Third-and-final tenant signs lease for the remodeled Food for Thought space

The final spot at the former Food for Thought and Larcher’s building now has a final tenant who has signed a lease for the space on East Central a couple of blocks west of Hillside.

Wichita real estate developer Justin Cooke plans to open 2929 Salon Suites there, which he’s naming for the 2929 E. Central address.

“The concept is simple: private, finished suites that independent beauty professionals — hairstylists, barbers, estheticians, nail technicians, massage therapists, makeup artists, lash and brow artists — will lease to run their own businesses,” Cooke said via e-mail.

“Each will have their own private, secure suite instead of renting a chair in someone else’s shop, setting their own hours, their own pricing, and building their own brand.”

Cooke is targeting a fourth-quarter opening.

He said the center’s location directly on the busy East Central, which has steady traffic throughout the day, is a big part of the draw for that building.

“Suite tenants get real visibility and easy access for their clients — the kind of drive-by exposure and park-at-the-door convenience you don’t get in the office parks and low-traffic strip centers where a lot of suites around town end up,” Cooke wrote.

He said that “Wichita’s beauty professionals are increasingly entrepreneurial, and they deserve a space that reflects that.”

Cooke said this gives them “a turnkey way to go independent without the cost and risk of opening a standalone salon.”

“What will set 2929 apart is the space and the design,” he wrote. “Most salon suites run about 100 to 120 square feet; ours are being built larger — around 150 — so there’s real room to work and make the space your own. The design is a warm, modern, minimalist look — natural creams, sage, terracotta and black — meant to feel calm and high-end the moment a client walks in, not like a strip-mall cubicle.”

CBRE’s Beau Hudson, who is one of the people developing the property, said this 2,700-square-foot lease completes the tenant mix at the center.

Focus Respiratory was the first to sign, followed by Convergint.

“We’re super happy with the tenants and the tenant mix,” Hudson said.

However, he said, “It’s not exactly as we imagined it.”

With the building being so close to Wesley Medical Center, he said he expected more medical uses for the space.

Not that he minds.

“It’s definitely a success from our perspective.”

This story was originally published June 17, 2026 at 2:02 PM.