Stonegate Motorplaza is a condominium association in Johnson County, Kansas, which is part of the Kansas City, Missouri metropolitan area, with buildings that contain garage-style condos used to store fancy cars, like race cars and collector cars. The group that manages the community is called the Stonegate Motorplaza Condominium Association (the “Association”), and it includes all the owners of these garage units.
The developer of the property, an entity called HP Motorplaza LLC (the “Developer”), planned to build several buildings with garage units and common areas over time. They officially created this plan in July 2015 and registered the declaration of Garage Condominium for the Association with the Johnson County Register of Deeds related to the forty (40) acres commonly referred to as the Stonegate Motorplaza subdivision. The plan included land that could be built in the future—this land was labeled as “convertible” or “expandable” land. This was filed pursuant to the Kansas Apartment Ownership Act.
The proposed project involved the construction of multiple buildings containing condominium units for the storage and display of automobiles with associated amenities and services. An association would be formed of garage unit owners for the eventual management and maintenance of the condominium. The developer did build a few buildings and units right away, and some unit owners later made changes to their boundaries. But since 2015, the developer had not taken any steps to build on the rest of the land.
According to Kansas law, the right to develop the remaining land automatically expires after seven (7) years if nothing is done. Because the developer missed that deadline, the law says the leftover land (called Lots 1, 4, 5, and Tract B) is now permanently part of the common area—shared by all the condo owners.
There is little case law regarding the failure to develop a planned condominium, but there are relevant statutes. On land identified as convertible, Kansas law establishes a procedure for a declarant (or the developer) to convert convertible land into units or other facilities within seven (7) years of the filing of the Declaration. All convertible land remains part of the common area and facilities until converted, and the option to expand the condominium expires after the seven (7) year time frame. K.S.A. 58-3115a. On land identified as expandable, the right and option to expand the condominium “automatically expires seven (7) years after the initial recording of this Declaration in the Recording Office and may not be exercised by the Declarant at any time thereafter.” KSA § 58-3111.13(c). The Developer failed to take the statutory steps required to fully develop the condominium either through converting the convertible land or the expandable land into units and has therefore lost any and all development rights. The land (Lots 1, 4 and 5 and Tract B) remains common area of the Association, owned by all members in common.
The Association filed a Petition for Declaratory Judgment for a determination that the Developer’s development rights had expired and that the land remained common area of the Association, owned by all Association members in common. The Developer subsequently filed a Motion to Dismiss, which was denied, and then a motion for summary judgment to which the Association filed a cross motion. The district court judge found in favor of the Association and granted summary judgment on its cross motion. This appeal followed from the Developer.
The appellant, the Developer is focusing on the appellate issue of whether the trial court erred in determining that the property at issue automatically became common area after the expiration of the seven (7) year development period allowed by Kansas law. The Developer argues that the use of the word “deemed” as in “deemed common area” until land is developed, only applies to the character of the land during the seven (7) year development period and once that expires the land remains in the fee simple ownership of the developer.
The interpretation of the Kansas Apartment Ownership Act is of the utmost importance to the development of community association law, particularly in the states that have adopted the 1977 version of the Uniform Condominium Act. It is vital that the drafters of community association documents and declarations understand the implications of the language used to plat or replat land and the impact such decisions can have on the ownership and development rights of a planned community.
Court: Kansas Court of Appeals
Topic: Convertible and expandable land
Brief Author: Todd Billy, Esq., CCAL, of Sandberg Phoenix
Filed: October 3, 2025