photo by: Courtesy: City of Lawrence/Core Spaces

Chicago-based Core Spaces announced Monday, Oct. 15, 2018 that it had filed plans to construct a mixed-use building at the northeast corner of 11th and Massachusetts streets.

Story updated at 6:40 p.m. Monday, Oct. 15:

A Chicago-based company that specializes in student housing has filed plans for a seven-story apartment and retail building to be constructed across the street from the historic Douglas County Courthouse.

Core Spaces announced Monday afternoon that it had filed plans to construct a mixed-use building at the northeast corner of 11th and Massachusetts streets. Plans call for the building to have about 235 apartments with a total of about 675 bedrooms. The project is named Hub on Campus.

Although Core Spaces owns student apartment complexes across the country, a spokesperson for the firm said the Lawrence project wouldn’t necessarily be a student housing complex.

“Core Spaces anticipates having a diverse range of interest from prospective tenants, not only students,” Kim Lyons, a spokesperson for the company, said via email.

The company operates many “Hub on Campus” properties across the country. The company’s website describes the “Hub on Campus” properties as offering the “best-in-class student housing, designed for every aspect of college life.”

According to the plans filed at Lawrence City Hall, the project — if approved by various city boards — would include:

• A three-level, above-ground parking garage that would have spaces for about 275 vehicles. The garage would be on the east side of New Hampshire Street in space that currently is used as a surface parking lot for Maceli’s catering and event business. The parking garage would abut the historic Old English Lutheran Church building, which was the subject of a historic preservation battle decades ago.

• The main building would include about 15,000 square feet of retail space on its ground floor. The upper-level floors would include apartment ranging in size from studio to four-bedroom units. In a rarity for downtown, the project is seeking to have some ground-level apartments. Those would be located on the New Hampshire side of the project.

• The building would stretch from the corner of 11th and Massachusetts to the corner of 11th and New Hampshire streets. The alley that serves businesses on that block would remain open, but multiple floors of the building would be constructed above it. In other words, portions of the alley would be covered, or tunnel-like.

• Depending on which side of the building you are looking at, the project is six to seven stories tall, in addition to a rooftop terrace area that would include a pool. Plans show most of the building being about 71 feet tall, although a small portion of it extends to 86 feet. Drawings show that portion being about equal to the midpoint of the clock tower on the adjacent Douglas County Courthouse. All told, the building would add just under 295,000 square feet of space in downtown Lawrence.

The property formerly housed the printing operations and offices for Allen Press, which continues to operate out of its East Lawrence headquarters. Randy Radosevich, CEO of Allen Press said the company chose Core Spaces after looking at several potential partners. He said the project is expected to “showcase our community’s unique culture through innovative and modern design.”

Radosevich said Core Spaces plans to build the project without seeking any tax incentives from the city of Lawrence.

“Some would say this development, especially with a dedicated parking garage and no incentives, was impossible at this scale,” Radosevich said. “However, we worked hard to ensure any future use of Allen Press’ aging downtown property provides a better way forward for our community.”

Core Spaces has headquarters in both Chicago and Austin.

“Lawrence is a great city with so much history, and we hope to add to the thriving downtown atmosphere with Hub on Campus Lawrence,” Chad Matesi, executive vice president of development for Core Spaces, said via press release. “Our goal is to offer a beautiful place for residents to live, and retail options for all to enjoy. We believe this will be an attractive building that maintains a sense of place among Lawrence’s already iconic architecture and we look forward to working with the community and city officials to bring this project to life.”

I hope to get in touch with Matesi later this week, and I’ll pass along any other details about the project when I do.

The project will need to win several approvals from the city of Lawrence, including architectural approvals to meet the city’s downtown design guidelines.

Here is a look at several other renderings submitted to City Hall.

photo by: Courtesy: City of Lawrence/Core Spaces

Chicago-based Core Spaces announced Monday, Oct. 15, 2018 that it had filed plans to construct a mixed-use building at the northeast corner of 11th and Massachusetts streets.

photo by: Courtesy: City of Lawrence/Core Spaces

A proposed parking garage for the Hub on Campus Lawrence project would be on the east side of New Hampshire Street, near the Old English Lutheran Church building.

photo by: Courtesy: City of Lawrence/Core Spaces

Chicago-based Core Spaces announced Monday, Oct. 15, 2018 that it had filed plans to construct a mixed-use building at the northeast corner of 11th and Massachusetts streets.