Large apartment complex files plans for major renovation; the mystery numbers surrounding renters in Lawrence

One of the city’s larger apartment complexes is set to get an upgrade. Plans have been filed for a significant remodeling of the apartment complex near 24th and Ousdahl that used to be known as Colony Woods.

Paperwork filed at the Lawrence-Douglas County Planning Department shows the complex has been purchased by a new owner, and it looks like the ownership group wants to increase the amenities offered at the complex.

Lawrence-based Paul Werner Architects is doing the design for the new project, and it includes a complete renovation of the clubhouse, including a new fitness center, student lounge, pool table area, computer lab, study room, and new outdoor space that will include a patio, pool, hot tub, fire pit and barbecue area. Plans also call for the complex to have security entrance gates added, and a whole new landscaping package. My understanding is some interior renovations of the apartment already have taken place.

As for the ownership group, it looks like a Florida-based company has purchased the property. The property is owned by an LLC that is registered to individuals with Calidus Holdings, a Florida-based investment group that was formed in 2011 and has started purchasing student housing properties throughout the Midwest and southeastern U.S.

Although I’m not entirely sure, it looks like there also may be a name change in store for the complex. Even though a lot of folks have still thought of the property as Colony Woods, I think it has been operating under the name of Campus Court for awhile. The plans filed at City Hall are titled The Rockland, and I’m told the complex is transitioning over to the name The Rockland.

A little distance between the complex and its Colony Woods past probably is a good thing. I know there’s a whole generation of KU alumni who are quite thankful that party pics and Facebook didn’t exist during Colony Woods’ heyday.

In other news and notes from around town:

• Some readers told me they noticed a national article that talked about how the percentage of renters in many U.S cities continues to grow, and they wondered what the situation was in Lawrence. So, now seems as good as any to go over the latest numbers.

First, a new report by New York University’s Furman Center found that nine of the 11 largest U.S. cities now have more renters than homeowners. That’s up from just five of the largest U.S. cities being rental dominated in 2006. Among the new cities where renters have become the new majority are Chicago, Dallas, Houston and Washington, D.C.

Lawrence, of course, wasn’t included in the study. But renters being the majority in a town is old hat for Lawrence. The latest numbers are from the 2013, five-year American Community Survey by the Census Bureau. That report found that 53.9 percent of all occupied housing units in Lawrence are rentals. That equates to 18,592 rental units in Lawrence compared with 16,399 owner-occupied units.

What people, I think, are more interested in is how much that percentage has been growing. When it comes to interpreting those numbers, here is my takeaway: I need some of that fine punch I used to get at Colony Woods. The numbers show that the percentage of renters in Lawrence has held steady or actually decreased slightly over the years. In 2010, the percentage of renters was 53.2 percent, according to the 2010 Census. In the 2000 Census, it was 54.1 percent.

But for those of you who track apartment construction in Lawrence, we know two things: 1. We really need a better hobby than tracking apartment construction. 2. There have been a lot of apartments built in Lawrence since 2000. But you wouldn’t know it by the Census numbers.

The 2010 Census showed that there were 18,623 rental units in Lawrence. The 2013 Census survey estimated that there were 18,592 rental units in the city, a decline of 31 rental units. But if you look at building permit numbers from the city, they show that 921 new multifamily apartment units were built between the end of 2010 and the end of 2013. Sure, some apartment units have been torn down in that time period too, but not that many.

One key to remember is that the Census Bureau is measuring occupied housing units. Vacant housing units is another calculation. Now, clearly, apartment developers aren’t building tons of new units in Lawrence to watch them sit empty. I’m guessing a fairly small percentage of the 921 new apartment units built in that time are sitting vacant. But the bigger question is, how many older apartment units are sitting vacant in Lawrence as the result of those newer units coming online?

One way to interpret the Census Bureau’s numbers is that apartment demand in Lawrence has held about steady, and what has been taking place is that newly constructed units have been filling that demand at the expense of older units. Or, an alternate theory is there are a lot of single family homes sitting vacant that used to be occupied by homeowners who are now renters.

It is tough to say for sure what is happening, however, without really knowing the rental vacancy rate in Lawrence. The Census Bureau has figures on that, but I don’t know a lot of people in the rental industry that rely on those numbers too heavily. A group of private apartment owners in town used to commission a local study of the apartment vacancy rate, and they used to share that number with me. But that hasn’t happened for years now. The study may still happen, but the sharing part doesn’t.

The rental vacancy rate is a number that city planners also struggle to determine. As far as I know, there is no real city-generated number that estimates the rental vacancy rate in the community. That is different from the retail vacancy rate. City planners do work to create a retail vacancy rate, which is used in helping determine whether new retail zoning projects should be approved. But that approach isn’t taken in determining whether new apartment development should be approved.

So, to answer the original question posed, I would make three points about the status of renters in Lawrence: 1. As has long been the case, renters continue to be the majority in Lawrence. 2. It is not clear that the number of renters in Lawrence is growing, although it is clear the number of apartment units in the city is growing. 3. I really need to find that punch recipe.