photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World

A bean field along U.S. Highway 59 and the South Lawrence Trafficway is pictured on Sept. 15, 2023. The site is proposed for a new mixed-use housing and retail development.

Plans to convert a nearly 180-acre site at the South Lawrence Trafficway and Iowa Street into a major retail, housing and entertainment center are likely nearing a key approval, a development representative told the Journal-World Thursday.

That’s a different message than you may have picked up on if you simply were looking at the paperwork at Lawrence City Hall. There, the paperwork shows the development group has withdrawn an application for the project’s preliminary plat and a pair of rezoning requests.

The decision to withdraw those planning applications was procedural in nature, and not a sign that the development group was backing away from the project in any way, Phil Struble, president of Landplan Engineering and a representative of the Wichita-based development group, told the Journal-World.

“They totally are,” Struble said when asked if the developers remained committed to the project. “They are champing at the bit.”

But the project still needs a key approval, and it needs to come from federal officials rather than Lawrence City Hall. For more than a year, the project has been seeking a floodplain fill permit from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which is tasked with regulating development in flood-prone areas.

Struble said that the development group last week answered what it believes were FEMA’s last set of questions about the development and the site.

“They said we should hear from them right away,” Struble said. “We think we are within a month of getting that all done.”

Winning that approval is the largest hurdle facing the development. In addition to being near the Wakarusa River, the site also has a creek that crosses through the center of the property. Some development is proposed south of that creek, which would require adding soil to the area. Adding soil to a flood-prone area could exacerbate flooding problems, which is why a FEMA permit is required. The federal agency must be convinced new development won’t make flooding problems worse.

“As far as we know, they are satisfied, but it is just a process,” Struble said.

The flooding issue has made the project controversial at Lawrence City Hall. The project failed to win the approval of the Lawrence-Douglas Planning Commission, but city commissioners in early 2024 narrowly approved key elements of the project. Despite the environmental issues, a majority of commissioners said the project could be an important commercial gateway to the community, and also provide a few hundred new homes that are in very short supply in the city.

All of those zoning approvals that were granted by the city in March 2024 remain in place for the project. That is key because a lack of commercial zoning has been the stumbling block to developing the property for more than a decade. The site has been proposed for development many times over the years, but until last March had failed to win the needed commercial zoning approvals.

Since the March 2024 approvals, the project filed a modified set of plans for the site. The majority of the development would remain the same — a mix of big lots for retail projects and space for more than a hundred single family homes and duplexes. The revised plans, however, called for a change to the southernmost portion of the development. Instead of a spot for hotel and offices, the revised plan calls for zoning that would allow for an apartment complex.

Those revised plans were filed in July, but were still awaiting approval at City Hall. It is those revised plans that have been withdrawn. Struble said that since a year had almost passed since they were created, the group felt it would be wise to withdraw them and reassess what would now fit best at the site.

Struble didn’t get into specifics about how the plans may change. My understanding is the development group in July sought a revision to the southern portion of the development because it had found a partner interested in building an affordable housing apartment complex on the site. However, that affordable housing project was contingent upon winning state and federal tax credits. My understanding is the project didn’t win those credits.

Struble didn’t get into that level of detail during the brief interview I had with him. However, I did ask him whether the housing components were expected to be the first part of the project that is constructed. In past plans, that had been the case. Struble said that may still end up being the case, however, he also said there is a chance the developers may want to move more quickly on the commercial and retail development than what was once envisioned.

Struble said that’s because the group has been getting inquires as the area around the property begins to take shape. The site is on the southeast corner of the South Lawrence Trafficway and Iowa Street interchange. Work currently is underway to expand the western portion of the SLT to a four-lane road. That work includes the construction of a new bridge and interchange. The new interchange is designed in a way that many vehicles exiting off of the SLT will be going right by the main entrance to the commercial development.

“The commercial is really getting excited,” Struble said of commercial prospects for the center. “Once they started seeing those bridge piers go in, and that ramp get put in, they started thinking ‘man, we need to be down there sooner than later.'”

Likely tenants for the center have not been announced. In the various concept plans submitted to City Hall, the developers have listed the area as being suitable for both retail and entertainment purposes. In reality, the zoning that has been approved for the site is a community commercial zoning designation, which would allow for a wide range of uses, including everything from big box stores to entertainment venues like a movie theater or large restaurants that include pickle ball courts or other such features.

The commercial portion of the project is slated for the area closest to Iowa Street, which is also U.S. Highway 59. The residential portion of the project is farther east, closer to Michigan Street.

Here’s a look at the concept plan that was filed for the property in July.

photo by: Landplan Engineering/City of Lawrence

A concept plan, filed in July 2024, is shown for the proposed New Boston Crossing development at the SLT and Iowa Street interchange.

Here’s a look at the concept plan that was with the city when the site won its zoning approvals in March 2024.

photo by: Landplan Engineering/City of Lawrence/Journal-World

A concept plan, filed in March 2024, is shown for the proposed New Boston Crossing development at the SLT and Iowa Street interchange.