Update on future of former Ramada Inn site; gasoline prices ahead of holiday weekend, and why Lawrence envies Topeka

photo by: Nick Krug

Workers with King's Construction separate scraps of metal from brick and concrete during the demolition process of the former Ramada Inn building located at 2222 West 6th Street, on Tuesday, May 26, 2015. The property, which is owned by Lawrence-based Williams Management, is expected to be redeveloped.

If you have booked your mother-in-law to stay in Lawrence’s Ramada Inn this Labor Day weekend, good for you. Bad for your mother-in-law. In case you haven’t noticed, the former Ramada Inn property at Sixth and Iowa streets is largely torn down.

I’ve been getting several questions about what the future holds for the large, well-situated property. As we reported in April, Lawrence-based Williams Management bought the run-down property from an East Coast bank. Adam Williams, leader of the local development group, said then that he would tear the building down and then look for redevelopment opportunities.

I talked with Williams again this week, and he said interest in the property has been strong, but he’s not yet able to announce a redevelopment plan. Williams said he’s been in discussions with other parties who are interested in redeveloping the site, and he believes something will be “coming down the line soon.”

“It is a very, very good bet that it won’t be a vacant lot for long,” Williams said.

In April, Williams told me the commercial zoning of the property makes it well suited for a variety of uses such as an office building, a retail development or even a gas station. Williams said he didn’t see redevelopment plans focusing on apartments. Williams this week said that’s still the case.

Williams said he’s still open to talking with other parties about potential developments for the property, but he thinks there will be plans filed for the site in about the next 60 days.

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The site will be one to keep an eye on. It is unique to have nearly four acres of vacant, commercially zoned land at one of the busier intersections of the community.

“It is kind of a gateway to Lawrence in a lot of ways,” Williams said. “Coming off the turnpike, it is one of the first things you are going to come across.”

As for the status of the demolition at the site, Williams said there is one small wall that needs to come down on the property, but some utilities need to be moved before that work can be finished in the next few days.


In other news and notes from around town:

• Maybe you are driving to see your mother-in-law this holiday weekend. If so, figure out how to drive through Topeka, and I’m not just recommending it so you can fill your nostrils with the beautiful smell of Kansas politics. Instead, fill your tank with cheap gas.

Gas in Topeka is selling for an average of $2.16 a gallon, according to the Daily Fuel Gauge Report by AAA. In Lawrence, the average price per gallon is about $2.45, according to the same report. I don’t know what happens in the approximately 30 miles between Lawrence and Topeka that causes gas to be so much cheaper in the Capital City. Despite popular belief, perhaps the Statehouse isn’t sitting on a pocket of hot air, but rather cheap oil. I don’t know. Or maybe Topeka isn’t run by the governor but rather is secretly controlled by oil tycoon Jed Clampett.

Again, I don’t know, but several readers have called to complain about the discrepancy in recent days. The fact that Topeka has cheaper gas than Lawrence isn’t anything new, but the discrepancy has grown a bit. Last year at this time, the average gasoline price was $3.37 a gallon in Lawrence, but $3.20 in Topeka — a difference of 17 cents or about 5 percent. Today, the difference in price is 32 cents or about 15 percent.

Such price differences frequently lead to accusations of collusion by gas station owners in Lawrence. I don’t know. I’ve never found any evidence of that, but then again, all my efforts to go undercover in the Lawrence convenience store industry have been thwarted when I become too distracted by the Slurpee machine.

I think a more interesting question to ask is whether there is something about Lawrence that causes us to pay a premium to live here? Local real estate prices for a long time have suggested there is something to this idea of a Lawrence premium. Home prices here are consistently higher than in several other communities, especially when you compare home prices to average incomes. That’s true even when you factor out low-wage earning students. Someday, I will postulate a theory about all of this, but at the moment, I have a Slurpee cup to refill.

Regardless, you may want to know more about gasoline prices in the state and region ahead of this traditionally busy travel weekend. Here’s a look from AAA:

• Statewide average: $2.34

• Lawrence: $2.45

• Kansas City, Kan.: $2.42

• Topeka: $2.16

• Wichita: $2.24

• Kansas City, Mo.: $2.15

• Denver: $2.70

• Oklahoma City: $2.25

• Omaha: $2.61

• National average: $2.42