23rd Street shopping center to downsize retail space; new report ranks Lawrence as one of the best cities for singles

I’m sure we’ve all been in this situation: You’re halfway through your weekly shopping trip and realize you should have rented the full-size semitrailer instead of the large U-Haul. Well, maybe one Lawrence shopping center is trying to address that common problem. It has filed plans to convert part of its retail space into storage units and to add several more in a portion of its parking lot.

Perhaps that is not the exact situation the Southern Hills Shopping Center is trying to address, but the shopping center at the corner of 23rd and Ousdahl indeed has filed plans to convert a significant portion of its space into self-storage units.

If you are having a hard time picturing it, the center is the one that houses King Buffet, Pizza Shuttle, The Salvation Army Store, Aaron’s and several other smaller businesses. But the shopping center also has some vacant space, and the Prairie Village-based group that owns the center plans to convert some of the vacant space in the eastern end of the center into climate-controlled storage space. About 30,000 square feet of space will be converted indoor, climate controlled storage space. A good portion of that space is where Pinnacle Career Institute is located currently. I did get confirmation that Pinnacle is leaving that space in July. I hope to have more to report on that soon.

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The more noticeable change, though, is what would happen in the parking lot on the south side of the building, the side facing 24th Street. Plans call for much of the parking lot to be occupied by five new self-storage buildings totaling about 22,000 square feet. Technically, the plan calls the buildings “mini warehouses.” (I once labeled my garage a miniwarehouse as part of a plan to convince my wife to let me buy a forklift. It would have worked too, if the neighbors hadn’t filed that restraining order.)

The plans call for about 280 rental spaces in the miniwarehouses. No word yet on a timeline for the project. It must still win site plan approval from Lawrence City Hall. Lawrence’s BG Consultants has filed the plans. A representative with that company said a firm timeline for the project to begin had not been determined.

The property is owned by a group led by longtime Kansas City area developer Mark Ledom. No word yet on why the group is proposing the change to the center. The center, though, is near a high density neighborhood to the south that may have some self-storage needs. Plus, self storage seems to be a niche that is gaining some momentum. Plans also have been filed recently to expand the self-storage business that is near 31st and Ousdahl.

In other news and notes from around town:

• In a married household like mine, the pending arrival of Valentine’s Day means you’d better be planning something extra special. I know I’ve already got my reservation made at Netflix, and rumor has it that there may be nacho-flavored popcorn on this night of nights. If you are single, though, you may not give a flip about the day. You are free to get powdered artificial cheese on your couch any night of the week.

A new ranking suggests Lawrence may have a lot of folks who don’t give a flip. The financial website SmartAsset ranks Lawrence as the fifth best city in America to be single. The ranking measured factors such as marriage rates, median rents, bars per 100,000 people, entertainment establishments — think theaters, concert venues, bowling alleys, arcades, etc. — and the unemployment rate.

Lawrence ranked fairly high in all those categories but particularly high in the number of single people in the community. As a college community, Lawrence always has had a lower marriage rate than other communities, but it is even fairly low by university town standards. SmartAsset’s list of the Top 25 cities is crowded with college communities, but Lawrence still had a marriage rate well below the average.

Only 35 percent of the Lawrence population is married, according to the report, which used data from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. Of the 25 cities ranked, only five had lower marriage rates than Lawrence: Albany, N.Y., at 26 percent marriage rate; Buffalo, N.Y., 31 percent; Ames Iowa, 31 percent; Pittsburgh, 33 percent; and New Orleans, 33 percent.

Lawrence was fairly middle-of-the-pack in the other categories. One that was interesting, however, was bars per 100,000 residents. Lawrence has 32.8 bars per 100,000 people, according to Census figures. There were several communities with more than 50 per 100,000, but I was surprised that several major college communities on the list were significantly lower than Lawrence. Ames, home to Iowa State, had 25.5 per 100,000. Fayetteville, home to the University of Arkansas, had 17.3 per 100,000. And Columbia, Mo., home to the University of Missouri, had 17.1. (No word on whether their moonshine stills are counted in that figure.)

Make of that what you will. In the meantime, here’s a look at the top 10 best cities for singles:

1. Eau Claire, Wis.: Marriage rate 39 percent

2. Duluth, Minn.: Marriage rate 40 percent

3. Fargo, N.D.: Marriage rate 40 percent

4. Missoula, Mont.: Marriage rate 41 percent

5. (tie) Lawrence: Marriage rate 35 percent

5. (tie) Green Bay, Wis.: Marriage rate 44 percent

7. Madison, Wis. Marriage rate 37 percent

8. Oshkosh, Wis.: Marriage rate 36 percent

9. Portland, Maine: Marriage rate 40 percent

10. Asheville, N.C.: Marriage rate 42 percent

Perhaps the thing that jumped out at me also stands out to you: Wisconsin communities make up nearly half of the top 10. This, of course, makes sense. Wisconsin doesn’t believe in powdered cheese, and in a married household, there is never a night where cheese sauce is allowed on the couch.