photo by: City of Lawrence/Meco A/E

The proposed design for a senior living apartment complex near 10th and Vermont streets is shown. The rendering shows the front of the building, which would face Vermont Street.

A plan has been filed for the southern end of downtown Lawrence to receive a batch of affordable apartments for seniors, but the price of the project might include less public parking for all.

An Omaha-based development group has filed a plan to build a four-story apartment building on the city-owned parking lot at 1020 Vermont Street. The project is part of the city’s initiative to explore ways to redevelop some of the city-owned surface parking lots that are scattered throughout downtown.

Dial Realty Corp. is proposing to build 54 apartments for senior residents. The apartments would be part of the federal and state affordable housing tax credit programs, which means the apartment units would be rent-controlled and residents would have to meet certain income guidelines.

The plans filed with the city, though, show that the apartment project would take up most of the existing parking lot, and the project doesn’t propose replacing any of the lost public parking through an underground garage or otherwise.

“Off-street parking is proposed behind the structure for the use of the proposed project,” City of Lawrence Planning Director Jeff Crick said via email when asked whether the apartment project would reduce the amount of available public parking in the lot.

photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World

The city owned parking lot at 1020 Vermont Street is shown.

The parking lot currently has about 70 spaces that provide a mix of two-hour free and metered parking for the public. While the lot routinely has vehicles in it, the lot historically has not been one of the most heavily used in downtown Lawrence, past parking reports have shown.

Regardless, the loss of public parking in downtown Lawrence has traditionally been a hot-button topic for retailers and other stakeholders. The loss of public parking was a concern raised by some when the city in late 2023 decided to issue a request for proposals to redevelop city-owned parking lots. City officials at the time said a redevelopment of a parking lot wouldn’t necessarily mean a reduction in public parking. That’s because the redevelopment of the lot could include the construction of new parking, such as providing underground parking spaces or the construction of an above-ground garage.

However, the city, as part of its requests for proposals, did not require developers to replace any lost parking.

Downtown stakeholders ultimately may determine that some lost parking spaces may be worth it, if a project produces more residents in downtown Lawrence. City leaders for years have said that adding more residents to the downtown district may be the best strategy for expanding the type of retail businesses that can be successful in downtown. Leaders have expressed hope that as the number of residents grow, it will become easier for downtown to support uses like a grocery store, drug store and other businesses that serve day-to-day needs.

The Dial project — which has been dubbed Alice Place — may create questions beyond parking, though. If the project proposes to use all of the city-owned lot for private housing, does the developer intend to buy the lot or pay the city for its use?

The answer was not clear from the material in the most recent filing made at Lawrence City Hall. However, developers that responded to the city’s requests for proposals were required to submit a detail written proposal. While the city stopped short of requiring developers to provide compensation for use of city land, the city acknowledged that compensation may be appropriate if the land no longer would be used by the general public. Developers were asked to address the compensation issue in their written proposals.

At the Journal-World’s request, the city on Thursday afternoon provided the original proposal submitted by Dial, however, that document differs greatly from what is now being proposed. In its original proposal, Dial proposed building 104 market-rate apartments — open to seniors and non-seniors alike — with a 54-space underground parking garage to serve the development. As part of that plan, Dial proposed paying $1.75 million for the city parking lot.

The current proposal is dramatically different. The project contains only 54 apartment units that would be rent-controlled and restricted to senior residents. The new proposal does not include an underground parking garage.

All of that leaves the question of whether Dial would pay the city for the parking lot unanswered. A representative for Dial did not return a phone call seeking comment. It also is unclear why the original development plan changed so dramatically.

Whether the project ultimately will move forward also is in question. City officials confirmed the project will seek to win affordable housing tax credits through state and federal programs. The tax credits are awarded through a competition, as there generally are more projects than there are available credits in any given year.

The project also may be running out of time to win those credits in Kansas. The Kansas legislature is considering a bill to eliminate the affordable housing tax credit program after 2025.

In the meantime, the city’s planning department will begin considering a special use permit for the project. The apartment building proposes to place some living units on the ground floor of the building. In the downtown district, ground floor living units require a special use permit.

photo by: City of Lawrence/Meco A/E

The design for a proposed senior living apartment complex near 10th and Vermont streets is shown. This rendering shows the rear of the building, which would face the alley between Vermont and Massachusetts streets.

The proposed project at 1020 Vermont Street is one of two projects seeking to use affordable housing tax credits to redevelop a city-owned parking lot. Cohen Esrey Development Group has been seeking to redevelop the parking lot at 711 New Hampshire street with approximately 100 apartments that also would use the affordable housing tax credits. The project applied for state credits late last year, but was not selected by the Kansas Housing Resources Corporation to receive any credits.

That has led to speculation that the 711 New Hampshire project is dead, but city officials stopped short of saying that was the case. Instead, Assistant City Manager Brandon McGuire told the Journal-World via email that the project is complex and that it can take a year or more for a project to get an award through the housing tax credit program.

One other city-owned parking lot also is the subject of a redevelopment proposal. As we’ve reported, a local group led by Paul Werner Architects and local businessman Adam Williams is seeking to redevelop the parking lot at 826 Vermont Street with a second location for Checkers grocery store, a hotel, a mix of condos and apartments, among other uses.

City officials said that project is also still active.

“The project team for 826 Vermont is also working through the early phases of the project,” McGuire said via email. “It’s a sizable and relatively complex mixed-use project, so has understandably taken some time. We expect to hear more from the project team in the coming months.”