photo by: Rochelle Valverde/Journal-World

The south portion of the city-owned parking lot at 826 Vermont St. is pictured on Sept. 14, 2022.

Lawrence city leaders have agreed to donate a downtown city parking lot to allow Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center to build a supportive housing complex with a ground-level grocery store.

As part of its meeting Tuesday, the Lawrence City Commission voted unanimously to approve the donation of a parking lot on Vermont Street, though which one is not yet decided, and authorize the city manager to negotiate partnership agreements for the mixed-use development. Though commissioners said they anticipated more discussion about which parking lot would be best and other details of the project, they expressed enthusiastic support for the concept and moving ahead on the partnership.

“This is exciting,” Commissioner Brad Finkeldei said. “We need permanent supportive housing.”

One of the findings of a recently completed homeless needs assessment was that the city lacked permanent supportive housing to help people experiencing chronic homelessness, which includes those who experience long-term homelessness or cyclical bouts of homelessness. The city estimates there are approximately 160 people living unsheltered outdoors in Lawrence, many of whom have been camping in and around the downtown district and the Kansas River. The city’s Downtown Master Plan also recommends more downtown housing affordable to all income levels and that the city consider the 17 city-owned downtown surface parking lots for redevelopment.

The primary population who will be served by the project will be people experiencing chronic homelessness who have severe and persistent mental illness or other behavioral health needs and who qualify for housing vouchers through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Mathew Faulk, director of housing with Bert Nash, told commissioners the project aims to address an urgent community need.

“We can all admit that the severity of homelessness in the community today is perhaps the highest it’s ever been; it’s the highest it’s been in recent memory,” Faulk said. “And that’s what we’re targeting with this.”

photo by: City of Lawrence

This composite image of City of Lawrence aerial maps shows the two parking lots the city will consider donating to Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center for a supportive housing complex. The lower map, of 826 Vermont St., shows the portion of the parking lot that would be donated for the project.

Bert Nash currently anticipates a three-story building with 24 permanent supportive housing units — affordable housing with ongoing “wrap-around” support services — for people experiencing homelessness and a ground-floor grocer or other kind of food market of about 10,000 square feet. The project would be located on a city-owned parking lot on Vermont Street, either the parking lot at 943 Vermont St. or a portion of the lot at 826 Vermont St. City staff is recommending the lot at 943 Vermont, which is 0.4 acres and has a value of $602,550. Staff said some parallel parking stalls in the area could be converted to angled parking to minimize the impact on parking.

Faulk said Bert Nash would have dedicated, on-site staff who would only work with the residents of the building. He said Bert Nash would offer the commercial space at an affordable rate and would in turn seek a grocer willing to work with Bert Nash’s supported employment program to provide job options for building residents. Faulk said Bert Nash envisions building multiple permanent supportive housing projects, and revenue from this first project would allow Bert Nash to fund and build future projects.

“This is project one in that effort,” Faulk said. “This is going to be a decades-long effort for us as an agency, but this is a part of that plan.”

A few commissioners initially said they were leaning toward the smaller lot, but commissioners were open to further discussion. For instance, Mayor Courtney Shipley said while she was more amenable to the smaller lot, she might be interested in the bigger lot if the project were able to incorporate the downtown transfer point for the city bus service, which is currently located in the 700 block of Vermont Street. Commissioner Amber Sellers said she was open to using either lot, but the larger lot would provide more flexibility with the ground-level commercial space and the possibility of a “uniquely Lawrence concept.”

Vice Mayor Lisa Larsen initially said she leaned toward the smaller lot since the project would be the first such partnership using a city parking lot, but she also said that Sellers made a good point about the utilization of the ground-floor commercial space. Larsen also said she would even be interested in a taller building, so as to provide more units and potentially more cost efficiency.

“I’m more interested in going taller if possible,” Larsen said. “And that larger lot, I would agree, it seems like it would have better opportunity for the commercial space to be actually utilized as a market-type situation.”

Commissioner Bart Littlejohn also said it was a great project, and that he leaned toward the smaller lot. Larsen anticipated the city might hear more about the effect on parking downtown if the city were to go with the bigger lot, and commissioners indicated they needed more public input on the matter. In a letter to the commission, Downtown Lawrence Inc. indicated support for Bert Nash’s supportive housing program and that it looked forward to facilitating a discussion with its members about design, parking, and other topics.

Bert Nash plans to begin construction on the project in summer 2023, according to a memo to the commission. The memo states that apart from the donation, additional roles for the city may include collaborating on the design for the commercial and parking components, neighborhood engagement efforts and input on program design.

Ultimately, the commission voted to move ahead with the partnership, with the understanding that there would be more discussion about which lot was selected and the design of the project.

“We want this to move ahead, so we don’t want to kill it with indecision,” Finkeldei said. “But on the other hand, I think we want to leave both spots at least open to get more information on and allow Bert Nash to move ahead.”

The commission’s meeting extended past 11 p.m., and the commission deferred its last two agenda items regarding rate increases for water and sewer services and possible expansion of city utility assistance.

photo by: Rochelle Valverde/Journal-World

The city parking lot at 943 Vermont St. is pictured on Sept. 14, 2022.