Some news and notes from around town:

• For the second week in a row, there’s news of a merger in the credit union industry. This time, credit unions from Kansas and Colorado are seeking to join forces.

Meritrust Credit Union, which has a branch in west Lawrence, has proposed to merge with Colorado-based Premier Members Credit Union.

The merger would bring together two fairly large credit unions. Meritrust — which got its start in the Wichita area in 1935 as a credit union that served employees in the aviation industry — has about $1.9 billion in assets, 118,000 members and has 14 branches in Wichita, Manhattan and Lawrence.

Premier Members Credit Union has about $1.7 billion in assets, 78,000 members and 19 branches in Colorado. It has a particularly large presence in Boulder and other markets north of Denver.

Plans call for Meritrust to take over the Colorado state charter for Premier Members. The corporate name of the combined credit unions will be Meritrust Credit Union, however, the credit union will continue to use the brandname Premier Members Credit Union in the Colorado market, according to a press release. Meritrust CEO James Nastars and Premier Members CEO Carlos Pacheco will serve as co-CEOs of the new entity, the companies announced.

Other details about the merger weren’t announced, but the company said it plans to release more details as it goes through the regulatory approval process. The deal must receive approval from the National Credit Union Administration, and is still subject to a vote of approval by the membership of Meritrust. The companies expect the deal to be finalized in March.

Upon completion, the combined credit union is expected to have 33 branch locations in Kansas and Colorado, 650 employees and nearly $4 billion in assets. Both companies said the credit unions are currently financially healthy and that the merger was driven, in part, to keep up with a changing industry.

“Together, we will build a stronger, more innovative credit union that can better meet the evolving needs of our members and the communities we serve,” Carlos Pacheco, president and CEO of Premier Members, said in a press release.

In case you missed last week’s merger news, it was of a significantly smaller deal. Envista Credit Union announced a deal to take over the operations of Wakarusa Valley Credit Union, a small Lawrence-based entity that had about 500 members and a little more than $2 million in assets.

• Plans have been filed at City Hall to raze a pair of single-family homes near 18th and Kentucky streets to make room for a new congregate living house.

The Lawrence-based group Holiday Apartments is seeking site plan approval to demolish the houses at 1734 and 1738 Kentucky St. Plans filed by Lawrence-based Paul Werner Architects call for a 12-bedroom congregate living house to be built on the two lots once the homes are razed.

A congregate living house is a type of multifamily development that feature private bedrooms but shared living spaces in a single home, such as kitchens, dining areas and sometimes bathrooms. Such facilities are numerous in the Oread neighborhood near the University of Kansas campus.

The two properties already are zoned for multifamily development. In fact, that entire block along Kentucky Street, from 17th to 18th Street, is zoned RM-32, which is a relatively dense multifamily zoning designation.

photo by: Douglas County GIS/Journal-World

The blue oval highlights the two lots that are proposed to house a new 12-bedroom congregate living facility.