Plans to bring a high-end restaurant concept to the former Houlihan’s space in Fairway appear to once again be off the table.

In a Tuesday afternoon email newsletter, the city of Fairway said Kansas City-based restaurateur Whitney VinZant, the driving force behind the new dining concept American Fire, alerted city officials last week that he is “not able to proceed” with the project.

Construction work at the site was set to start Aug. 1, according to a development agreement the city signed with VinZant and property owner Fairway Restaurant Group LLC, which is under Block & Company’s property management, earlier this year.

In its statement, the city suggested VinZant and Block were at odds over the development.

“It is 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,” the city’s statement said.

VinZant himself could not immediately be reached for comment for this story, after the Post texted him on Tuesday and followed up with a call Wednesday morning that went straight to voicemail.

Earlier this week, Kansas City Magazine, citing unnamed sources, reported VinZant’s group walked away from the project “due to lengthy and complicated process to get the restaurant development across the finish line.”

For his part, David Block, the president of Block & Company Inc., which shares an address with Fairway Restaurant Group LLC, told the Post on Wednesday that “the landlord [Block] did not kill this deal.”

Block said the company has “maintained the same position for the entire time, which is that they were prepared and ready to make a deal. All the way up until when the VinZant restaurants made a decision that they did not want to move forward in Fairway.”

The news that VinZant is backing away from the Fairway concept comes three months after the city approved an updated development agreement with VinZant to revamp the old Houlihan’s space at 2820 W. 53rd St.

That revised agreement, in turn, came a month after VinZant seemed to have second thoughts about a previous development agreement with Fairway Restaurant Group LLC and the city.

This is the latest false start

The Houlihan’s in Fairway permanently closed after a 16-year run in Fairway in December 2019.

In 2023, VinZant, who also runs restaurants Taco Republic and BRGR, among others, in the KC metro, first signaled interest in the site for a new restaurant concept. Negotiations between VinZant and the city have gone through ups and downs ever since.

After years of back-and-forth, in April 2025, W. VinZant Restaurant Group tossed around a concept for a family-friendly brewery to replace the Houlihan’s. That idea later morphed into a restaurant concept dubbed American Fire.

Last December, the Fairway City Council approved a development agreement, which included a community improvement district for the project that would levy an additional 2% sales tax on diners at a future restaurant on that site.

Over a 22-year period, the proceeds of that additional sales tax were set to be reimbursed to VinZant in an amount not to exceed roughly $1.7 million.

But in late March, VinZant told The Kansas City Star that the restaurant concept “may not” come to fruition, worrying city officials. The empty Houlihan’s space has long been seen as a key piece of real estate for a future dining-out option in a city with limited development options.

At that time, VinZant said the roughly $1.7 million in public incentives he’d recoup through the special sales tax wouldn’t be enough to rehab the building, which had sat vacant for nearly seven years.

All three parties — VinZant, the city and Block himself — told the Post in April that they all wanted to see the new restaurant concept through for Fairway. The next month, the new development agreement was inked by the city.

That agreement updated the project timeline for an Aug. 1, 2026, start date and an April 1, 2027, completion date.

City, Block point to different causes

In Tuesday’s email newsletter, the city pointed to the developer and property owners failing to “reach an agreement” for the property lease as the reason the deal fell apart.

When the city approved the updated development agreement three months ago, property owners, VinZant and city all signed the document, seemingly securing the deal. (Only the city had ever signed the original development agreement from April 2025.)

Still, in May, the lease for the Houlihan’s space had yet to be executed. VinZant assured the city in May that it was close to being done, though.

In a Wednesday interview, Block said Fairway Restaurant Group has been prepared to sign a lease agreement but that the conversations around the deal were more between the city and VinZant, regarding the prospective community improvement district.

“We were prepared all the way through to make a deal, we worked very diligently, our team did,” Block said.

City Administrator Nathan Nogelmeier, in a Wednesday afternoon email to the Post, said the restaurant group and the city agreed to the CID terms before the city council approved the modified agreement in May.

Mayor Melanie Hepperly was quoted in the city’s email newsletter, saying she is also “disappointed” that the project fell through.

“Economic development is rarely a straight path,” Hepperly is quoted. “Businesses must make decisions based on a variety of factors, many of which are beyond the control of local government.”

What happens now?

The city plans to consider “what other options or opportunities it has moving forward” with the property, according to its newsletter. Nogelmeier told the Post that there is no specific timeline for the city “to reach any decisions.”

The updated development agreement states that failure to meet project milestones, including the Aug. 1 construction start date, may result in the city requiring the developer to explain themselves.

Without showing a reasonable cause for delay, the city may find W. VinZant Restaurants in default of the agreement.

Block said there were non-restaurant alternatives to fill the space, but he believes Fairway residents “would really like to see a nice restaurant in there.”

“We are going to continue to try and see if that’s the route that we can get something accomplished,” Block said.

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