Planning Commission gives HERE parking plan preliminary approval

Map of proposed parking location for HERE Kansas apartment complex.

A plan to resolve the HERE apartment complex’s parking shortage is moving forward. The Lawrence-Douglas County Planning Commission voted Monday to recommend the plan, which calls for demolishing two houses to expand an existing parking lot.

Commissioner Clay Britton said it may not have been a problem directly created by the city, but he thought it was one it needed to solve and the solution in front of the commission was likely the best option.

“Other solutions are going to involve demolishing something else, building a parking garage somewhere or just surface parking,” Britton said at the meeting. “…I wish that the solution here didn’t involve that, but I just don’t think that there’s a better one. I’d be worried about what the next proposed solution would be if this one doesn’t go through.”

The plan also called for the commission to waive a requirement that parking for a property is located within 600 feet of its main entrance, as well as make an amendment to the Horizon 2020 comprehensive plan to allow for increased density. Although some of the parking spaces are located within the 600-foot range, others are as far as 800 feet. The plan also requires a change in zoning from low-density residential to high-density residential, though the area’s only designated use will be as a parking lot.

The site currently consists of an existing parking lot and two multifamily properties at 1029 and 1031 Mississippi St. The homes and the existing lot would be demolished in order to construct a new 68-space lot at the corner of Mississippi Street and Fambrough Drive. As part of the project, Fambrough Drive would also be realigned to create a new four-way intersection with 11th and Mississippi Streets.

The majority of the property is owned the KU Endowment Association, but HERE currently owns a parcel that it will transfer to KU should the project receive all necessary approvals. The existing parking lot is currently being used for gameday crowds at nearby Memorial Stadium.

As part of the agreement, HERE would lease the new 68-space lot from KU Endowment, and HERE tenants would have to vacate it about 10 days per year for KU home football games and other events. HERE would need to provide alternative parking for tenants on those days, and city staff indicated that HERE will provide a shuttle for tenants. A local representative for Chicago-based HERE acknowledged it wasn’t a perfect solution.

“There are just not that many options for creating a parking lot of this size in the proximity needed for this project,” said Brian Sturm, of Landplan Engineering. “This is a really great solution for the HERE Kansas parking dilemma just about every day out of the year, and it brings a number of public benefits to the city and to this neighborhood.”

The Planning Commission’s recommendation serves as guidance for the City Commission, which ultimately will make the final decision on whether the project receives the necessary approvals.

Strum said the project is a “three-way win” for the HERE project, KU and the city. He noted that in addition to the long-sought realignment of Fambrough Drive, the project would be a “complete street” that includes a sidewalk and 10-foot shared use path.

Kyle Thompson, chair of the Oread Residents Association, did not agree. Thompson said he thought parking problems in the neighborhood would get worse because tenants were likely to avoid the hassle of a shuttle and just use on-street parking in the Oread Neighborhood instead.

The $75 million luxury apartment complex at 1111 Indiana St. opened to residents in mid-August after several delays that caused waiting tenants to find lodging at area hotels. The complex consists of 624 bedrooms and 13,500 square feet of commercial space. HERE is currently only allowed to fill about 550 of those bedrooms because the complex’s parking garage does not have enough spaces.

Originally, the development was to have a robotic valet parking garage that would have had the capacity for the entire complex, but the company responsible for producing that robotic system went bankrupt earlier this year. The proposed project would get the HERE project back into compliance with the city’s parking requirements and allow all 624 apartments to be occupied.

Planning commissioners voted 9 to 1 to recommend the project for approval, with Commissioner James Carpenter voting against it. Carpenter said he didn’t think it was the city’s problem to solve or that the problem with robotic parking was totally unforeseen.

The project required three separate votes: to rezone approximately 40,000 square feet from multi-dwelling residential to multi-dwelling residential planned development; to amend the Horizon 2020 comprehensive plan; and to approve the preliminary development plan for the parking lot and realignment of Fambrough Drive.