STATE

Potential travel plazas coming to Topeka, Emporia

Developer expects the projects to create 150 new jobs

India Yarborough
iyarborough@cjonline.com
Semi-trailer trucks park at the gas station and service area on Interstate 70 between Lawrence and Topeka on Saturday. Trucks traveling through Topeka may soon have another potential rest stop, as a local developer is completing a feasibility study this week for a new travel plaza in south Topeka. [Evert Nelson/The Capital-Journal]

South Topeka may soon be home to a new travel plaza.

According to Johnny Brown, founder of Topeka-based Brown Stone 3 Development, a feasibility study is underway for a potential travel center near the manufacturing plants and distribution centers south of Interstate 470.

"Due to the new Walmart distribution and the new FedEx, along with all the other warehouses out in that area, we feel there might be a demand for that," Brown said.

And he is "pretty confident" feasibility will pan out.

"If the feasibility studies come back, everything is a done deal," Brown said. "We'll sign all the contracts with the land owners and our travel plaza group."

Brown said he is not yet able to disclose the name of the travel plaza group but noted that they are a smaller group based out of Memphis, Tenn. Brown said his development business typically works with three separate travel plaza clients.

Brown Stone 3 Development partners with D&J Land, of Hays, to develop multi-million dollar travel plaza sites in the state and surrounding areas.

"And our partnership group, the people that we represent, that buy our property — they're the catalyst behind all of this," Brown said. "It's the travel plaza that brings all the other value-added businesses to it — the motels, the restaurants and the RV parks. And that's our model."

According to Brown, the travel plaza potentially coming to south Topeka is expected to be about a $25 million project.

The Topeka development won't be as large as similar projects underway in Hays and Edgerton, which Brown said cost between $40 million and $70 million. Those towns will soon be home to deluxe travel plazas, according to an announcement made last month by Brown Stone 3 Development and D&J Land.

The Edgerton development will sit on 43 acres of land and is expected to include hotels, restaurants and retail. The Hays project will occupy 30 acres of land and include similar amenities.

A third project managed by Brown Stone 3 Development is also under construction in Pittsburg. It will occupy 20 acres of land — about the same amount as Phase 1 of the Topeka project, according to Brown.

"This first 20 acres is Phase One," Brown said of the Topeka development, "and as that area out there grows, we'll add the motels at a later date."

The first phase of the potential development, he added, will be less than 10,000 square feet.

"It's what we call a 'travel plaza express,' " Brown said. "It's not what we consider a full travel plaza."

Topeka's travel plaza express is expected to have two restaurants inside, four showers for travelers and a parking facility that could accommodate 50-60 trucks. For comparison, Brown said deluxe travel plazas typically have five showers and about 125 parking spaces for trucks.

Also on the horizon, are two travel plaza developments in Emporia. Brown said his company is doing feasibility studies on two locations there, near Interstate 35.

"This is the same type of development you have in Hays and Edgerton," Brown said. "This is a big one."

The travel plaza group looking to make its mark in Emporia is a different client from the one potentially coming to Topeka.

"Our tenant is one of the largest operators in the United States in the fuel business, and they were very adamant about Emporia," Brown said. "So we took on the project."

Feasibility studies in Emporia and Topeka are expected to wrap up this week.

Brown expects the prospective developments in Emporia and Topeka to create about 150 new jobs and result in a combined $1 million in annual property tax revenue. His company said another $2 million is expected in annual sales tax revenue once the travel plazas are open for business.

"We find that when we do these projects, we bring a lot of jobs," Brown said.

And that is notable, he added, because Brown Stone 3 Development isn't a billion-dollar developer coming in from outside the state.

"We're very hardworking Midwest people, and we put a lot of work and a lot of effort into what we do," Brown said.

He has been in the development business for 35 years and doesn't like to go any further than about 500 miles from his home.

"You look forward to doing things close to home," Brown said. "We're Kansas born and bred. ... And we're doing things in our own backyard."