Compromise has paved the way for the Hanscom-Tappan addition, a new 33-home development in East Lawrence.

The development, formerly known as Parnell Park is near the southwest corner of 15th Street and Haskell Avenue. It has brought together the project’s architect and the East Lawrence Neighborhood Assn.

“I’ve made some friends I wouldn’t normally have made,” said architect Allen Belot, who met several times with the neighborhood association. “Because of their input we have a much better project.”

The addition plan began last fall as an affordable family housing development, with houses priced at $150,000. But as Belot worked to meet the city’s requirements for approval, the estimated price of homes increased.

“The planning process adds additional costs to a development,” he said. Even in the early phases of the project, $150,000 was questioned as an “affordable” price. Now, Belot says houses will vary in price from $165,000 to $195,000.

From the start, the development was zoned in a way that allowed for compromise between the city and the developers, Belot said.

He said that both pros and cons had come from the city’s requirements for the addition. A benefit is that Belot was able to meet with the neighborhood association and use its input, one result being that a small park will be in the middle of the neighborhood. The original plan called for 35 lots, but the park will take the place of two of them.

“The park will be the neighborhood’s anchor, weaving a fabric for years to come, so that it doesn’t end up being split apart into rental properties in a few years,” Belot said.

But the city’s requirements have made the lots less affordable. For example, it added sidewalks on both sides of the streets, whereas the original plan cut costs by placing sidewalks on only one side.

Janet Good, president of the East Lawrence Neighborhood Assn., said the association was trying to address the affordable housing issue. She has mixed thoughts on the near-$200,000 price of Hanscom-Tappan homes.

“Unfortunately for Lawrence, Kansas, that’s ‘affordable housing,'” she said. “But it’s not affordable for the work force, like elementary school teachers or construction workers.”

Good said a number of developers have visited the association’s meetings for input on small infill developments in East Lawrence.

“We try not to be hard on people, because they don’t necessarily have to do that,” she said. The association always encourages “green space” in its neighborhoods, often as parks, and that new houses maintain the character of the neighborhood, she said.

The addition houses will be built in two styles, both characteristic of East Lawrence. Both the one-story bungalow homes and the two-story Craftsman homes will have covered front porches, Belot said. Construction began last month on some of the 33 available lots, which range from 4,000 to 12,000 square feet, and homes will be available by fall, he said.