Luxury condos may dot downtown

Carol and Jim Roberts might have one of the best views in Lawrence.

From their new home on the fifth floor of the Hobbs Taylor Lofts, the couple has a panoramic westward-facing perspective of the city that starts with an array of downtown rooftops before giving way to the reds, oranges and browns of trees in the Old West Lawrence Neighborhood – all of them rising gradually toward Mount Oread.

“It was prettier yesterday,” Carol Roberts said Thursday morning. “The wind took the leaves.”

The inside of the Roberts’ new home isn’t too shabby, either, with high ceilings, a fireplace, two spacious bathrooms and more than 2,200 square feet of room to stretch out.

Such views might be more common in the future of downtown Lawrence. Developers say the Hobbs Taylor Lofts – a five-story edifice at the corner of Eighth and New Hampshire streets – could be the first in a wave of luxury condominiums in and around Massachusetts Street.

Hobbs Taylor Lofts resident Carol Roberts prepares to hang a painting over her mantel Friday morning in the living room of her new home, which overlooks downtown Lawrence.

That prospect excites downtown retailers and other shop owners.

“That’s not a reason I’m moving there, but it’s a perk,” said Ken Baker, who is relocating his luxury Pachamama’s restaurant downtown, across the street from the lofts. “Some of those people are already my customers and will continue to be. That will be huge.”

Access to good eating comes at a price, with prices for the building’s 32 condominiums reportedly ranging between $200,00 and $450,000. Retail tenants will fill out the ground floor, including a branch for Capital City Bank.

But getting to this point hasn’t been easy.

During the construction process, the building has provoked protests from environmentalists over the destruction of a 75-foot tree that formerly occupied the site. Historic preservationists have complained that it altered the character of downtown, and patrons of the Lawrence music scene worry that the nearby Bottleneck bar might be forced out of business.

But the Roberts, who moved in a month ago as the building’s first tenants, say they chose to the lofts because they want to be downtown – even if that means a little lost sleep from rock bands playing across the street.

“We knew about it before we came,” Carol Roberts said. “I can’t imagine anybody getting bent all out of shape.”

Peggy Kuhr, a Kansas University journalism professor, moved into an east-facing, fifth-floor apartment two weeks ago. She agreed with Carol Roberts.

“I think it cements downtown as a center of activity – not just shopping, not just eating, not just bars,” Kuhr said of the new building.

“It’s where people go for entertainment, business and to live.”