photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World

Plans have been filed for a small commercial center at the northeast corner of Sixth Street and George Williams Way, shown on Dec. 19, 2024. The site is next to St. Margaret's Episcopal Church, pictured in the background.

Plans for a Braum’s restaurant in Lawrence may be delayed, but that doesn’t mean we have to pause the expansion of our waistbands. While I reported earlier this week that the hamburger and ice cream chain said it doesn’t have plans in either 2025 or 2026 to develop the northwest Lawrence site it owns, that is not a sign that other fast food restaurants aren’t looking at Lawrence.

In fact, interest is strong enough that plans are moving forward for a small commercial development near the corner of Sixth Street and George Williams Way that likely will be marketed to fast food and other quick service restaurant companies.

In case you are keeping track at home, that site is a few hundred feet east of where Braum’s owns property at Sixth Street and Entrada Drive. Both are near the entrance to the Rock Chalk Park sports complex.

The Lawrence-Douglas County Planning Commission recently approved a rezoning request for about 5 acres of property at 566 George Williams Way, which is at the northeast corner of Sixth Street and George Williams Way. The property is being rezoned to the CN-2 neighborhood commercial zoning district. That district allows for a variety of small business uses ranging from offices for service businesses to general retailers.

But the leasing agent for the property, J. Taylor of Colliers, told me that quick service restaurant users have expressed the most interest in the property. He didn’t name names. While the QSR category can include traditional fast-food chains, it also can include cookie retailers, coffee houses, ice cream shops and other such users who serve food or beverages in a quick fashion and may or may not use a drive-thru.

The project doesn’t have a tenant lined up currently, Taylor told me. Rather, there has been interest in the property over the past year or more. The property currently is zoned urban reserve, which means it is not eligible for any type of development. The local owners of the property decided to get the property rezoned, which would remove one hurdle for any development group that might be interested in purchasing the property.

As such, there are no specific development plans filed for the property. A concept plan that was required as part of the rezoning shows how three buildings could be placed on the site, with parking in the center of the property. But it is more likely that a new owner of the property would come up with a more specific plan tailored to specific users.

As for who those users could be, I don’t have any inside information on that front. However, I know many of you love to dream about new restaurants that could come to town. So, in the spirit of the holiday season, I will share with you a list of quick service restaurant chains that are among the fastest growing in the U.S..

The trade publication QSR has its list of the fastest growing quick service restaurants of 2023. The 2024 list isn’t out yet. On that 2023 list, there was only chain listed that is not already in Lawrence. That’s Marco’s Pizza, which is the fifth largest pizza chain in the country by one measure. It indeed has locations near us, with a couple in Johnson County, one in Topeka and several on the Missouri side of the K.C. market.

The fastest growing chains on the QSR list are quite familiar: Starbucks, Jersey Mike’s, Chipotle, Dunkin, and Taco Bell are the top 5.

I also looked at a list from the restaurant website eatthis.com. That list factors in some 2024 openings and planned openings. The highest-ranking quick service chain that doesn’t have a Lawrence location currently is Jack in the Box. That hamburger chain indeed is near us, with several in the Johnson County market. Next on the list is its sister chain, Del Taco, but it has no locations in Kansas or Missouri.

Others on the eatthis.com list that stood out to me were: Dunn Bros. Coffee, Crumbl Cookies, Qdoba, and Shake Shack. All of those are ones that either are nearby or in the case of Dunn Bros. and Qdoba, once had locations in Lawrence. Then there were two other chains I hadn’t heard of, but the eatthis.com article noted that the chains specifically have mentioned Kansas as part of their expansion plans. One is the hamburger chain small sliders, which is in the process of opening in Kansas City, Mo.. The other is Nick the Greek, which is a Mediterranean-style restaurant that is mainly on the west coast but has locations in Kansas City, Mo. and Olathe.

As for what’s next for the Sixth and George Williams Way site, the property must still win rezoning approval from the Lawrence City Commission. That should happen in the next few weeks. The project won unanimous approval from the Planning Commission, which is usually a sign that it will have smooth sailing at the City Commission level.