Costco gets building permit for $21.8 million Lawrence store

Costco’s long-watched northwest Lawrence project crossed a major threshold when City Hall issued a building permit worth $21.8 million, turning the retailer’s planned store from a dirt-moving effort into a permitted construction project that can advance toward the building phase. Excavation was already well underway on the site near Rock Chalk Park, where a huge dirt pad more than 20 feet tall had been built up before the permit was finalized.

The permit was issued May 8, and by May 13 the site was showing the kind of heavy earthwork that signaled Costco had been confident enough to spend money on excavation before the last paperwork was complete. The store is planned at about 155,000 square feet, making it one of the biggest retail projects in the city and one of the most closely watched developments in northwest Lawrence.

City planners reviewed Costco’s plans several times in March and April before signing off on the permit, a delay that was described as technical rather than unusual for a project of this size. Large retail buildings often come with a long list of engineering details, and the back-and-forth over the plans reflected the complexity of getting a major commercial site ready for construction rather than any sign the project was in danger.

For Lawrence residents, the permit matters because it confirms the project is still moving ahead after months of speculation about how quickly the retailer could begin work and what the store might mean for traffic near Rock Chalk Park and the surrounding retail corridors. The visible grading has already changed the landscape on the city’s west side, and the building permit now gives the development a clearer path toward vertical construction, with the store’s footprint expected to add another major anchor to northwest Lawrence commerce.

The Costco project is part of a broader wave of development reshaping Lawrence’s west and south sides. Walmart is moving ahead with gas station plans, and a separate $54 million student-housing building permit application near the stadium shows the city’s development pipeline remains active well beyond one big box store. Together, those projects underscore how quickly large-scale retail and housing plans are stacking up across Lawrence, with the Costco permit standing out as a visible sign that one of the city’s most anticipated projects is no longer speculative.