The real estate sign on the south side of the former Lowther North school building still says a sale is pending. Also pending: a new potential use for the space after a nearly-15-year effort in another direction altogether.
Owner Steve Haught was part of the group — alongside the late Dale Davis, John Mallon and Fred Spellman — that purchased both Lowther North and Lowther South from Emporia Public Schools back in 2011. After announcing the original concept in 2012 and much consideration afterward, Haught says he and a potential buyer have shifted away from turning the north building into a hotel and convention center, focusing on targeted senior housing as opposed to subsidized housing.
Haught says the full plan is currently pending, but there are some components that are starting to gel as conversations continue.
Haught tells KVOE News there were a lot of challenges with the original plan, especially with financing renovations.
The original plan for the north building was to develop a nearly-90-room hotel and convention center for up to 400 people. Haught says the north building’s layout made a combination hotel and convention center a natural fit for the space.
A downtown hotel and/or convention center were sought before Haught, Mallon, Davis and Spellman joined forces to buy both buildings.
Haught put the former Lowther North building on the market in early 2022, prompting conversations about a hotel-only development and a mixed-use concept of some sort. The plan now is for a housing project that can take advantage of the already-issued historic tax credits and other funding sources. Haught says the developer that initially revived the hotel/convention center concept a year ago is on board with the change to senior housing. He sees the Kenyon Heights development on the former College of Emporia campus as a tentative, general framework for the former Lowther North building.
Lowther North has almost 29,000 square feet of available space.
Plans for the north building have no bearing on the ongoing operations across Sixth Avenue. The Lowther South building at 215 West Sixth became the Humanitarian Center, a hub for nonprofit organizations like the Humane Society of the Flint Hills and Kansas Children’s Service League, a secondary campus for Flint Hills Technical College until recently, office space for KansasWorks and Kansas Spanish Speakers and business space for entities like Gourmet to Go and Sunflower Gymnastics.
Next steps for the north building are to be announced, including the prospect of presentations for the Metropolitan Area Planning Commission and Emporia City Commission. There is currently no word yet on whether the Lowther North building will need a zoning change or some sort of special zoning overlay, like elderly housing, in order to proceed. The city’s online zoning map indicates the property is zoned Central Business.
