Lawrence Chamber of Commerce officials Tuesday welcomed 80 commercial real estate brokers from the Kansas City metro area as part of an effort to create more awareness of economic development opportunities in Lawrence.

Chamber officials want to make sure the Kansas City contingent realize Mount Oread isn’t Lawrence’s only attraction.

Alicia Janesko, marketing manager for the chamber’s economic development department, said the chamber wanted to make sure the group also knew about East Hills Business Park, the city’s largest industrial park.

“The most important thing we’re trying to do is educate people,” Janesko said. “Some people may think we are just the community where KU is located, but we have a lot more to offer than just KU. This is a great opportunity for us to market those things.”

The group took a bus tour of East Hills and stopped at the park’s newest project, a $3.2 million building that Douglas County Development Inc. is constructing in hopes of attracting a new manufacturing or industrial company.

Janesko said the 67,000-square-foot building was nearly complete, but Douglas County Development and the chamber were still looking for a tenant.

“We’ve received a great deal of interest,” Janesko said. “We’ve had approximately four local businesses look at it and we’ve had six to eight outside businesses tour it.”

Chamber officials also introduced the brokers to a new database the chamber is offering to make it easier for people to find a list of available buildings and sites in Lawrence.

The database, located on the chamber’s Web site, should help in recruiting new companies to town, Janesko said. It can be found at www. lawrencechamber.com.

Tuesday’s event was co-sponsored by the Lenexa Chamber of Commerce. This is the sixth year the Lenexa chamber has brought together area real estate brokers, but the first time they’ve toured a community outside Kansas City.

“We both felt like it was important that we do something like this because we’re growing closer together all the time,” Janesko said.

In addition to the East Hills tour, the group had a meal at Liberty Hall and attended the Kansas University vs. Washburn University men’s basketball game.