photo by: CT Design + Development

A rendering shows how the existing Quonset hut at 620 E. Eighth could be rehabilitated as part of the proposed $3.6 million Terrapin redevelopment project in East Lawrence.

A plan to turn an old Quonset hut in East Lawrence into a taco restaurant surrounded by everything from pickleball to outdoor films is moving ahead, but now is seeking financial incentives from City Hall.

Tony Krsnich — the entrepreneur who developed much of the Warehouse Arts District — said that he filed a request for financial incentives that include a 95% property tax rebate for the development, which he has dubbed The Terrapin.

The financial incentives, which will go to the Lawrence City Commission for consideration, are the latest sign that Krsnich’s big plans for the old Quonset hut and the surrounding 2.1 acres at 620 E. Eighth St. have not gotten any smaller but have gotten more concrete.

Krsnich said the 1950s-era industrial building, which sits on a site that served as an 1800s gas plant for Lawrence, has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places. That listing qualifies the building for several tax credits that can be used in its renovation.

The property is just east of the Warehouse Arts District and across the street from Krsnich’s Poehler Lofts, an old multistory brick building that Krsnich renovated into apartments to kick-start the Warehouse Arts District more than a decade ago.

Plans for the renovation are similar to what we reported in the spring of 2021, when Krsnich started envisioning a project. A restaurant is the main commercial element of the project, but what Krsnich plans to do on the nearly 2-acre site around it may create some of the more unusual entertainment elements.

He said he envision The Terrapin — a name inspired by the rounded, tortoise-like roof of the Quonset hut and Krsnich’s love of the Grateful Dead and its “Terrapin Station” album — becoming a “cultural hub for Lawrence,” and he thinks the site will have enough to offer that it will become a regional destination for people looking for food, drink and outdoor activity.

photo by: CT Design + Development

A site plan shows possible uses that could be included in The Terrapin redevelopment project in East Lawrence.

Here’s a look at some details of the project that Krsnich said he is still finalizing.

• Street tacos likely will be the food of choice for the new restaurant. Krsnich said he is interviewing three potential operators for the restaurant, and all of them have expressed an interest in the street taco concept. That’s in part because Krsnich has said he wants the restaurant to focus on serving affordable food. Tacos, with their limited number of ingredients, can meet that bill easier than more advanced menus. Plus, they’re tacos. People like them.

• And ice cream too? Krsnich said two of the three potential operators have expressed an interest in an ice cream concept at the site also.

• Pickleball and bocce ball. Krsnich said he hopes to have about five pickleball courts on the site and a couple of bocce ball areas. Beanbag tosses and horseshoes also are a possibility, among other such games geared toward both adults and kids. (I have my pickleball strategy already set: doubles only so that I can hold a taco in one hand and an ice cream cone in the other.)

• An events pavilion. Krsnich said there will be an area that could host a variety of entertainment, including music, film and theater, but also would be available for events like a farmers market. Over the years, Lawrence has developed a reputation as a live music town, despite not having a true outdoor music venue. Krsnich has said this space won’t be designed to serve as a traditional amphitheater. He said he hoped to have a music component at the site, but that is not a driving force of the project.

“We hope there will be outdoor music and film and theater, but I really don’t know,” Krsnich said. “It is not being built around the outdoor music component, but we look forward to working with regional and outdoor projects.”

During the interview, Krsnich mentioned film several times, and said he has been approached by an entity that is interested in the possibility of hosting a film festival at the site.

• Dogs welcome. Krsnich said he hopes to have a small, off-leash dog park as part of the development.

• More parking. Plans call for more than 85 new parking spaces to be developed on or near the site. Since Krsnich is a major owner of the existing Warehouse Arts District across the street from the project, he said the parking will be structured so that people who are using any part of the Warehouse Arts District can use the parking at The Terrapin site.

• Alcohol. The restaurant will serve alcohol, but more in the style of a restaurant than a bar. Krsnich at one point had asked city commissioners to exempt the project from a requirement that food and drink establishments in the Warehouse Arts District make no more than 45% of their revenue from alcohol sales. But commissioners declined to grant that exemption, and The Terrapin will have to comply with that limit, Krsnich said.

• Loop trail. Krsnich said as part of the development, he will grant the necessary easements to the city to build its hike and bike trail through the eastern edge of the property. The trail is part of the city’s loop trail that will encircle the city when completed. The stretch on Krsnich’s property is one of the last remaining unbuilt portions on the east side of the community.

photo by: CT Design + Development

A rendering shows how the inside of the Quonset hut building at 620 E. Eighth could be remodeled into restaurant space as part of The Terrapin redevelopment project.

As for the incentives request, I haven’t seen the actual application to City Hall yet. Krsnich said he was seeking to use the Neighborhood Revitalization Act, which is a program that provides property tax rebates for projects that rehabilitate blighted properties. He also wants industrial revenue bonds, which would allow the project to receive a sales tax rebate on construction materials that are purchased for the project. Both types of incentives are very similar to what Krsnich has received for his projects in the Warehouse Arts District.

Krsnich said his analysis shows The Terrapin project, due to the costs of saving such an old and dilapidated building, isn’t feasible without financial incentives. Previous owners of the property had planned to demolish the old Quonset hut, which most recently served as a shop site for Black Hills Energy. But neighbors and historic preservationists objected, and urged that a plan come forward to save the building.

“People just love this old Quonset hut,” Krsnich said.

Krsnich is estimating the project will have a cost of about $3.6 million. More details on the incentives request will come forward in the future, as it will require a formal cost-benefit analysis, and will be presented to the city’s Public Incentives Review Committee before it is brought to the City Commission for action.

In terms of a timeline for the project, that is partly dependent upon how quickly the financial incentives request moves through City Hall. But Krsnich said he would like to start the rehabilitation in late summer or early fall.

photo by: CT Design + Development

A rendering shows how the existing Quonset hut at 620 E. Eighth could be rehabilitated as part of the proposed $3.6 million Terrapin redevelopment project in East Lawrence.