Johnson County department store closed 5 years ago. Construction is finally

On Monday, developers with First Washington held a ceremony to celebrate the redevelopment of a vacant Macy’s building in Prairie Village.

The building at 7070 Mission Road will soon be home to 80,000 square feet of new retail — including the relocation of grocery store Hen House from its smaller space nearby. It will also house three or four more retail tenants, which have not been announced.

To symbolize the beginning of construction, city officials and developers smashed golden hammers into a wall as attendees cheered.

“It would be hard to overstate the positive impact we expect this to have on our local community,” said Prairie Village Mayor Eric Mikkelson. “To beautify and modernize it in a way that preserves what we love about Prairie Village is welcome.”

More restaurant and retail tenants are planned for the former Macy’s but have not yet been announced.

The redevelopment has been years in the making.

Macy’s closed in 2020. A few months later, First Washington announced a “once-in-a-lifetime” transformation of the space, located in The Shops of Prairie Village. But plans submitted to the city repeatedly hit snags.

At one point, Genesis Health Club said it would open at the location. In 2023, however, new plans showed that a gym was no longer in the works.

Mikkelson said community members have expressed some concern over what would happen to the building during the waiting period.

“To be clear, there’s been some apprehension about it being not redeveloped for so long. … But we always it was going to happen, and we always knew when it did happen, it was going to be done really well,” Mikkelson said. “… It will have been worth the wait.”

The final project will be two stories, with Hen House sitting on the first floor. Its entrance will be to the west of the building. Other retail tenants will be on the second floor, opening to 71st Street.

A former Prairie Village Macy’s will be revamped into a Hen House, as well as several other tenants.

Other updates include a courtyard and improvements to the surrounding area’s landscaping.

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The construction is expected to take 18 to 24 months. Developers will begin the long process by demolishing the third story to better “align with the scale” of the entire property, said First Washington senior vice president Gregg Zike.

Tenants are estimated to open in the middle of 2026.

“Sadly, we’re unable to just snap our fingers and have this 75-year-old building turned into the state-of-the-art retail destination it’s gonna become,” Zike said.

Zike acknowledged that the building holds sentimental value to community members. Before Macy’s opened in the spot in 2006, it was home to The Jones Store, which had operated there since 1958.

Zike told The Star his team hasn’t settled on what will replace the old Hen House at 6950 Mission Road, which is open during construction.

The Kansas City area-based grocery store moved into the spot in the early ‘90s. But Mike Beal, chief financial officer for Balls Food Stores, said it’s an inefficient spot for the business.

“We can’t even take a regular-sized truck from our wholesaler, there’s no room behind there,” Beal said. “So we’re excited about the process, all of our teammates are terribly excited about this.”

Thai restaurant Penny’s in the Village softly opened across the street at 4160 W. 71st St. this weekend. On Monday, it opened with regular business hours.

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