used to finance roads and infrastructure construction in and around the sports-anchored development north of I-470 at View High Drive in Lee’s Summit, Missouri.
The bonds are underwritten by D.A. Davidson of Denver, Colorado and will be used to finance construction of a new four-lane diverging diamond intersection at View High and I-470, as well as improvements to roads and bridges within the 200-acre mixed-use development.
Developer Flip Short thanked the City of Lee’s Summit for supporting the project as it has lined up financing for the first phase of the $260 million mixed-use development.
“It’s a big transaction for the Paragon Star development and one that we’ve worked on for many months to achieve,” Short said. “The bonds will finance significant infrastructure in and around Paragon Star, and I can’t thank the elected leadership and city management of Lee’s Summit enough for their support of this project.”
At buildout, the sports and recreation complex will feature ten FIFA regulation, artificial turfed, lighted sports fields and recreational facilities flanked by a commercial “village,” or entertainment district. The social centerpiece to Paragon Star is envisioned to offer a variety of restaurants and entertainment venues, boutique retail, multifamily housing, office and hotels. Paragon Star also includes a trail head to serve the new Rock Island and Little Blue Trace trails.
The bond sale— and the public infrastructure it will create— is another example of how public private partnerships, or P3s, are helping cities build destination mixed-use developments that promise to strengthen local economies by attracting new industry and regional tourists. For Lee’s Summit, the bonds will build new roads and bridges to expand development on the city’s western gateway.
“We anticipate the new infrastructure construction, as well as the improvements to View High Drive, will create growth opportunities along our western corridor and provide long-term value to the City of Lee’s Summit,” said Lee’s Summit Mayor Bill Baird, who also serves as board president for the I-470 Western Gateway TDD.
The much-needed infrastructure funding comes two years after Paragon Star held a ceremonial groundbreaking and announced project partners, including a construction team led by Fogel-Anderson Construction. GBA is the engineering firm of record.
“The funding will allow development at the site to continue with actual placement of utilities and road construction to begin this summer. The winter weather has really slowed us down and delayed the largest part of the mass grading of the site, but this issuance will allow us to immediately begin construction of roads and bridges after the mass grading is completed later this spring,” said Paragon Star Project Manager William H. Brown. “We’re quite excited to have this funding in place.”
Bond counsel for the transaction was Gilmore & Bell, P.C., and the bond trustee is UMB Bank. Although much of the initial phase will be developed in Lee’s Summit, Paragon Star’s footprint crosses into Kansas City, Mo.