The few times I’ve managed to actually keep my eyes open as my wife drives us around the Kasold Curve, I’ve noticed construction work is moving right along on the beginning stages of Lawrence’s newest neighborhood.

The Kasold Curve, of course, is at 31st and Kasold, and we’ve previously reported that the site is going to be home to a new neighborhood of duplexes. But several of you apparently have forgotten that because questions abound about what’s going on at the curve. (Or maybe you’re just asking how my Ford Taurus can keep its wheels on going sideways — you really should ask the driver.)

Regardless, I’ve got an update on the development. Longtime Lawrence real estate executive Mike McGrew is a partner in the project, and he said he hopes to have 10 to 12 duplexes under construction at the site soon. The work you’ve seen at the site has been for the streets and other infrastructure.

Overall, McGrew said the development would have about 130 townhomes, which equates to about 65 structures with two living units apiece. McGrew said the development will include a mix of rental units and units for sale. He is partnering with Lawrence-based Grand Builders. McGrew anticipates it will take about three years to fully build out the development.

The project will include some changes to the Kasold Curve. The city is requiring a left-turn lane to make it easier for motorists to enter the development. In addition to the townhomes, the site includes a site for the Lawrence Wesleyan Church, which purchased 33 acres at the corner in 2009, and then sold about 19 acres to the McGrew development. The church will be built on property just west of the houses, but a timeline for that project is less certain.

The residential building market has been slow in Lawrence this year — more on that in a moment — but McGrew said he thinks the time is near for activity to start picking up again.

“I’ve been watching the national statistics, and they show that even at a million new units a year, we’re still undershooting the household formation rate by about 500,000,” McGrew said. “That is why there have been a lot of apartments. I think there are a lot of people in apartments who would rather be in houses.”

In other news and notes from around town:

• Here’s something to keep an eye on this month: Unless something changes in December, this year is at risk of being the worst on record for single-family home construction in Lawrence.

City officials recently have released the latest building permit numbers, and they show that the city has issued only 87 permits for single-family home construction through November. For decades and decades it was a given that Lawrence would issue more than 100 permits a year for single-family homes. Then in the depth of the recession in 2011, the city failed to hit the 100 mark for the first time since at least 1956, which is how far back the city’s building permit records go.

Now, just three year later, the city is at risk of missing the mark again. It will be close, though. Housing starts have picked up a little momentum at the end of the year. The November report shows 13 permits were issued. That was the highest monthly total of the year. If builders take out 13 or more in December, the city will hit the 100 mark. Even if they just take out eight or more, they’ll avoid setting a new low. The city issued 95 permits in that rough year of 2011.

If you add in duplex units to the mix, the numbers look a little better, but not much. The city has issued permits for a total of 101 living units when count both single-family and duplex permits. That’s the second lowest total of the last five years, trailing only the 2011 year.

It also is interesting to note that apartment construction also has lagged in 2014. The city has issued permits for 83 apartment units. That’s the lowest total by a lot in recent years, with the next lowest being 172 in 2009. Add it all up and Lawrence is having its slowest residential construction year since . . . 1974. Through 11 months of 2014, the city has issued permits for 184 living units. Back in 1974, the city issued permits for 176 units of single family, duplex and apartments.

Of course, we still have one more month to go. And I wouldn’t worry too much about a lasting slowdown in apartment development. Apartment builders may just be catching their breath. Several projects are on the drawing board. Construction likely will being in early 2015 on the latest multi-story apartment building at Ninth and New Hampshire streets. That project has received all its city approvals and is awaiting building permits. Plus, there is the news about a multi-story building at 11th and Massachusetts that would house a grocery store on the ground floor. The upper levels of that seven-story project would include apartments. And there is the proposed apartment project across the street from Memorial Stadium that has been approved but may or may not happen. Nonetheless, it’s interesting to note it has been historically slow thus far on the residential front in Lawrence in 2014.

For all projects — residential, commercial and otherwise — the city has issued permits for $91 million worth of projects so far in 2014. That’s down from the $163 million issued through the same period a year ago, but 2013 was a banner year. The average since 2009 has been about $105 million worth of projects, so this year is off about 13 percent, which isn’t bad in the cyclical world of construction.

• Speaking of things that are falling, how about an update on ice skating. The city has the numbers back from the opening weekend of its new outdoor rink near the Lawrence Public Library. (Some have noted that I shouldn’t call it ice skating because it is an artificial surface rather than real ice. But I count it as ice skating because there seem to be very little difference in the doctor bills I rack up between the real and the fake stuff.) There were not reports of injuries on the opening weekend, but rather just lots of skaters. More than 400 skaters showed up for opening day, and for the three-day weekend a total of 1,324 skaters took to the ice-like surface. The city is expecting good crowds this weekend, which is the Winter Wonder Weekend that Downtown Lawrence Inc. and others are sponsoring to bring in more shoppers. A highlight of that is Saturday’s Old Fashioned Christmas Parade at 11 a.m.