New steakhouse ‘may not’ come to Houlihan’s site in Fairway. Owner blames city
Johnson County and Kansas City residents were happy last April to hear that the site of the former Houlihan’s restaurant at 2820 W 53rd St., which had sat vacant for five years, was to be the site of a new, upscale steak restaurant.
Its proposed name: American Fire.
Now, American Fire, which was anticipated to begin construction as early as February, may be on the verge of fizzling.
In a correspondence Monday, Whitney VinZant, the owner W. VinZant Restaurants — whose holdings include Gram & Dun, Taco Republic, Waldo Pizza, Louie’s Wine Dive, Cafe Trio, Heritage by Bo Ling’s and a half-dozen other restaurants — told The Star, “American Fire may not occur.”
“We would like American Fire to open for Fairway and surrounding communities,” VinZant wrote, “and are excited about the restaurant team, culinary and design, but the investment required to build a first-class restaurant in this property, which has been vacant for nearly six years, limits an economic benefit in doing so.
“Given the required investment both up front, and ongoing, occupancy and taxes, and the city’s reluctance to provide meaningful resources has made this prospect challenging. I hope it occurs, but am not sure if it will.”
Fairway City Administrator Nathan Nogelmeier on Monday said that the potential demise of the project was news to him.
In December, the Fairway City Council voted 7-1 to approve a development agreement for the property and also, separately, voted unanimously to identify the restaurant, itself, as a community improvement district or CID. That agreement would add an additional 2% tax on sales made at the restaurant, which would be used to reimburse the VinZant group up to $1.7 million over 22 years for work on the building.
“The city still has its offer on the table,” Nogelmeier said. “It’s not because of the city. The city hasn’t withdrawn its offer.”’
Nogelmeier said VinZant had not approached the city either formally or informally asking for the terms of the deal to be increased. In a later correspondence, he noted that the public incentives package that was requested by the VinZant group is the largest incentives package, as a percentage of a project’s budget, that the city has eer approved, accounting for 50% of the project’s overall cost.
Nogelmeier suggested that whatever issue exists, it may partly lie with the landlord, Fairway Restaurant Group LLC., which owns the building.
“As of today, and despite the Development Agreement having been approved in December,” Nogelmeier wrote, “the City of Fairway remains the only party to have signed the Development Agreement. As late as yesterday evening, the City continues to receive conflicting information from W. VinZant Restaurant Group and the restaurant building’s ownership group, as to the status of the lease between those parties for the restaurant site and their ongoing negotiations regarding the building’s condition.”
It went on to say, “The City of Fairway remains committed to this project and hopeful that W. VinZant Restaurant Group and the building’s ownership group can resolve their differences, sign the Development Agreement, and move forward with the project.”
David Block, the agent on the real estate deal, said he is aware of no issues.
“We have a signed lease,” Block said. “It is contingent on Whitney (VinZant) getting his CID.”
VinZant did not return requests for further explanation.
Until it shut down in 2009, Houlihan’s operated as part of the Fairway Shops for 16 years.
As this point, no renovations are underway.
This story was originally published March 10, 2026 at 5:47 AM.
