News and notes from around town:

• Perhaps you have been wondering about the future of Ninth and New Hampshire and tall, new buildings for that downtown intersection.

If so, you might need more exciting things to wonder about, but you also are in luck. A trio of long-awaited reports about the feasibility of a proposed multi-story hotel/apartment building on the southeast corner of the intersection and a multi-story apartment/office building on the northeast corner are done.

Several East Lawrence neighbors had hoped the reports by an outside consultant would show the projects proposed by Lawrence businessmen Doug Compton and Mike Treanor could be built at shorter heights and still be financially feasible.

But the reports don’t appear to help the neighbors’ cause.

Here’s a look:

— The Springsted consulting firm examined whether the hotel/retail building on the southeast corner feasibly could be built at three stories instead of the four stories proposed. (Actually, parts of the proposed building would be taller than four stories, but most of the building would be four stories tall.)

The report assumes at three stories, the project no longer would be hotel project, but largely would be an apartment project. The developers have said at three stories there’s not enough space to accommodate a hotel chain.

The report found the project could be built at three stories and still be profitable, but the Springsted folks ultimately deemed the three-story plan not feasible because it would produce a rate of return below what the market expects for such projects.

The report concluded the developers would realize an internal rate of return of 3.83 percent on the approximately $12 million project. Springsted said a national survey of such projects indicates rates of return ranged from 5.25 percent to 14 percent, with the average rate of return checking in at 8.28 percent.

By the way, the 3.83 percent rate of return only happens if the city agrees to provide some financial incentives, including a tax increment financing district and a special 1 percent sales tax district.

So, if you are scoring at home, Springsted says it is not reasonable to expect the developer to build at three stories instead of four.

— The report for the four-story building largely examines whether the city ought to offer financial incentives to the developer. To cut to the chase, the consultants say yes. In fact, the consultants say even with the financial incentives it is not a very profitable project for the developers.

Springsted — which was hired by the city, not the developers — found without any incentives the project would have an internal rate of return of 2.64 percent on the approximately $17 million building. With incentives — namely tax increment financing and a special 1 percent sales tax district — the internal rate of return would be 5.73 percent. But Springsted said national surveys suggest internal rates of return for other hotel projects range from 10 percent to 15 percent. In other words, the Lawrence project would be a low performer compared to its national peers, even with incentives. Without incentives, it would be even lower.

— Finally, there is the proposed building for the northeast corner of the intersection, which includes the Black Hills Energy office building that Compton recently purchased.

Springsted examined plans for a seven-story apartment/office building with underground parking. The report found without any incentives, the project would have an internal rate of return of 4.37 percent on the approximately $27 million project. With incentives — this time just tax increment financing but no special 1 percent sales tax — the rate of return would be 6.21 percent. Springsted said national surveys indicated rates of return for similar projects were 5.25 percent to 14 percent, with an average of 8.28 percent.

In other words, the report concludes city incentives likely will be needed to convince the developer to build the project.

The trio of reports does provide some other interesting information about the projects.

For example, according to the reports, the cost of the vacant ground at the southeast corner checks in at $695,000. The cost of the recently purchased ground at the northeast corner comes in at $1.625 million.

The report also details the expected dollar value of the proposed incentives for the two projects. For the hotel/retail project on the southeast corner, the project would receive $3.35 million, plus interest, in city incentives over a 16-year period. After the 16-year period is completed, the project would receive no city incentives and would be fully on the tax rolls.

On an annual basis, Springsted estimates the city would forgo $155,784 in property tax collection, $142,270 in sales tax collections, and the new 1 percent special sales tax would generate about $55,700 per year.

For the seven-story apartment/office building, developers are requesting $3.43 million in assistance, plus interest, over a 20-year period. On annual basis, the city would forgo about $202,000 in property tax collections. This project doesn’t involve any special sales taxes.

With both buildings, the incentives would be used to help pay for private underground parking and other site improvements.

• You don’t need a fancy financial analysis to determine the value of this next piece of information. It might be worth just what you paid for it, but I’ll pass it along anyway.

If you remember, we previously have reported plans have been filed for a new retail building to be constructed in the parking lot of the Wal-Mart on South Iowa Street. Well, there is speculation that one of the tenants for that building will be a Chipotle restaurant. I’ve heard it from a couple of sources now, but no confirmation from the Kansas City-based development group. But that group did indicate a restaurant use was likely for at least part of the space. The plans indicated the building will be able to accommodate at least two businesses.

While we are on the restaurant front, I also hear that Allison Vance Moore of Lawrence’s Colliers International has finalized a deal to bring a new restaurant to 918 Mass. That’s a vacant spot next Jock’s Nitch. I believe it used to house a retail shop called Beyond the Door. I haven’t been able to find out, yet, any details about the new eatery. I’ll keep my ears open and my tongue in stand-by mode.