Laham Development starts new development; LongHorn Steakhouse is first tenant

May 10, 20125:44 p.m.

WICHITA — Construction has begun at Laham Development’s latest development, which is on almost six acres at the northwest corner of Kellogg and Towne East Mall Drive.

LongHorn Steakhouse is the first tenant to sign a lease there. The chain already has a Wichita site on the west side near 21st and Maize Road.

Its east-side restaurant will be 6,200 square feet, which will allow for more than 240 diners, and will open in September.

On property next to Laham’s, Old Chicago is already in business, and further east BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse is under construction.

Other deals are in the works for the new development, says Cathy Erickson, vice president at Laham Development, which also has Bradley Fair, Regency Lakes and Plazzio among other developments.

“We have had interest from several different groups for different types of businesses,” Erickson says. “We’re evaluating all our options.”

That could be more restaurants, retail or even a hotel.

“We hope to have announcements on some of the other parcels later this summer.”

By Carrie Rengers | Tags: , , , , , , , Filed under East side, New business, Real estate, Restaurants | Comments Off

You don’t say

May 7, 20125:56 p.m.

“I may actually have to dress appropriately to go to the store now because everyone I know is going to be there.”

– Laham Development vice president Cathy Erickson, who is considering ditching her sweats on June 20 when the new Fresh Market grocery store opens at Bradley Fair

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Fresh Market at Bradley Fair to open this summer

March 14, 20126:00 a.m.

WICHITA — Construction on the new Fresh Market grocery coming to Bradley Fair is “well under way,” says Cathy Erickson, vice president of Laham Development.

There’s still no opening date, but Erickson says it will be this summer.

The North Carolina-based chain is going in part of the former Ultimate Electronics space.

Erickson says Wichitans don’t know what to expect with the upscale grocery.

“It’s like this big present that is coming, and they get to open it and enjoy it, and they really don’t have any idea how great it is.”

 

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You don’t say

March 13, 20122:36 p.m.

“If a camo bathing suit is on your list, you can find it there.”

– Cathy Erickson of Laham Development, one of the developers of Cabela’s, which is opening Wednesday at Laham’s Regency Lakes at 21st and Greenwich

By Carrie Rengers | Tags: , , , Filed under New business, Retail, You don't say | Comments Off

Bradley Fair and Fresh Market confirm the grocery store is coming in 2012

Dec. 7, 201111:12 a.m.

UPDATED — Bradley Fair developer George Laham now confirms what Have You Heard? reported last month:

The Fresh Market grocery chain is coming to the former Ultimate Electronics space in 2012.

“The shopping center is just a perfect fit for our concept,” says Drewry Sackett, Fresh Market’s manager of public relations and community relations.

Laham, president of Laham Development, began looking for a specialty grocery store to bring to Wichita even before Ultimate Electronics closed.

In recent years, Wichitans have been hoping for a Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s.

“After looking at the Fresh Market, this was the clear choice,” Laham says.

“The only reason they’re not saying, ‘We want Fresh Market,’ is because they don’t know it,” says Cathy Erickson, vice president at Laham Development.

The Greensboro, N.C.-based chain has about 110 stores either open or opening soon, and this one will be the farthest west.

Sackett calls Wichita “a really solid Midwestern market that supports our growth into that region of the country.”

The chain is heavily concentrated in the southeast, which Laham says is why most Wichitans aren’t familiar with it.

Laham says as he began looking for a specialty grocery store, he looked throughout the industry before choosing Fresh Market.

“They are clearly a market leader,” he says.

Sackett says, “Our stores are a little bit different, certainly, than a traditional grocery store.”

She says the store is a warmer, more intimate atmosphere with classical music playing, freshly brewed coffee awaiting customers and floral arrangements greeting them at the door.

“You can see across the entire store, and that really sort of lends to that feeling of a more intimate setting,” Sackett says.

“It’s very much a European market,” Laham says. “It’s like being in Italy at an open-air market.”

The 22,000-square-foot space will be fairly compact to navigate.

“That’s kind of the beauty of it,” Erickson says.

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By Carrie Rengers | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Filed under Bradley Fair, East side, Grocery, Real estate, Regency Lakes, Retail | Comments Off

Sleep Number mattress store to join Vitamin Shoppe at 21st and Rock Road retail center

Nov. 21, 20115:40 a.m.

WICHITA — Laham Development has got your number.

The company is bringing a Sleep Number mattress store to the retail center where it has already announced a Vitamin Shoppe will open on the northeast corner of 21st and Rock Road.

Sleep Number is relocating its store from Towne East Square.

“Our plan was to improve the aesthetics and the activity at the intersection,” says Cathy Erickson, vice president of Laham Development, which is the developer of Bradley Fair on the southeast corner of the intersection.

“We obviously have quite a large interest in that intersection and want to make it better.”

The center is 6,200 square feet. Vitamin Shoppe will take about 3,000 square feet, and Sleep Number will take the rest. Shelden Architecture is the architect and Key Construction is the contractor.

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Hey, what’s going on there . . . ?

Nov. 3, 20114:50 p.m.

UPDATED — There are several pockets of activity that have readers wondering what’s going on. Here’s an update — or, in some cases, a reminder.

– There’s more construction happening near where the new LongHorn Steakhouse has been built in front of the Lowe’s near 29th and Maize, but it’s not for another restaurant or shop.

It’s simply an extra parking lot behind the steak house, which will be opening soon.

– Colorado-based Natural Grocers By Vitamin Cottage is close to opening in the former Borders Books space at 1715 N. Rock Road.

The grocery will open Nov. 23. The chain’s first Kansas store opened Nov. 11, 2010, in Lawrence.

The store sells organic produce, gluten-free products and offers nutritional education and counseling.

What shoppers won’t find is anything with high-fructose corn syrup, sugar substitutes or hydrogenated oils, among other things, which — as a spokeswoman puts it— makes studying labels a little easier.

– Right at Home, which offers in-home care and assistance, has moved just down from where it’s been in the shopping center on the northwest corner of 21st and Ridge.

The business this week moved into the former Ruthie’s Hallmark space, which offers more room.

– Finally, except for Chick-fil-A questions, the most popular question we’ve heard lately is, “What’s that building by the McDonald’s at 21st and Rock?”

Laham Development is building a new retail center at Tallgrass Plaza, which is at the northeast corner of 21st and Rock Road where a BP filling station used to be.

Vitamin Shoppe is the first announced tenant for the 6,200-square-foot center. Look for an announcement on the second tenant soon.

By Carrie Rengers | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , Filed under East side, Real estate, Restaurants, Retail, West side | Comments Off

Origins at Bradley Fair closes; deal for a new tenant is close

Sept. 22, 20114:20 p.m.

WICHITA — The Origins store at Bradley Fair has closed.

No one with the chain’s corporate office returned calls for comment, but an employee at the Origins counter at Towne East Square says the company may have new guidelines for keeping freestanding Origins stores open.

As Sephora and other makeup and skin care chains gravitate to locations outside of department stores, it appears Origins may be going the other way.

A representative with Laham Development, the developer of Bradley Fair, says a new deal is close for the 1,400 square feet that Origins left this week.

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Laham Development to build retail center at Tallgrass Plaza at 21st and Rock Road

June 8, 201111:09 a.m.

WICHITA — Laham Development is building a new retail center at Tallgrass Plaza at the northeast corner of 21st and Rock Road where a BP filling station had been until a few weeks ago.

“We’re building a new, 6,200-square-foot retail center that will have space for two tenants,” says Cathy Erickson, Laham Development’s vice president.

One tenant, the Vitamin Shoppe, is already signed.

The store will take 3,000 square feet to sell nutritional products such as vitamins, minerals, herbs, supplements, homeopathic remedies, sports nutrition formulas and health and beauty aids.

Erickson says a deal with a second tenant for the remainder of the space is close.

Laham Development purchased the property, which is across from its Bradley Fair development on the southeast corner, in 2008.

“We’re . . . excited about the redevelopment of that corner since it is the third-busiest intersection in the city of Wichita,” Erickson says. “It hasn’t been used to its highest and best purpose in the past.”

The building should be ready by the end of the year.

Erickson says it will be “a very nice addition to the intersection.”

By Carrie Rengers | Tags: , , , , , Filed under Bradley Fair, East side, Leases, Real estate, Retail | Comments Off

Cabela’s to open in 2012 at Regency Lakes shopping center at 21st and Greenwich

Jan. 18, 20113:37 p.m.

WICHITA — Cabela’s, the Nebraska-based giant national outdoor retailer, is coming to Wichita’s Regency Lakes shopping center at 21st and Greenwich in spring 2012.

“Cabela’s can go to any city in America, and they decided to come to Wichita, America,” says George Laham, president of Laham Development, the Regency Lakes developer.

“That says a lot about Wichita.”

Construction on the 80,000-square-foot store will start this summer.

“Competition is good for everybody,” says Todd Barker, manager of competing Gander Mountain at downtown’s WaterWalk development.

“We’ll keep doing what we’re doing,” Barker says of Gander Mountain, which is one of the chain’s highest-producing stores.

Gander Mountain opened at WaterWalk in 2005 after an effort to lure Bass Pro Shops fell apart over public financing of the project.

City Council member Sue Schlapp was involved in trying to lure Bass Pro.

“I am a person who believes downtown is your center,” she says.

Still, Regency Lakes is in her district, and she’s thrilled Cabela’s is going there.

“Cabela’s is a fabulous attraction,” Schlapp says. “It’s a wonderful thing.”

She doesn’t quibble with the chain’s selection of northeast Wichita over downtown.

“If they feel that that’s a better place for them . . . who am I to tell them something different?”

Cabela’s, which was represented by Brad Saville of Landmark Commercial Real Estate, will locate along K-96 north of the 20,000-square-foot World Market at Regency Lakes. There will be room for a 50,000-square-foot retailer between the stores.

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