photo by: Journal-World File Photo

714 Vermont St. in downtown Lawrence is pictured in this 2021 file photo.

A publicly traded company that specializes in “smart home” technology is no longer eyeing the former Journal-World printing facility on Massachusetts Street for its new location, and it will be requesting development incentives for a site on Vermont Street instead.

The company is Alarm.com, and it was planning to use part of the former printing plant at 630 Massachusetts St. as a new office for about 70 employees. But according to a request recently filed with the city, it is no longer interested in that site, and instead is looking to acquire and redevelop the property at 714 Vermont St.

Currently, that property across the street from the library is home to the Climb Lawrence rock-climbing gym. The request from the company doesn’t mention anything about that business, but it does say that “We have or will shortly have the property under contract for purchase.”

On Tuesday, the City Commission will be asked to receive the company’s amended incentive request. A memo to the commission says the amendment is to change the address; the company is still seeking the creation of a Neighborhood Revitalization District and an exemption on sales taxes for construction materials, just like it was at the previous site.

The request from Alarm.com is light on details about why the printing plant site didn’t work out. All it says is that “We determined that the various difficulties involved in that project made it not feasible.” (Full disclosure: The current owners of the Journal-World are not involved in any redevelopment project at the location. Ownership of the location remained with the Simons family, which previously owned the Journal-World.)

But the request does include some details about the company’s plans for the Vermont Street site if the purchase goes through. The company plans to invest about $2.5 million to renovate it to provide more than 13,000 square feet of office space for its employees.

As the Journal-World has reported, Alarm.com had its first presence in Lawrence in 2019 with just three employees, and then opened an office in 2021 in the second-floor space above the Sylas and Maddy’s Ice Cream shop at 11th and Massachusetts streets. It employs almost 40 people in Lawrence right now and plans to hire 30 new employees in the coming years. The majority of the positions would be software engineers with an average wage of $146,000 per year, according to documents filed with the city.

This item is on the City Commission’s consent agenda, which is a group of items that can be approved in a single motion.

In other business, commissioners will:

• Consider approving historical markers about Harry “Nick” Rice and Rick “Tiger” Dowdell, two young men who were killed in confrontations with police during a period of unrest in Lawrence in 1970. The marker designs have been recommended by the Historic Resources Commission; they would be placed on East 10th Street, between Rhode Island and New Hampshire streets, and on Oread Avenue, just north of KU’s Adams Alumni Center.

• Receive a report on recreation center membership fees for the first month of their implementation. The report attached to the commission’s meeting agenda says the city sold 2,542 rec center memberships in the first month and provided 126 free memberships to people with financial hardship and 442 free memberships to youth. Between memberships, day passes and punch cards, the city has taken in $182,279, and it collected $47,945 in tournament spectator fees at Sports Pavilion Lawrence.

The City Commission meets at 5:45 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall, 6 E. Sixth St.