Every Public Vote Went American Fire's Way. The Houlihan's Corner in Fairway Is Still Empty.

On paper, crews were supposed to start work at 2820 W. 53rd St. by Aug. 1, 2026, with a new restaurant open by April 1, 2027. Fairway's council had approved that schedule unanimously in May. Construction never started. The former Houlihan's on Shawnee Mission Parkway is heading toward its seventh winter empty, and the city has no timeline for its next decision.

The vacancy is easy to blame on City Hall, but the record points somewhere else. The council approved American Fire every time it was asked. The deal fell apart over the lease, a private agreement between the restaurant group and the building's owner that never came to the council for a vote.

We also need to correct ourselves. Our July guide to a Fairway summer said American Fire had broken ground. It never did.

What was supposed to open on 53rd Street

American Fire was planned as an upscale but casual full-service restaurant and bar, aimed at families and local regulars. The sample menu included a raw bar, flatbreads, burgers, oysters, Wagyu tartare and wood-grilled steaks. Most entrees were priced at $20 to $35, appetizers at $12 to $25, and sandwiches and burgers at $16 to $30.

Inside, Whitney VinZant described new tile, wood and brass, higher ceilings and a more open room. The kitchen would have been largely rebuilt and partly opened to the dining room, and horseshoe booths would have replaced the old Houlihan's booths, which had been contaminated with mold. Outside, the plan called for patios on both the east and west sides with covered awnings, lighting and fans. It also included parking lot repairs and restriping, a new entry vestibule, brick repairs and landscaping.

This concept had already changed once to answer neighbors' concerns. In February 2025, VinZant pitched the council a family pub in the style of Brew Top, with fire pits on the patio. The Johnson County Post reported that the funding agreement at that stage let the city study incentives without committing to approve them. After concerns about music and late-night business, the pub became the sit-down restaurant that went to a vote.

The public side of the deal kept saying yes

Here is the site's history from the day Houlihan's closed:

The 2023 row matters. When an earlier incentive request went beyond what Fairway would accept, the Johnson County Post reported that the city administrator called it a "non-starter," and that version of the project ended. So the city did turn down a proposal once. It approved the next one twice, the second time with no dissenting votes.

At the December 2025 meeting, Mayor Melanie Hepperly said workable concepts did not reach the city until 2023. She also said other restaurant groups had tried to get into the space but had not been able to reach terms with the landlords.

What the city offered, and what it didn't

The incentive was a community improvement district. It is a common Kansas tool, and it is often misunderstood, so the terms are worth spelling out. Under the signed May 2026 agreement and the December 2025 council minutes:

• Who pays: diners, through an extra 2% sales tax charged only on purchases inside the former Houlihan's footprint
• Who gets it: the developer, as reimbursement for eligible project costs, paid quarterly as the tax comes in
• The cap: $1,658,055, over no more than 22 years, and no more than 50% of total project costs
• The project budget: $3,316,110
• City debt: none, because no bonds were to be issued

Councilman Lee Story made the case for it in December:

"The City is putting no money into the project and Mr. VinZant will be putting in over $3M. Mr. VinZant assumes 100 percent of the risk."

Those are his words as recorded in the council minutes. He described the building as a "white elephant for six years" and said no other site in Fairway can be developed. He also said the question he and Councilwoman Buszek had heard most for more than two years was when a restaurant would replace Houlihan's. He estimated the restaurant would bring the city another $60,000 to $70,000 in sales tax. Hepperly said that figure was "a little high."

The way the CID was built limited it. Because the money comes back only as diners pay the tax, the incentive was worth nothing until the restaurant opened. In late March 2026, VinZant said the roughly $1.7 million in reimbursements would not cover rehabbing a building that had been empty for almost seven years.

The one document no one voted on

All three parties signed the revised development agreement in May. The lease between W. VinZant Restaurants and Fairway Restaurant Group LLC, which is managed by Block & Company, was still unsigned. According to the Post, VinZant told the city in May that it was nearly done.

The three public accounts of what happened next don't match, and each is worth reading in its source:

• The city, in its newsletter as reported by the Johnson County Post, said it was "disappointing W. VinZant Restaurants and the property owners could not reach an agreement as the City stood ready to issue permits for work to begin."
• David Block, president of Block & Company, told the Post that "the landlord did not kill this deal." He said his team had been ready to make a deal the whole time and that the conversations were mostly between the city and VinZant over the CID. City Administrator Nathan Nogelmeier told the Post that the restaurant group and the city had agreed on the CID terms before the May vote.
• Kansas City magazine, citing unnamed sources, reported that the restaurant group backed away because of the "lengthy and complicated process" of getting the project finished.

The three accounts give different reasons, and every public approval was already in place when the project ended.

What Fairway can do from here

The city's options are narrower than many people assume. The revised agreement lets Fairway ask the developer to explain a missed milestone, including the Aug. 1 start date. Without a reasonable cause for the delay, the city may find W. VinZant Restaurants in default. Nogelmeier told the Post there is no set timeline for any decision. The site did not appear on the agenda for the council's Oct. 12 meeting.

What goes into the building is up to its owner. Story said so in December: the owner "could put whatever they want in there and it does not have to be a restaurant." In August, Block told the Post that non-restaurant tenants are possible but that he thinks Fairway would "really like to see a nice restaurant in there," adding, "We are going to continue to try and see if that's the route that we can get something accomplished." Kansas City magazine's sources said interest in the site remains strong.

Next door, Hen House at 2724 W. 53rd St. closed for a remodel in January and was set to reopen Feb. 7 with expanded offerings. Story has called the Houlihan's building an anchor of the Fairway Shops, one of the few retail areas in the city.

The 53rd Street project that is in front of City Hall this fall is a sidewalk. At its Sept. 30 meeting, the Administration and Finance Committee discussed creating an improvement district for a sidewalk project along 53rd Street, and Nogelmeier was due to return in October with more information. The council can act on that project. For the restaurant site, the next step depends on the owner and a future tenant signing a lease.

If you own a home near 53rd Street and wonder how a long-empty commercial corner fits into what your home is worth, we're glad to walk through it with you. Bash KC follows Fairway closely, from council votes to the shops around the corner. Request your personalized home valuation, and we'll give you a clear, local read on your Fairway home.