Lawrence city commissioners approve tax incentives, development agreement with KU for Gateway project’s $300M second phase

photo by: MultiStudio

A ground level view of the proposed Gateway project at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium is shown in this rendering.

Lawrence city commissioners on Tuesday voted to approve a variety of financial incentives that would allow the $300 million second phase of the University of Kansas’ Gateway project to begin at 11th and Mississippi streets on the northern edge of campus.

The commissioners voted to approve five items that will provide KU a major package of financial incentives worth around $94.6 million for the second phase of the project, which would build a hotel that connects to the conference center, new parking, new student housing and space for businesses. Two key provisions which needed a supermajority — creating special tax districts for KU — were approved on a 4-1 vote, with Commissioner Amber Sellers as the lone no vote.

The financial incentive package included approving two taxing districts, a STAR Bond district and a tax increment financing district for the second phase of the project. Commissioners approved the creation of the boundaries for the tax districts in May, as the Journal-World reported.

Alongside the package of financial incentives, the city and KU drafted a development agreement that included a promise from KU to provide at least $4 million worth of land to be used for affordable housing projects. The city would also have rights to up to $14.5 million in new tax revenues created by the development to improve the Ninth Street corridor and stormwater systems near the football stadium, as the Journal-World reported.

KU officials have touted the Gateway project and convention center as a major economic development driver for all of Lawrence, and particularly downtown. The plans for the second phase call for a 162-room hotel, 443 beds of student housing, 43,000 square feet of retail, restaurant and office space, and approximately 1,000 parking spaces that will be in a mix of underground parking garages and new surface parking lots.

This is a developing story and will be updated.