The latest thing slated to grow in West Lawrence’s Bauer Farm development is a new apartment complex. Plans have been filed for a 145-unit apartment development near Sixth Street and Folks Road.

According to plans filed at the Lawrence-Douglas County Planning Department, the apartment complex wouldn’t be right on the corner of Sixth and Folks, but just west of it. Look for six apartment buildings that will house a mix of studio, one-bedroom, two-bedroom and three-bedroom apartments. The plans also call for a nearly 12,000-square-foot clubhouse and a full-length outdoor basketball court.

A big part of the development is finishing Bauer Farm Drive. That is the east-west road immediately north of Sixth Street. The road is only about three-quarters completed. A large gap prevents motorists from taking it all the way from Wakarusa Drive to Folks Road. (Well, prevent may be too strong of a word, but you’ll want to have your shocks adjusted just right and the proper amount of bail money in the glove box.) The plans call for that final stretch of Bauer Farm to be completed, which may spur other development.

The development still has a few lots along Sixth Street to fill, but development is certainly on the upswing with the project. Sprouts, the natural foods grocery store, is under construction. Officials with the chain have said they plan to open the Lawrence store, at Wakarusa and Overland, in the second quarter of this year. There also will be several other retail spaces available next to the grocery store. I haven’t yet heard of deals signed, but I believe interest has been strong.

I’m also hearing a medical-related user also has plans for another portion of the Bauer Farm development. So keep your eyes open for news on that in the future.

As for the apartment development, the property is owned by a group led by Lawrence businessmen Mike Treanor and Doug Compton, but information on the plans indicate the apartment complex will be developed by a Colorado-based group Wakarusa Investors, LLC, led by David Geist.

The property already has the necessary zoning for apartment development, so it just needs to win some technical approvals from City Hall. It seems likely that it will have the necessary permits to begin construction this summer.

In other news and notes from around town:

• While we’re in the neighborhood of Sixth and Folks, it looks like a new medical office also is coming to that intersection. For months you perhaps have noticed advertisements that say Topeka Ear Nose and Throat — or Topeka ENT — is coming to Lawrence. Well, now we know where. The company has signed a lease to go into the new office building that houses Capital City Bank at the southwest corner of Sixth and Folks, according to information provided by the broker on the deal, Allison Vance Moore of the local Colliers International office. No word yet on when the office plans to open.

• There will be a world champion in Tuesday’s Lawrence St. Patrick’s Day Parade — six of them actually — and I dare you to give them a hard time about not being green enough.
The Express Clydesdales, a team of six black and white Clydesdales that have been in parades and competitions throughout North America, have been added to the parade’s roster.

In addition, Lawrence residents will have a chance to see the horses up close. The team will be providing wagon rides from noon to 4 p.m. Monday at the Pine Landscape Center, 1783 E. 1500 Road in North Lawrence. The wagon rides are free, although donations will be taken to benefit the Children’s Miracle Network.

The horses then will be part of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade, which begins at 1 p.m. Tuesday and runs through downtown and North Lawrence.

The team, sponsored by the personnel services firm Express Employment Professionals, won the Six-Horse Hitch World Championships at the Calgary Stampede in 2013, and have won several other international competitions. Admittedly, the team isn’t as famous as the Budweiser Clydesdales, but they’re plenty big, just like the Budweiser animals.

“It is hard to appreciate just how big they are until you see them in person,” said Barry Kingery, a co-owner of the local Expres Employment Professionals office. “Just try to throw your arm around one of them, and you’ll se how big they really are.”

According to the horses’ website (don’t ask me how they type HTML code with those big hoofs), each horse is about 6 feet tall at the shoulder, weighs between 1,700 and 2,300 pounds, eats about 12 pounds of food and 15 pounds of hay per day, and drinks about 30 gallons of water daily. As for the size of those hoofs, the website simply says: “Size of dinner plates.”

The horses are participating in the Chicago St. Patrick’s Day parade this weekend and are stopping in Lawrence as they make their way to their home base near Oklahoma City.