Room sought for hotel project

Developers want permits to raze buildings near KU campus

Developers of a planned hotel, retail and parking complex are asking for permission to raze buildings northeast of 12th and Indiana streets. The buildings include the former home of Yello Sub, left, and The Crossing bar, right.

The former home to a Yello Sub and the current location of The Crossing bar are targeted for demolition, part of plans to build a new 110-room hotel and retail complex on the site just off the northern edge of Kansas University’s main campus.

Developers hope to secure permits by mid-October, to open up options for demolition by early next year so that construction could begin by May.

“We’ve heard nothing but positive support from businesspeople, city leaders and university leaders,” said Tim Homburg, project architect. “Everybody’s been very supportive. We know these things take time. We’re just forward thinking, to make sure we get all our ducks in a row to do this.”

Thomas Fritzel, a partner in Triple T LLC, filed applications last week to demolish structures northeast of 12th and Indiana streets:

¢ 618-620 W. 12th St., home to The Crossing, a bar that includes an outdoor porch. A building out back, home to a burrito shop, also would be razed.

¢ 1144 Ind., a commercial building formerly home to Yello Sub. The building also includes Beat the Bookstore, which remains open.

An application to raze a third site – a single-family home containing four rental units at 1142 Ind. – was submitted but quickly put on hold, at least for now, because the units are leased.

Triple T’s applications are open to public comment for several weeks. The demolition permits cannot be issued until Triple T either secures permission from the Historic Resources Commission – an appointed group that reviews development plans affecting landmarks – or otherwise wins approval from the Lawrence City Commission.

Historic resources commissioners were unable to reach a consensus during their first meeting to review plans, conducted Aug. 16. The appointed commissioners are charged with reviewing the project, because it is proposed for property near a historic home and district listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Historic resources commissioners are scheduled to resume their review Sept. 20, during a meeting also set to include consideration of Triple T’s permit applications.

Both the demolition and construction proposals will be considered as a single package, said Lynne Braddock Zollner, the city’s historic resources administrator. She’s already recommended that the project be rejected, saying the building would be too large to fit in with the historic character of the area.

“It’s going to change the skyline for Lawrence,” said Zollner, who acknowledged that Lawrence city commissioners would have the final say on whether the project moves ahead. “Based on the drawings we have, you’ll see it from I-70. You’ll see it from K-10. I think this is larger than just the preservation issue.”

Homburg, the architect, said that he’d heard plenty of support for the project from nearby residents – including members of the Oread Neighborhood Association and Carol von Tersch, who lives in the landmark-listed Snow residence nearby.

Among the bigger issues that developers have been dealing with is coming up with a name for the planned hotel, he said. Initial plans called for “Eldridge on the Hill” – as owners of the downtown hotel are developers in the current project – but now they’re using “Oread Inn” as a working name, so as not to create any historic confusion.

“If the biggest issue we have is the naming of the hotel, I think we’ve done pretty well for ourselves at this point,” Homburg said.