Financial tech firm looks to Overland Park, and its tax incentives, for 'big deal' job project (2025)

Wisconsin-based financial technology company Fiserv, Inc. is the mystery firm eyeballing Overland Park’s Aspiria campus as the home for a new regional hub.

The Fortune 500 company wants to lease out two existing buildings spanning roughly 425,000 square feet on the mixed-use campus for 2,000 white collar, in-person employees for at least 15 years. Some of those employees are expected to transfer from established Fiserv workplaces, though the majority of them would be new hires.

The firm, headquartered in Milwaukee, operates payment and financial services technology, including the point of sale platform Clover. They operate what Fiserv calls “strategic hubs” around the U.S.

“The scope and scale of this investment — both in terms of job creation and private capital — will deliver generational impact,” said Libbey Tucker, who leads economic development efforts for the Overland Park Chamber of Commerce, in an emailed statement.

Fiserv’s local operations at 6500 and 6550 Sprint Parkway on the Aspiria campus could begin as soon as this year.

'A significant step forward'

Word that a mystery financial technology firm was looking to lease space at Aspiria first started circulating last week, though the name of the firm in question was kept secret at first. In city documents, it was dubbed “Project Turtle.”

On Monday, in a joint statement with Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, Fiserv formally announced its plans to open a new regional office hub in Overland Park.

“We are thrilled to expand our U.S. footprint, bringing our people together to drive innovation on behalf of our clients,” Chairman and CEO Frank Bisignano said in a news release. “Working with local and state leaders, we are committed to driving growth and prosperity for both Fiserv and Kansas while contributing to the vibrancy of the Overland Park community.”

Fiserv’s move also marks a key point for Aspiria as the ever-changing vision for the mixed-use site at the former Sprint World Headquarters has played out in fits and spurts over several years.

Local officials also trumpeted the news.

“This is the largest job project that we’ve landed in my time on the council — that’s 20 years,” Mayor Curt Skoog said Monday evening. “This is a big deal. This is a big win for us, and we are excited to be selected.”

Kelly also called it “a significant step forward as we continue to elevate Kansas to new heights,” in a news release.

Johnson County Post

Overland Park firmed up incentive package this week

Also on Monday, the Overland Park City Council took a formal step toward setting up the incentive package on which the deal hinges.

Fiserv has requested what amounts to a roughly 40%, 10-year property tax rebate. By a 10-1 vote, the city council approved directing city staff to negotiate the rebate deal with Fiserv.

Councilmember Jeff Cox was the lone dissenting vote, calling the structure of the proposed deal “unusual.”

Councilmember Sam Passer, who voiced support for the incentive package, abstained because Fiserv is a competitor to Lenexa-based Touchnet, the company where he works as a vice president.

“It seems like anybody with lick of common sense knows this is a great idea,” Passer said, adding that he was “voting yes in spirit.”

For the rebate, the company would pay their full property tax bill annually and then request money back through an application process of sorts.

That would give the city the power to deny a rebate to the firm or claw back money if they aren’t delivering on the promises and terms laid out in a final incentive agreement.

Property taxes paid to the Blue Valley School District and Johnson County Community College would be exempted from the rebate.

In the past, Overland Park has used a variety of incentives to encourage new development or to entice new business to the city, but the rebate incentive being discussed for Fiserv would be the first time the city has offered such a deal to a company.

City staff previously said the rebate could offset an estimated $1.3 million in city property taxes for the company over the next 10 years, assuming an annual 5% valuation increase on the office space.

One of the key cornerstones of the incentive package the city has offered to Fiserv Inc. is that the firm is expected to execute a minimum of $125 million in capital investment into its office space at Aspiria and employ 2,000 individuals at the Overland Park site by spring 2030. The average annual salary of those employees is anticipated to be $125,000.

Last week, Alex Leath, an Alabama-based attorney representing Fiserv, said the firm picked Overland Park’s Aspiria after a lengthy search that looked at other bigger cities for a new regional headquarters location.

Aspiria’s vision is evolving

Johnson County Post

The 200-acre campus now known as Aspiria near Nall Avenue and 119th Street was at first envisioned solely for office development as part of the former Sprint World Headquarters.

Those plans were never fully realized, and when T-Mobile merged with Sprint in 2020, the company took over the western portion of the campus.

That same year, Wichita-based Occidental rezoned the entire campus to accommodate mixed-use development, paving the way for a variety of uses with an eye toward entertainment, dining and retail as well as more offices.

Reaching Occidental’s full vision for Aspiria is likely to take years if not decades, though there’s been some recent momentum at the campus.

Earlier this year, Overland Park approved a final development plan for more retail near 115th and Nall. Additionally, construction on a new indoor go-kart facility and entertainment complex nearby is underway.

The campus has been rumored to be a site under consideration for a new Royals stadium, though Occidental quickly denied claims made on a local sports talk radio show. At the time, the developer said it continues to be “committed to keeping Aspiria a mixed-use space” with a variety of land uses.

Next steps for Fiserv at Aspiria

Fiserv said it plans to open its Aspiria office in 2025, though the exact timeline is unclear.

The action from the city council this week simply sets up the incentive agreement with Fiserv but it does not finalize anything.

Later, the Overland Park City Council’s Finance, Administration and Economic Development Committee will take up a property tax rebate agreement for consideration before sending it to the full city council for final consideration.

At that time, terms for both the city and Fiserv will be officially hammered out.

This story was originally published by the Johnson County Post.