Piles of dirt and tons of heavy equipment at the intersection of 23rd Street and O’Connell Drive are catching the attention of passing motorists, and developers of the corner are glad of it.
The dirt work is the first step in turning the intersection into a new commercial center. As reported in August, Tractor Supply Co. has agreed to build a new store at the site, and construction crews are now busy building the roads, storm sewers, sidewalks and a sewage lift station to serve the development.
“Once users and other players in the commercial real estate business can see and touch the development, we’re cautiously optimistic that we’ll have more businesses to announce,” said Bill Newsome, who heads the Lawrence-based development group that is working on the project.
Tractor Supply Co., a national farm and home retail chain, plans to build about a 20,000-square-foot store on the eastern edge of the site between O’Connell and Franklin roads.
But the site is zoned to accommodate about 200,000 square feet of retail. Newsome has long said the development would like a grocery store to serve as the anchor tenant for the development.
First, though, comes the unglamorous work of installing infrastructure. Chuck Soules, the city’s director of public works, said work on the east-west road, which will be called Exchange Place, should be done by the beginning of the year. Work on the north-south road, which will be Fairfield Street, will begin in the winter and be done in the spring.
Newsome said Tractor Supply Co. has filed for a building permit, and work on the store should begin within a matter of days. A spring opening is likely, he said.
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dudedog12 (anonymous) says…
Hello TSC good by orschelins......:)
LogicMan (anonymous) says…
Agree, but I'd follow that with a :-( instead.
prairierose54 (anonymous) says…
Hope they keep the shelves stocked better in Lawrence than in South Topeka.
Tons of times I get the "that's outta stock right now" when I call and need something.
merrill (anonymous) says…
One more nail in the coffin of economic growth for Lawrence,Kansas.... as Lawrence powers that push forward their policy od economic displacement.
More retail than Lawrence area retail dollars can support = economic displacement = increased taxes/user fees for Lawrence,Kansas.
In layman terminology Lawrence is wayyyyyyyyyyy over extended in the flooded retail market = financially stretched business owners.
This was the policy before the Bush-Cheney home loan frauds.
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By Kim McClure
July 24, 2009
To the editor:
The July 14 editorial asks, “What’s downtown going to look like five, 10 or 15 years from now?” The answer can be known, and the picture is not pretty.
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Lawrence has enough spending to support about 4.1 million square feet of retail space, but the City Commission permitted developers to expand the supply to over 5.5 million square feet.
Lawrence has too much retail space chasing too few vendors, which means that many stores go empty, especially in the older shopping centers like downtown.
The surplus development has stalled redevelopment plans downtown and has pushed the vacancy rates so high that disinvestment and blight now threaten. Investment, both public and private, is wasted. The taxpayers’ $8 million parking garage stands largely empty. The Hobbs-Taylor building and the 600 block of Massachusetts should be the top performing spaces in the community, but they have significant vacancies.
The recession has contributed to the problem, but had we properly managed our growth we would be much better off.
The developers’ short-term gain is now our long-term loss. Managed growth would have prevented much of the problem and would have protected and enhanced our downtown.
It will take many, many years to absorb this surplus space and, until this happens, it will be hard for downtown to compete. We can only look forward to many years of high vacancy and disinvestment. We need a City Commission that knows how to pace the growth of supply so as to protect our unique downtown.
McClure is from Lawrence
http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2009/jul...
cowboy (anonymous) says…
Thank God were getting some competition in a farm store , Orschelns is a pathetic operation .
blue73harley (anonymous) says…
merrill this is not the same as your usual rant/copy/paste about over-built retail. There is a big niche market for this type of store...and unfortunately Orschelin's blew it.