Leawood is a chance to live in Kansas-city area luxury
A gander around Leawood’s winding residential streets will likely lead to a quick conclusion: While housing styles vary from subdivision to subdivision, homes in this Kansas community are expansive, inside and out. Properties in Leawood, a city of 34,000 just about a dozen miles outside Kansas City, Kansas and its Missouri counterpart, average more than 3,000 square feet, topping the national average of 2,430. The city's pair of sprawling shopping centers and six city parks provide options for spending free time. The area's public school systems are highly rated, as well. “There’s a lot of charm and character in the homes,” says Shelley Staton, a Realtor with the Lyman Staton Group of ReeceNichols. “It’s definitely not a cookie-cutter type of town. We have a lot of local restaurants and small businesses that we love to support here. And big trees, parks.”
Leawood offers charm and character with local restaurants like Rye offering farm-to-table American fare.
Luxury homes in Leawood are scattered along hillsides, with parks and country clubs weaving through the neighborhoods.
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Space is a commonality across Leawood
Whether in midcentury developments like Leawood Estates or new subdivisions like Aventino, roomy floor plans are standard. “I think Leawood is really divided into a couple of different areas. And that’s mainly because of the era in which they were built,” Staton says. “We have homes that are in what we call old Leawood, and that’s going to be kind of inside the Interstate 435 loop. And those were built in the ’40s, ’50s and ’60s. And then we have homes in newer Leawood, so further south in Johnson County, that are going to be larger and were built from the ’80s all the way to today — we even have new construction still being built further south in Leawood.” Many houses around town line quiet roads shaded by towering oak trees. The average sale price of about $812,400 is significantly higher than the averages in both Kansas City, Kansas, and Kansas City, Missouri. Still, homes sell after an average of 37 days on the market, slightly quicker than the national average.
Single-family homes under 2,000 square feet can sell for $315,000 to $400,000. The larger homes sell for anywhere from $400,000 to $4 million, depending on size. Buyers can also opt for condos and townhomes starting at $160,000 and topping out around $775,000.
Several areas in Leawood have New Traditional homes built from the 80s to today.
Large colonial revival homes can be found in Leawood.
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Shawnee and Blue Valley school systems shine
Blue Valley and Shawnee Mission school districts provide public education to the area, and they’re a draw for some buyers. The Blue Valley system earns an A-plus rating on Niche and tops the website’s list of the best districts across Kansas. Blue Valley High School students can get career-focused instruction in disciplines like automotive technology and culinary and hospitality through the Johnson County Community College. Shawnee Mission is A-rated and No. 5 on Niche’s list of Kansas’ top districts. High school students in the Shawnee Mission system can participate in programs like biotechnology and engineering through the district’s Center for Academic Achievement.
Some Leawood students go to Shawnee Mission East High School, a
public high school in Kansas.
Blue Valley High has a variety after school programs near Leawood.
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The big screen supports a big employer
One of Leawood’s top employers is AMC Theaters, which has a support center comprised of 133,000 square feet of office space in town. The American Academy of Family Physicians, whose headquarters are in Leawood, is another. And with a location so close to the Kansas Cities, many more companies are at relatively quick reach, from H&R Block to Hallmark. Most residents commute no more than 24 minutes for their jobs, according to the Kansas City Area Development Council. Many work either in downtown Kansas City, Missouri or in nearby Overland Park, Staton says.
Leawood is 20 minutes from downtown Kansas City with major companies like H&R Block.
Hallmark corporate office is a large employer in Kansas City and 10 miles from Leawood.
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City Park comes packed with amenities
Leawood’s park system includes the 66-acre Leawood City Park, which is loaded with almost a dozen soccer fields, half a dozen lighted tennis courts, a playground and more. The park is the site of the Leawood Aquatic Center, too, which features an outdoor pool. City Park hosts community events, including Leawood’s Fourth of July celebration. "The whole city kind of gathers up there for the Fourth of July food trucks and fireworks,” Staton says. “ The region experiences all four seasons and can experience extreme weather as the area is at risk of tornadoes. The state averages almost 90 tornadoes a year, according to the National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center.
Locals play a game of tennis at Leawood City Park.
Residents cool off on a hot day at the Leawood Aquatic Center in Leawood, Kansas.
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Park Place and Town Center offer plenty to do
Leawood commercial plazas, Park Place and Town Center, combine for roughly one million square feet of retail space. “Town Center Plaza offers not only some big department store options like Crate & Barrel and Macy’s, but also a lot of smaller boutiques,” Staton says. “It’s an outdoor shopping area, so while you can have a lot of selection among stores, it’s also one that’s really easy to quickly pop in and out of. You can just park outside and jump into a store rather than having to park in a parking garage at a shopping mall. And the same goes for Park Place as well. There’s a lot of upscale shops, mainly luxury brands.”
Locals cool off with a Thai iced tea at Bamboo Penny's in Park Place.
The Town Center Plaza in Leawood offers dozens of high end shopping experiences like Crate & Barrel and Macy's.
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Kansas City is at residents’ fingertips
Commuter routes depend on the departure location in Leawood. Some can hop on Interstate 435 then U.S. Route 71 to get to downtown Kansas City, Missouri, or to Kansas City, Kansas. Residents north of I-435 can avoid the highway to reach Route 71 for drives to KC. I-635 and I-29 are connections to the Kansas City International Airport, a 30-mile trip. The Leawood area has multiple stops in the RideKC bus network, too.
Crime
From 2022 to 2023, the city experienced drops in violent crime and overall property crime, according to the Leawood Police Department’s 2023 annual report. Leawood’s violent crime rate ranks well below the national rate, according to the FBI Crime Data Explorer.
Denise discovered a passion for real estate when she started buying investment property. Buying and/or selling a home is an important milestone in a person's life and it brings her great joy to help people find that perfect home. Armed with a wealth of experience in advertising and marketing, she can creatively market your home to prospective buyers. And if you're a buyer, she knows how to help you find that house you will love! Denise's husband, Scott, is also a realtor and they work together to bring you the tools you need to make the best real estate decisions. Her promise to you is to always be there for you...buyer, seller or investor...every step of the way and to bring added value to your real estate experience. Denise is a member of the National Association of Realtors (NAR) and is a Certified Real Estate Negotiator, as well as a Senior Real Estate Specialist and Accredited Buyers Representative.
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