Lawrence commission accepts Q39 incentive application, defers final IRB vote pending CID analysis

The Lawrence City Commission on Feb. 11 received an incentive application from RKM KU LLC to support redevelopment of a portion of the former Lawrence Journal-World production facility at 639 New Hampshire Street and authorized the city manager to sign a funding agreement; the commission deferred final action on the $5 million industrial revenue bond (IRB) resolution pending a third-party analysis of a proposed community improvement district (CID).

The application requests an IRB for eligible construction costs with a principal amount of $5,000,000 and a single-property CID that would levy a 2% sales tax for up to 22 years to reimburse developer costs. Assistant City Manager Brandon McGuire presented the item and asked the commission to accept the application and refer the CID and IRB matters to staff for analysis. Vice Mayor Finkle Dye moved to receive the application, authorize the city manager to execute a funding agreement with RKM KU LLC, and defer consideration of Resolution No. 7573 (the IRB resolution) until CID analysis is complete; the motion passed 4-0.

Why it matters: The project is framed by the applicant and supporters as an anchor reuse in a 70,000-square-foot former industrial printing plant that has been underused for more than a decade. The developers say the restaurant tenant, Q39 Barbecue, would create roughly the equivalent of one restaurant’s…