photo by: Courtesy: H2B Architects/City of Lawrence

Initial plans filed with City Hall in January show the proposed design of the New Hampshire Street Lofts project, proposed for the 1000 block of New Hampshire Street. The center portion of the building is lobby, while apartments occupy the top three floors and live-work spaces occupy the ground floor.

A long-vacant lot on the south end of New Hampshire Street may become a new downtown, multistory affordable housing project that also features a row of unique business spaces on its ground floor.

Plans have been filed at Lawrence City Hall to develop the vacant lot in the 1000 block of New Hampshire with a four-story building that will have 54 living units, including a mix of studio, one-bedroom, two-bedroom and three-bedroom apartments. In addition, the project will have seven units on its ground floor designated as work-live units, meaning a business owner could operate a shop in the front half of the space and live in the back half of the unit. Current plans call for 47 of the living units to qualify for federal affordable housing programs, which would mean those units would be rent-controlled.

Tony Krsnich, the businessman who has developed much of the Warehouse Arts District in East Lawrence, has filed the plans for the New Hampshire Street project. He said the New Hampshire Street project is very similar to his recently constructed Penn Street Lofts development in the Warehouse Arts District.

“The income affordable units in that project leased out in about two weeks,” Krsnich said of the high demand at Penn Street Lofts. “We think we can essentially do the same thing on New Hampshire. It will include some pretty nice affordable housing, which is really needed in Lawrence.”

If you are having a hard time picturing the location, the vacant lot is just north of East 11th Street and on the east side of New Hampshire Street. It is between a historic church building that serves a law office and the building that formerly housed the city’s municipal court. It is across the street from Maceli’s catering hall and the vacant Allen Press property that stretches all the way to 11th and Massachusetts streets.

As we reported in September, Krsnich signed a deal that gives him redevelopment rights to the entire chunk of Allen Press properties on the south end of downtown. This New Hampshire Street project is the first part of what Krsnich envisions for the area. He said he was continuing to work on development plans for the property on the west side of New Hampshire Street and the east side of Massachusetts Street.

“It has turned out to be a lot more complicated than anything I’ve worked on before,” Krsnich said. “Some of these ideas aren’t as easy as building an apartment building.”

He said he was actively exploring the idea of putting a hotel near the corner of 11th and Massachusetts streets. He’s also reviving an old idea of a downtown grocery store, saying he’s exploring that option but also finding that the space needs of such a project could be pretty tricky. Figuring out how large — think tall — of a building can work on the site also is a big issue. He said outreach to stakeholders has produced ideas ranging from the whole property ought to be a park to the suggestion of building an 11-story building on the site.

Krsnich said neither one of those ideas would be feasible, but he’s hoping to come up with an exciting middle-ground plan that he thinks could end up being one of the largest redevelopment projects in the history of downtown.

“It is coming together, but it is not coming together as quickly as I would like,” he said.

photo by: Courtesy: H2B Architects/City of Lawrence

Renderings show the proposed design of the New Hampshire Street Lofts proposed for the 1000 block of New Hampshire Street in downtown Lawrence.

The project on the east side of New Hampshire Street, though, could come together more quickly. The project will apply for housing tax credits through the state of Kansas. The award of those housing tax credits would place rent-control requirements on the property, similar to what exists with Krsnich’s other apartment projects in the Warehouse Arts District. However, the New Hampshire project will have to compete with other projects across Kansas to win the tax credits from the state.

If the project wins those credits, Krsnich would like to be in a position to start construction in the fall of 2022. But there will be other items that need to fall in place for the project to proceed. Krsnich confirmed he will seek financial incentives from the city for both the New Hampshire project and the larger redevelopment of the remaining Allen Press properties. He hasn’t formally filed an incentives request with the city, but expects to do so for the New Hampshire project in the coming weeks.

One thing the project does already have in place is the proper zoning. The plans filed at City Hall don’t seek new zoning, but rather are seeking design approval from city planners. Because the property is located in downtown’s historic district, the project must meet downtown’s design guidelines.

Those guidelines historically have sparked a debate over the height of new buildings constructed downtown. Plans call for the new building to be four stories tall; Krsnich said he thought that would allow it to fit in well on New Hampshire Street. But he also expects the height to draw discussion.

“You will never please everybody,” he said. “Somebody 100 percent will come along and say they want it to be three stories. But there also may be people who are housing advocates who push for a fifth or sixth story because they know we need more affordable housing.”

Parking may be another topic of conversation. Plans call for 34 off-street parking spots for the building, which will have 54 living units in it. That’s obviously less than what city planners would require for a traditional apartment development. But the property isn’t covered by traditional apartment zoning regulations. The property has special downtown commercial zoning, which doesn’t require any off-street parking, which is why virtually none of the buildings on Massachusetts Street provide any of their own parking.

Krsnich said building the project without providing any new parking wasn’t feasible from an operational standpoint. Plans call for the new building to be right along New Hampshire Street with surface parking spaces along the sides and back of the building. Overflow parking can easily fit in the city-owned parking garage that is about one block away, Krsnich said.

Krsnich also is expressing confidence that the project will attract a lot of tenants who truly want an urban-living type of lifestyle.

“I bet you people who live there end up getting rid of their cars when they have so many amenities within walking distance,” Krsnich said. “Not all of them will, but I think a lot will.”

Look for this project to wend its way through City Hall over the next few months. Because it already has its zoning in place, the project won’t necessarily have to win a land-use vote from city commissioners. But because the project is likely to request financial incentives from the city, it would have to win a vote from city commissioners before the city agrees to spend any money as part of the development.