photo by: Contributed

A rendering shows a proposed affordable housing development for seniors at 711 New Hampshire St.

Lawrence city commissioners will soon consider selling a public parking lot near Seventh and New Hampshire streets to a developer for an affordable housing project.

The commission will decide on Tuesday whether to sell the 0.71-acre surface parking lot at 711 New Hampshire Street to Cohen-Esrey Development Group for $100,000. The developer previously entered an exclusivity agreement with the city, which expires this month, and is proposing building 94 rental units for seniors and a ground-floor space that could be used for commercial purposes.

In 2023, the city began asking developers for proposals to create new commercial development and affordable housing in what it calls “underutilized” downtown parking lots, and this project is one of those proposals.

The lot currently contains 74 free, two-hour parking spaces, two of which have chargers for electric vehicles. Its appraised value is $1.09 million, but the proposal on the commission’s meeting agenda says the city would only receive $100,000 from the developer, and that “the developer has stated the offer is intended as a good-faith contribution to help offset transaction costs or other expenses the City may incur in connection with the sale.”

A “project overview” report attached to the commission’s meeting agenda says the city has studied parking patterns in the lot. On average, it says that before noon, the lot is 46% full, but that from noon to 5 p.m., it is 73% full.

“These patterns suggest that the lot plays a meaningful role in accommodating afternoon short-term parking needs,” the report states.

If the project proceeds, the city says the Riverfront Parking Garage and metered spaces on New Hampshire Street have the capacity to absorb that demand. Currently, the on-street spaces near the garage are long-term parking spaces. City staff is recommending changing these to short-term spaces with a cap of two hours. Unlike the lot, they would be metered parking, not free. The charging stations would also be relocated, likely to a longer-term parking lot.

“Staff will continue to monitor parking occupancy and usage patterns in this area as redevelopment progresses,” the report says.

When Cohen-Esrey submitted its proposal for the development in 2024, it showed a garage with private parking for the project’s residents that would be partly below grade and partly on the ground floor.

The affordable housing project itself would provide apartments for seniors earning between 30% and 80% of area median income, and these units would remain at that level of affordability for at least 30 years. Cohen-Esrey intends to use Low-Income Housing Tax Credits to finance the project, and the transfer of the property will only occur if Cohen-Esrey simultaneously closes on the LIHTC financing, city staff wrote.

Rents for the apartments would range from $477 to $1,499, according to the meeting agenda materials. The report does say that certain rents would be higher than the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Fair Market Rents. It says these include a two-bedroom unit that would be at 70% of the area median but 27% above the HUD Fair Market Rent, and a one-bedroom unit that would be at 80% of the area median but 44% above Fair Market Rent.

The developer has not yet requested any additional city incentives, and any such requests would have to come back to the City Commission for approval.

If the commission goes ahead with the sale, Cohen-Esrey plans to hold a series of meetings with neighbors and stakeholders later this year, and anticipates starting construction in the first quarter of 2027.

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