Kansas City brewery has big plans for new restaurant, outdoor stage in Johnson County

Jenna Thompson
·2 min read

KC Bier Co. — a German-style brewery in Waldo — hopes to build a 14,800-square-foot restaurant and microbrewery in Lenexa.

The brewing company’s plans will be reviewed by the Lenexa Planning Commission at its monthly meeting Monday night.

The proposed building near West 98th Street and Ridgeview Road would feature a beer garden and outdoor stage for regular events, according to the plans.

Steve Holle, founder of KC Bier Co., said the outdoor garden would be family-friendly and include a kids’ play area, as well as an off-leash dog area.

“It’s going to be unique, it’s going to be fun, and it’s going to be community-oriented,” he said.

The project’s opening date is pending approval, but Holle said the earliest the new location would open is 2025.

City documents filed ahead of Monday’s Lenexa Planning Commission meeting show a potential KC Bier Co. space. Lenexa Planning Commission
City documents filed ahead of Monday’s Lenexa Planning Commission meeting show a potential KC Bier Co. space. Lenexa Planning Commission

The plans call for a two-story restaurant with an “accessory” microbrewery in the style of a traditional German bierhaus, featuring a pitched roof, stone columns and a covered patio.

Holle said the new space will have a full kitchen menu, which is still being developed. Possible menu items include rotisserie chicken, sausage and other German street food.

KC Bier’s only current location at 310 W. 79th St. sells several beers on tap, including its Dunkel (a Munich-style brown lager) and Hefeweizen (a Bavarian-style wheat ale). Its current kitchen menu includes panini-style sandwiches, pretzels and sausages.

The brewing company also wholesales to multiple different retailers in Kansas and Missouri.

The Vista Village development plan includes town homes, restaurants, and a potential brewery. Lenexa Planning Commission
The Vista Village development plan includes town homes, restaurants, and a potential brewery. Lenexa Planning Commission

The new KC Bier building would be part of the planned Vista Village development, which would include roughly 46 acres of restaurant and retail buildings, apartments and town homes.

On the same plot of land as the proposed KC Bier building, developers filed a plan for 3,600 square-foot-restaurant — the name of which was not included in the application.

Developers filed plans for a restaurant next to KC Bier Co., though city documents do not indicate who the tenant will be. Lenexa Planning Commission
Developers filed plans for a restaurant next to KC Bier Co., though city documents do not indicate who the tenant will be. Lenexa Planning Commission

But the Vista Village plan isn’t the only major Lenexa development in the works.

At Lenexa’s City Center near 87th Street and Renner Boulevard, developers with Copaken Brooks are working on leasing retail and office spaces for AdventHealth campus, as well as a project called “Restaurant Row.”

Several restaurants are in the works for Restaurant Row, and while some have yet to be announced, the city has said Johnson County’s Cactus Grill TexMex & Tequila and North Carolina-based Tupelo Honey are coming to the site.