Lawrence developer Doug Compton is selling multiple storefronts along Massachusetts Street, saying he wants to focus more on his housing projects.
The nine buildings, which are home to businesses like Arizona Trading Company, Basil Leaf Cafe and ACME, are listed as a package for nearly $9 million.
Compton said in an interview he is also open to buyers interested in individual buildings, including being in discussion with some business owners who want to own their own space.
Compton, who founded his company First Management Inc. in 1991, has long owned property and led developments downtown. But he said he wants to focus more on multifamily housing developments he is working on in Lawrence and surrounding towns, including an 83-unit complex planned for the Oread neighborhood.
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“My focus has really been back to what my passion was, and what I started in 1990 doing, and that was multifamily (housing),” Compton said. “So, it’s nothing against downtown Lawrence. I love downtown Lawrence.”
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He said he hopes future owners will maintain the buildings’ historic character.
“I will do everything I can to make sure that they end up in the right hands,” he said.
Compton said he first began investing in downtown real estate about 25 years ago, and at one point estimated he owned 20 to 30 downtown buildings.
He said in his years owning buildings downtown, it has become more of an entertainment and dining district, especially with the addition of outdoor patios in the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
And property taxes have risen significantly during his time owning property downtown, he said.
The city’s recently released retail report shows that downtown, which is approximately tied with West 23rd Street as Lawrence’s second largest retail district by square footage, has the largest share of the city’s vacant spaces.
According to the report, 17.9% of downtown retail space is vacant.
But half of that downtown vacant space is due to the former Borders bookstore building and Riverfront Mall property. Both of those spaces are seeing new activity.
The city will soon take ownership of the Riverfront Mall property as part of a legal settlement. Lawrence City Manager Majed Al-Ghafry has said the riverfront has “incredible potential.”
Plus, plans to put a self-storage facility in the old Borders building are currently in the works. Compton owned that building for more than a decade of vacancy while attempting to put a grocery store, and later his company’s offices, in the space. He no longer owns the building.
With these new plans to revitalize vacant spaces, Compton said downtown is approaching a new chance for growth.
“I think it’s an exciting time for downtown,” he said. “It’s just time for me to hand the reins over to somebody else.”
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Cuyler Dunn (he/him), staff reporter, has worked with The Lawrence Times since April 2022. He can be reached at [email protected].
Read his complete bio at this link. Read more of his work for the Times at this link.
