Keep your eyes open for a major change of scenery at Sixth and Iowa. Plans are in the works to demolish the former Ramada Inn building that sits just north and west of the busy intersection.

The building has not served as a Ramada for a long time, and housed a litany of other hotel chains in recent years. It recently closed, and a new ownership group plans to demolish the building in mid-May.

Lawrence-based Williams Management has bought the property from an East Coast bank. Adam Williams, leader of the development group, told me he doesn’t yet have specific plans for the nearly four-acre property. He is in discussions, though, with various groups. He said he became interested in the property because its commercial zoning allows for a number of uses. He said a new hotel is a possibility, as is an office building, retail development or even a gas station.

“We feel like we have a lot of options,” said Williams. “We really like the corner and the location.”

Williams — who is the developer who built the new Capital City Bank building and medical office building at Sixth and Folks Road — said the group had no interest in keeping the current building.

“It had become a tired hotel,” Williams said. “The property is in need of a change. I think the community will be glad to see it.”

Williams said an auction will be held May 3 to auction off the contents of the building, and then demolition is likely to begin a few weeks later. Williams said he hopes to have a more definitive plan about how to redevelop the property this summer.

“I don’t think it will be long until we identify what will happen with the property,” Williams said.

In other news and notes from around town:

• While we’re talking about properties at busy intersections to keep an eye on, it appears the Phoggy Dog at 2228 Iowa St. falls into that category. The longtime bar appears to be closed, although I’ve struggled to confirm that. I’ve had patrons email me that the establishment closed last week. I’ve tried to get in touch with the business operator, but have had no luck. I did go by the establishment last night and it was closed, although there weren’t any signs explaining whether there were plans to reopen. So take it for what it is worth.

For those of you not up on your current bar locations, the Phoggy Dog is in the shopping center on the northeast corner of 23rd and Iowa streets. For a long time the location was the home of King Arthur’s, which I’m pretty sure was a monarch in the 1990s who was almost entirely funded by proceeds from my ATM account.

Anyway, it is another prominent location that may be up for a change in scenery, although you would think another bar use is likely, given that the location is within walking distance of the Daisy Hill dormitories.

• I’m hearing there is going to be a positive announcement on the Lawrence economic development front. I believe a new tenant is going to be announced at the Bioscience and Technology Business Center on KU’s West Campus on Monday. My understanding is it may be a company looking to locate its headquarters here, and may be in the health field. Obviously, I’m still gathering information on this. I don’t have any word on how many employees the firm may employ, but the BTBC site is an incubator facility, so usually companies are on the smaller side with strong growth potential and good professional-level jobs. We should learn all the details on Monday.

Monday’s announcement is not related to work that local economic development leaders have been doing to bring the first tenant to the new Lawrence VenturePark. But Larry McElwain, president and CEO of the chamber, told me that work is still continuing to go well. McElwain previously has said the community is in the running to land a large manufacturer that would occupy about 120 acres at the park and would employ about 125 people over the next five years. No word on when Lawrence may learn about the future of that project, but it sounds like it is a project whose leaders are still actively considering Lawrence.