photo by: City of Lawrence screenshot

An updated design for a proposal that would built 15 row houses on a vacant parking lot at 700 New Hampshire St. in downtown Lawrence, the site of the former Borders building. It will be the third time the proposed development seeks approval from the Historic Resources Commission.

A plan to build row houses on a vacant parking lot in downtown Lawrence will go in front of the Historic Resources Commission for a third time next week with more adjustments to its design.

The developer is seeking approval next Thursday from the HRC on the design for the three-story row house complex in the parking lot at 700 New Hampshire St. The building would include 15 2,353-square-foot units, which would each feature a one-car garage on the ground floor that faces west. The front entrances would face east and would be accessed from Rhode Island Street. The units are planned to have three bedrooms and three bathrooms each.

When the project first went before the Historic Resources Commission in March, the commission voted unanimously to forward it to its Architectural Review Committee to find ways to make the design fit better with the neighborhood. Then, in April, despite some modifications to the design, the commission was tied 2-2 with several members absent, meaning it did not recommend the plans for approval, as the Journal-World reported.

The submission this time, according to a city memo, sets the property back farther from the street, lowers some design details for the upper floors and adds a red brick design option to match some of the surrounding areas, a change recommended by city staff.

In a city memo, staff said infill development on the edge of both a residential and a commercial area is “challenging.” But the memo said that the row house designs, although they do not immediately blend with the context area, are “a good solution” for downtown housing that increases density while keeping a “residential character.”

Previously, commissioners and several members of the public expressed concerns that the structure might be too imposing for the area. The design was brought to the HRC in the first place because it fell within the “context area” surrounding the historically protected Octavious W. McAllaster House, at 724 Rhode Island St., which was built in 1861 and survived Quantrill’s Raid. Many of those who spoke against the project were residents along that block of Rhode Island Street.

The plans for the row houses were first filed back in January by local businessman Adam Williams, as the Journal-World reported. The row houses would be built right by the long-vacant Borders building. Williams said during the meeting that he viewed the construction of the row houses as a “phase one” of sorts that can lead to future development of the area, including the Borders building which has sat vacant since 2011.