News and notes from around town:

Back in the day, the tacos were hot at Torchy’s Tacos on south Iowa Street. But ever since the restaurant near 31st and Iowa streets closed in 2022, the location has been cold. Despite being along a heavily travelled street and near the southern gateway of town, the building has sat empty for more than three years.

Now, maybe the general is coming to the rescue — as in General Tso, along with an infantry of fried rice, crab rangoons and other pieces of Chinese cuisine.

A building permit for a China Star Buffet has been issued by Lawrence City Hall for the restaurant space at 3050 Iowa Street, according to documents from the city. The permit calls for about $50,000 worth of remodeling work on the approximately 3,100 square foot restaurant.

As for the details of China Star Buffett, I don’t have many. There are a multitude of restaurants in the region with the China Star name, but it is not clear that any of them are connected. Thus, I won’t try to give you a rundown of menu items or what else to expect upon its opening.

But we do have a key word to work with: Buffet. Throw in the phrase “all-you-can-eat” and Spandex stock is likely to soar. But, again, I don’t know if that will be the buffet’s concept. What I do know is work is underway on the building, so an opening is likely a couple of months away.

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photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World

The Henry T’s building is pictured near Sixth Street and Kasold Drive on June 5, 2023.

While buffet is a beautiful ‘b’ word, bakery is not a bad one either. There is a sign that a bakery project for the former Henry T’s building near Sixth Street and Kasold Drive is still in the works.

Developers have filed for a building permit to convert the former Henry T’s building at 3520 W. Sixth Street into a bakery with a drive thru, according to paperwork at City Hall.

I reported in March that the longtime owner of the Westridge Wash & Lube building had purchased the former Henry T’s building, with the goal of his daughter opening a bakery at the site.

At the time, the new owner, Don Greenfield, told me plans called for a business that would serve everything from luncheon sandwiches on fresh bread to warm cinnamon rolls. His daughter, Lacey Dye, is an experienced local baker, is ready to launch her own business, he said at the time. That’s the latest update I have.

However, at the time it was unclear whether the project would move forward because the location still needed to win city planning approval for a drive thru lane. The fact the project has now filed for a building permit is a positive sign the project is set to happen, as a building permit is usually one of the final tasks before construction.

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photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World

The former Journal-World printing plant on Massachusetts Street is seen on Monday, Aug. 4, 2025.

There are also signs that a major downtown project seeking incentives from Lawrence City Hall is champing at the bit. Developers for Alarm.com recently filed for a building permit to conduct remodeling work in a portion of the former Journal-World printing plant at 630 Massachusetts Street, according to documents on file with the city.

The building permit hasn’t been issued yet, and likely is being made with the hopes that the City Commission will soon approve a financial incentives request for the project. The permit is seeking to remodel about 13,000 square feet of space in the portion of the building that fronts Massachusetts Street.

As we reported in early August, the publicly-traded company that provides all sorts of “smart home” technology has filed plans to convert the long-vacant downtown building into a new office for its high-tech, high-paid employees.

The company currently has 37 employees in Lawrence, so the new project would almost double the company’s Lawrence workforce. The company anticipates hiring the 30 new employees over approximately the next two years, with the majority of the positions being software engineers with an average wage of $146,000 per year, according to documents filed with the city.

The new hires also would include software support staff with average wages of about $90,000 per year, and a handful of technical support positions at about $45,000 per year, according to the company filing made in August.

The company, though, is seeking a 15-year property tax rebate on the cost of the new construction to help make the project feasible, according to its previous filing. The latest building permit filing, which was made in late August, is just one of several more filings that likely will be needed as part of the project. But I’m passing it along because it is a tangible sign that a major project that could add a high value office tenant to downtown is still progressing.