photo by: Herron + Partners architects/City of Lawrence

A rendering shows the proposed design for a Q39 barbecue restaurant in downtown Lawrence.

Lawrence city commissioners will consider preliminary approval for an economic incentive package Tuesday night to help continue the development of Q39 barbecue in downtown Lawrence.

If ultimately approved, the incentives package would create a new taxing district that would add 2% to the sales tax rate for all food and beverages purchased at the Q39 restaurant, and also would allow the development to save about $160,000 by exempting the project from paying sales taxes on the construction materials needed to renovate the restaurant site.

The popular Kansas City-based restaurant had begun renovation on the site of the former Journal-World printing plant building near Sixth and New Hampshire streets in late November, as the Journal-World reported. (Note: The Journal-World has no ownership or involvement in the project.)

The plan for the restaurant was to open in mid-2025, but construction has been paused on the site, according to a city memo, as the restaurant sent in an application for a sales tax exemption on construction materials. In a letter to the city requesting the exemption, the restaurant said it had planned to redevelop the property in coordination with a primary developer called 3D Development.

That development company had hoped to renovate the entire former Journal-World printing plant facility, with plans calling for high-end office space, a food hall and a unique open-air plaza that would house a variety of entertainment events. But as the Journal-World reported in October, the development group led by Kansas City businessman Vince Bryant let its option to purchase the former printing plant property expire. Q39, however, secured its part of the printing plant building separately, and made a decision to move forward with the restaurant project despite the larger development stalling.

But now, Q39 officials are saying that some economic incentives will be needed to make the project successful.

Q39 is requesting that the city approve Industrial Revenue Bonds in an amount not to exceed $5,000,000 to obtain a sales tax exemption on construction materials and a Community Improvement District to charge an additional 2% in sales tax for 22 years. The Industrial Revenue Bond proposal is a mechanism commonly used to take advantage of a provision in state law that makes a property tax exempt, in this case specifically exempt from sales taxes on construction materials. The $5 million figure doesn’t refer to the size of the tax break, but rather to the overall estimated value of the renovation project.

The restaurant said as part of its application letter that a range of planning issues and higher costs “have been absorbed” by Q39, and it needed the city’s help to stay on its timeline of opening in the summer.

“It is without doubt that a successful and sustainable operation for Q39 requires application of the City’s economic tools be applied to this site,” the application letter said.

The restaurant, which was first opened in 2014, has two locations in Kansas City and Overland Park. It specializes in brisket, smoking between 1,500 and 2,000 pounds per day, and has traditional barbecue platters and other creations like smoked brisket nachos, a French dip sandwich made out of brisket and a burnt end burger.

Although it is based in Kansas City, the current owner is a KU graduate and had previously told the Journal-World she wanted to bring a location to Lawrence.

The project is expected to get around $7 million in private investment and support 88 new permanent jobs, including eight managerial positions, according to information provided by the city.

City commissioners at their Tuesday evening meeting aren’t being asked to give final approval to the incentives package, but rather are being asked to issue a resolution of intent to issue the industrial revenue bonds. City staff says there is no direct upfront cost to the city to issue the industrial revenue bonds, but once issued they could provide about $163,500 of sales tax relief to the project, with the majority of those tax savings coming from an exemption from the statewide sales tax.

In other business, commissioners will:

• Receive an update on a comprehensive parking rate study.

The city’s Parking Services department engaged with Walker Consultants in August 2024 to conduct a study of the city’s parking rates to see how they compare to other cities. It also explored opportunities for “revenue stabilization and continued improvement of the parking system,” according to a city memo.

Some of the options that will be presented to the city as part of the study are extending the hours of parking enforcement, implementing a resident permit parking program, adding in higher rates during certain events or increasing the cost of parking violations. Depending on what kinds of changes are made, the fiscal impact to the city could be up to $818,000 net increase to the parking fund.

• Consider approving around $3.6 million of funding for two projects at the Youth Sports Complex at 4911 W. 27th St. One of these items is a construction bid to Precision Construction and Contracting LLC for $3,017,985.12 to convert the grass fields into turf fields. The new fields would be configured to accommodate two regulation adult soccer fields, four U12 & U10 youth soccer fields or two youth football fields. The other item would be a $593,000 outdoor lighting system from Musco Sports Lighting LLC.

Those two items are considered under the commission’s consent agenda, a group of items that can be passed all at once on a single vote.