WRITER: Chad Lawhorn

While home construction is slow in Lawrence, Baldwin City has building lots ready for 120 houses

On a parcel of pasture not far from where the Santa Fe Trail once stretched, Baldwin City leaders are embarking on a big adventure. Area developers in this town of about 5,000 people in southern Douglas County have presented, and the city council has approved, a plan to convert this rolling grassland site into a new neighborhood that will have 35 big homes setting on lots of about 1 acre each. Roads and ...

An update on Olive Garden and Dillons on Iowa Street, plus a new coffee shop on Sixth Street

UPDATE 2:55 P.M. JULY 10 Summer is rerun season, at least for those of us old enough to remember when “streaming” had nothing to do with T.V. but rather involved — best case scenario — a garden hose. I fit into that category, so I’m going to offer a couple of reruns about projects we reported on many months ago but that are now creating questions from readers as the buildings come out of the ground. ...

Lawrence on pace to set another record-low for single family home construction, latest numbers show

It is like a limbo game with hammer and nails. Halfway through the year, Lawrence’s single-family housing market may be amazing some onlookers with how low it can go. After setting a record low for new single-family housing starts in 2024, area builders are on pace to break that record this year. Actually, they are on pace to smash the record. Through June, the City of Lawrence has issued 19 ...

Former auto dealership building on Sixth Street to become home of large pool hall, sports bar, restaurant

Businesses are always looking for a big break. Lawrence businessman Chad Landis has never had to look very far. After all, when you are in the pool hall business, one is likely to happen at any table. Soon, 30 of them may be happening at once. Landis has plans to make one of Lawrence’s largest pool halls even bigger by moving it into a former car dealer location on Sixth Street, creating room for 30 pool ...

KU Endowment Association paying nearly half of chancellor's new $1M salary

Nearly half of the new $1 million salary for University of Kansas Chancellor Douglas Girod will be paid with private funds, the Kansas Board of Regents told the Journal-World on Tuesday. All of the private funding will come from the KU Endowment Association, and will total $490,000 for the 2026 fiscal year, which began on Tuesday, a spokesman for the Regents said. As reported, the Board of Regents on Friday ...

As budget season nears, Lawrence sales tax collections losing momentum; growth was slower than statewide average

If Lawrence’s economy was a race car, its pit crew would be getting a little more anxious with each passing lap. Their car is falling slightly farther behind as the race nears a critical stage. That’s certainly one way to look at the latest sales tax numbers released by the Kansas Department of Revenue. The June report showed sales tax collections were lackluster for the one-month period, which caused ...