The Lawrence City Commission on Tuesday took the first step toward considering tax breaks to help the University of Kansas construct its planned Gateway District near the football stadium.
Vice Mayor Brad Finkeldei noted that similar requests for the city to simply accept an application for tax breaks — including one the commission approved last week connected to the Reuter building — generally go on the commission’s consent agenda. (That’s a list of items that are generally considered routine and approved all at once with one motion.) The commission accepting the application doesn’t mean they’ll approve a final agreement.
Finkeldei said this is a very early step in the project, and there will probably be at least five more opportunities for the commission and the public to weigh in before the commission actually approves any economic incentives for KU.
The first phase of the Gateway District project includes the west and north sides of the stadium, a 55,000-square-foot conference center and a renovation to the Anderson Family Football Complex. That’s on track to be completed in August.
The second phase is slated to include 443 student housing beds; a 162-key full-service hotel topped by 16 condos; 43,000 square feet of retail, restaurant and office spaces; and an outdoor event plaza. It also includes the south and east sides of the football stadium. The estimated total cost of Phase 2 is $311 million, according to an update from KU last week.
KU is planning to ask for a total of $86.7 million in economic development bonds, including sales tax and revenue bonds, or STAR bonds; sales tax exemptions for construction materials from the county and city; and property tax breaks from the city. Altogether, about 11.4% of the Gateway District budget would come from state and local tax breaks, according to KU’s update.
The stadium is located on the northern end of campus near 11th and Mississippi streets, in close proximity to neighborhoods. The project has raised several concerns for people living nearby.
Among those concerns, a group of representatives of nearby neighborhood associations wrote to the commission that “1) plans, renderings and descriptions of the project revealed to the public to date show that the buildings do not comply with the height restriction and that onsite parking for the student housing structure is inadequate; 2) the (Community Program
Advisory Committee) process for Phase I of the project has not been completed and the separate process for Phase II has not even begun; and 3) need for City infrastructure improvements and the mitigating measures from the University pending completion have not been determined.”
The existing 361 parking spaces will be replaced with 1,000 or more, according to KU. That’s intended to assuage neighbors’ concerns about already-tight parking situations near campus, though if each student housed there and each hotel guest is parking a vehicle, that would leave around 400 spots for the rest of the district.
KU CFO Jeff DeWitt told commissioners that about 70% of students in KU housing bring a vehicle with them, which would be roughly 310 students, leaving around 500 spots for the rest of the district.
DeWitt told the commission that “Any data that you possibly need, we will provide that” — including completed analyses, events the conference planners think they can book at the conference center, access to developers and more.
As part of KU’s proposal to the city, DeWitt said in last week’s update that KU would offer to pay for the City of Lawrence to hire a financial adviser to look at the project.
“On behalf of the City, Baker Tilly will prepare due diligence and feasibility reports for the project and/or will review analysis and reports provided by the University. Gilmore & Bell will prepare the legal documents necessary to enact the incentives, including the development agreement,” according to the commission’s meeting agenda. “Per the City’s economic development policy, the University will be responsible for all third-party expenses, which will be paid through the Funding Agreement.”
Courtney Shipley, a former Lawrence city commissioner, said during public comment that the city currently has no economic development staff members.
“Without adequate staff to address that, even though I appreciate KU paying for the study, it is not their job to protect the taxpayer from a bad investment,” she said.
Commissioner Lisa Larsen said she thinks anyone who wants to come forward and submit an application has a right to do so. She said she heard several “red flags” that might give her pause about moving forward, but “I’m OK with the application right now.”
Commissioners voted 4-1 in favor of accepting the application. Commissioner Amber Sellers voted in opposition.
If our local journalism matters to you, please help us keep doing this work.
Don’t miss a beat … Click here to sign up for our email newsletters
Click here to learn more about our newsletters first
Mackenzie Clark (she/her), reporter/founder of The Lawrence Times, can be reached at mclark@lawrencekstimes.com. Read more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.
More about the KU football stadium project:
Latest Lawrence news:
Andrea Albright/Lawrence Times
