Buyers extend downtown investment

Smoking ban, liquor license factor in deal

A downtown building and its two hot commodities — a “grandfathered” liquor license and an expansive outdoor patio that permits smoking — has been sold to a group of Lawrence investors for $800,000.

Lawrence 2004 L.C. this week acquired the building at 815 N.H., now home to Club Eight One Five.

The ownership group includes Lawrence appraisers Jeff Hatfield and Ron Aul; Jon Davis and Tom Devlin, owners of the Yacht Club and The Ranch; and Consolidated Properties, led by Lawrence developer Doug Compton and former Kansas University men’s basketball coach Larry Brown.

The acquisition brings to nine the number of downtown buildings in which Compton and Brown own interests.

“This is a unique building with a unique location and a lot of unique characteristics,” Compton said. “This is a two-story building with an outdoor patio — and with the smoking ordinance in place, that’s a factor.”

The group closed the deal this week, financing the purchase of the building — valued by the Douglas County Appraiser’s Office at $401,700 — with a $640,000 mortgage.

“It’s a lot of money,” said Compton, who said Consolidated Properties was “in discussions” with owners of at least two other buildings about possible purchases.

“We continue to invest in downtown Lawrence because we believe in downtown Lawrence,” Compton said. “I think that downtown is becoming more and more unique every year, and that’s all there’s going to be there. And we want to be a part of it. Coach Brown’s happy to be a part of it.”

Jeff Singer, owner of Club Eight One Five, said he had plans to maintain his restaurant-and-bar business at 815 N.H., where he and a partner opened Raoul’s Velvet Room in 2000.

This building at 815 N.H. offers 4,500 square feet of space, plus an open-air patio. The building sold for 00,000 this week to Lawrence 2004 L.C., an investment group that includes developer Doug Compton and former Kansas University men's basketball coach Larry Brown.

“I have a lease,” said Singer, who declined to disclose its terms. “For the time being, I’m keeping on going.”

Compton and other Lawrence 2004 representatives declined to disclose plans for the building other than to point out they have an existing tenant in place.

When Compton and Brown purchased another downtown building that was home to a bar — Rick’s Place, at 623 Vt. — the bar’s lease was not renewed. That building soon was remodeled and transformed into The Mad Hatter, a bar and grill.

Susan Hatfield, a spokeswoman for Lawrence 2004, said any speculation of what might become of the building was just that — speculation.

“We’re happy,” she said. “We’ve got a wonderful building in downtown Lawrence and a current tenant. We’re very happy. Right now, at this point, I can’t give you a deadline of when we might change that or how we might change that.”

The building proved attractive as an investment for Kansas Seed House L.L.C., which bought the place five years ago. Mike Riling, president of the Seed House group, said the building’s access to parking — an adjacent city lot offers free parking for two hours daily — made it attractive for nightlife operations.

The smoking ban that took effect this summer made the property more valuable, he said, because 815 N.H. has a patio out front that can be used for dining, drinking and smoking. Add in that the property’s valid liquor license gives owners the ability to sell alcohol without regard to food sales — other properties downtown are required to make at least 55 percent of their revenues from food if they serve alcohol — and it’s no surprise buyers came calling.

“They can be a straight bar, and they don’t even need to sell food,” Riling said. “That makes the property more valuable.”