News and notes from around town:

• Lawrence’s efforts to become a destination for retirees are becoming more visible by the day. If you don’t believe me, just drive by the Sixth Street and Folks Road intersection.

Construction work progresses on an independent living facility near Sixth Street and Folks Road.

The big development under construction at the intersection is an independent living facility for people 55 and over. We previously reported on the project when it filed its plans with the city, but the project is really moving along now. A representative with the company told me an opening is expected in September.

Dubbed Meadowlark Estates, the facility will have 124 living units. But the unique part of the project is that none of the apartments will have a kitchen. Instead, the facility will have a full-scale commercial kitchen and dining room that will serve three meals per day. It also will have a bistro-style café that will offer food during off hours. Meals costs, utilities — basically everything but the phone bill — is included in one monthly rate.

The apartments — which will include a kitchenette that includes a refrigerator and sink — will be a mix of 30 studio units, 76 one-bedroom and 18 two-bedroom units.

The project is selling a low-maintenance style of living.

“It is independent living,” said Sam Behler, a spokesman for the project and an executive with the project’s general contractor, Colson & Colson. “Residents come and go as they please. It is a month-to-month rent, and residents aren’t pinned down to any type of particular activity or regime. It is really free-style living.”

The residence will provide transportation options for residents who no longer want to drive, and there will be several on-site amenities. Those include a theater, a beauty salon, workout gym, a chapel, and a large activity room.

Hawthorn Retirement Group — a Vancouver, Wash.-based company — will be the operator of the facility. The company has about 35 senior living facilities in the U.S., Canada, and Europe, but this will be the company’s only facility in Kansas.

The Lawrence facility is about a $10 million construction project, and was the largest construction permit pulled in 2010 in Lawrence.

• A new streak has begun. If you remember, in January a longtime building streak came to an end. The city for the first time since January of 1980 did not issue a building permit for any residential construction. According to new data from City Hall, builders got back to work in February. Six single-family permits were issued in February, and one duplex permit was issued.

For the month, the city issued permits for $3.7 million worth of construction projects. That was slightly better than in February 2010, when $3.5 million worth of permits were pulled. For the year, $7.01 million worth of projects have been started, which is right on pace with the 2010 totals.

The largest project in February was an expansion of the apartment complex at 200 N. Michigan St. The project is adding 16 units at a cost of about $1.04 million.