Merriam voted to purchase 5036 Merriam Drive from Brian Burnett
The Merriam City Council has voted unanimously to purchase a single-family home at 5036 Merriam Drive for $245,000, adding to a cluster of properties the city already owns along the corridor. The house, built in 1920 and sitting on less than an acre, belongs to Brian Burnett, who reached out to the city in March about possibly selling. Merriam hopes to close on the deal by September 15.
The purchase is not an isolated transaction. As The Kansas City Star reported, Merriam already owns four homes surrounding Burnett’s property and at least six other properties along Merriam Drive. City staffer Ciera White told the paper the city pursued the Burnett purchase because of its key location and proximity to other city-owned sites, and that the sale has not yet been finalized. Beyond the $245,000 purchase price, the city agreed to pay Burnett $45,000 to cover interest, moving costs and a down payment on a future home.
Clearing a Path for Downtown’s Front Door
City official Chris Engel said Merriam plans to remove all the purchased properties to make way for future development, according to the same Star report. The goal, per that account, is to transform the area between Merriam Drive, Johnson Drive and the bridge north of 57th Street into a future entry point to downtown Merriam. For now, the city has no specific plan for the Burnett property itself, but it fits into a broader strategy of moving structures out of the floodplain to accommodate flood mitigation infrastructure planned by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers…