WICHITA — With the economy looking up, there’s going to be a renewed effort to sell the last 12 commercial lots at the Wyn-Wood development at 37th North and Maize Road in Maize.
“We’ve had interest, and we need somebody to harness it, go after it and get something built,” says LewJene Schneider, who started the development with her sister and brother-in-law, Leslye and Gerald Woodard.
That somebody is Thomas Lassley of Keller Williams Hometown Partners.
Lassley recently sold two lots at Wyn-Wood to the Assemblies of God Kansas District Council on behalf of Curt McNay of Caber Associates Architects and Caber Construction.
Lassley says McNay approached Schneider and the Woodards about using Lassley to “see if we can get these lots sold for you.”
“Curt’s a big help,” Lassley says. “He gets a lot of calls from people wanting to build out there.”
Wichita State University’s west-side campus was the first commercial lot at Wyn-Wood. The Maize City Hall and several other lots quickly followed, but with the downturn in the economy, activity stopped.
“The economy … was a huge factor,” Lassley says.
Banks are showing more confidence now, he says.
“Now’s an opportune time to get in there,” Lassley says. “It’s a growing area. It’s a great corridor.”
He points to the Pizza Hut that opened at Wyn-Wood as a testament to the strength of the greater Maize area. Lassley says it was expected that the existing Pizza Hut at 53rd and Maize would have to close after the new one opened, but he says they’re both still there and doing well.
Schneider says with the improving economy and new property tax incentives in Maize, “You can’t afford to … be anywhere else.”