A Lawrence-based construction company is buying property as part of a plan to renovate a multiblock area of East Lawrence into a historic office, residential and retail district.

Bo Harris, chief executive officer of Harris Construction, confirmed Friday he’d signed contracts to purchase three buildings along or near Pennsylvania Street between Seventh and Ninth streets.

The purchases are the first part of a plan that Harris has to buy all the property between Seventh and Ninth Streets east of Pennsylvania Street and west of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway tracks.

The area largely contains turn-of-the century industrial buildings, scattered with a couple of automotive repair businesses and Quonset hut-style storage sheds. Harris said none of the buildings he was considering were used as residences.

Harris plans to renovate nine of the older buildings and build an undetermined number of new buildings in the area and lease the space for loft-style apartments, offices, light-industrial uses and, eventually, retail.

“Our basic idea is to create some synergy between this area and the success of the downtown,” Harris said. “We want to create an exciting place to live, work and play.”

A demand for history

Harris has contracts to purchase the 43,000-square-foot former home of Classic Eagle Distributing, 801 E. Ninth St.; the former Polk Oil Co. building near Ninth and Pennsylvania streets; and the former Poehler Mercantile Co. building, 619 E. Eighth St. He said he likely would begin renovating that four-story, 60,000-square-foot building by early next year.

The idea for renovating the buildings came to Harris as his company worked on restoring the Kansas Seed House Building, 805 N.H. That building, which formerly housed Quantrill’s Flea Market, was converted into office and restaurant space more than two years ago.

“I’ve really enjoyed the historical renovation work we’ve done,” Harris said. “We did the Seed House and it was then that I realized there are quite a few companies that want to have an older, edgier type of office space.”

Harris said he also saw good potential for residential development in the area. Some of the buildings will contain a mix of offices and loft-style apartments, but other buildings may entirely be devoted to apartments finished in a brownstone style.

But Harris said he had not developed any specific plans showing how he would split the property between office and residential uses. He also said some buildings, such as the Classic Eagle facility, likely would continue to be used for light industrial purposes.

While he doesn’t have any specific plans for retail space, he said he expected that some retail uses would emerge as the residential and offices uses began to grow in the area.

“Retail will probably follow,” Harris said. “It probably won’t be the first thing we do.”

Cleaning up

In addition to renovating the buildings, Harris said he wanted to improve the overall appearance of the area.

“I think one of the keys to realizing our vision will be cleaning up the area,” Harris said. “Making it very attractive visually, doing lots of nice landscaping. If you go down there now, you can see weed patches, and it’s dark and it can be uninviting.

“We want to change that, but I don’t think we can do it unless we do it on a broad scale.”

Part of the changes would include improving the area’s access to downtown along Seventh, Eighth and Ninth streets, Harris said. Plans call for improving lighting, narrowing the intersections and creating raised crosswalks in an attempt to slow traffic and make the area more pedestrian-friendly.

Neighborhood listening

Harris has met twice with board members of the East Lawrence Neighborhood Assn. Ed Tato, association president, said he thought neighborhood members were willing to listen to the ideas.

“For myself, I think it is a great opportunity,” Tato said. “The fact Bo is coming in here and saying ‘This is what I want to do’ and then asking how he can make it work with what we want is encouraging. That is how good development gets done.”

But Tato said concerns remain. He has heard from residents who worry that the development may increase rent rates in the area.

“One of the concerns I have is the type of housing,” Tato said. “This is a relatively low-income area, and we don’t want to do anything to push low-income residents out of here.”

Ardys Ramberg, a board member of the association, said some neighbors also may have problems with a project that would create big changes.

“I have always viewed our neighborhood as an extension of the countryside coming out of the river,” Ramberg said. “I’ve grown used to the area being a bit undeveloped, and I rather like it that way.”

Residents have varied opinions about the project, Ramberg said.

“I think some people are concerned and some people are delighted,” she said.

Harris said he had no firm timeline on submitting plans for city officials to review. He said it was likely the area would need to have a change in zoning from its current use of light industrial to a mix of planned commercial, residential and office zoning.