photo by: Adams Architects/City of Lawrence

A rendering shows the proposed design of an apartment building for a new complex at the Jayhawk Club in west Lawrence.

Plans have been filed for more than 200 apartments — totaling about 400 bedrooms — to be built along a portion of the golf course at the Jayhawk Club in west Lawrence.

City of Lawrence planners have received a preliminary development plan to convert a vacant 17-acre parcel just south of the main parking lot for the country club into a complex with 16 new apartment buildings and a clubhouse and pool for residents.

The proposed site indeed is technically vacant but not entirely unused. It is just east of hole No. 7 on the golf course, and I surely can’t be the only person who has “used” it to take a half dozen shots three yards at a time. (I could argue the future construction site is partially excavated — with a five-iron.)

The development plan will cause some changes to hole No. 7, but won’t require it to be moved or eliminated, Lance Adams, the Lawrence-based architect who has filed the plans on behalf of Lawrence businessman and developer Thomas Fritzel, told me.

Adams told me that the only significant golf course changes that he is aware of are that the tee boxes for hole No. 7 will have to be moved. Indeed the plans filed with City Hall show two buildings covering the area where the tee boxes currently are located. The plans don’t show where the tee boxes would be relocated, but the plans show open space just to the south of the existing tee box area that could serve as a new driving area, essentially just shortening the length of the hole.

photo by: Adams Architects/City of Lawrence

A rendering shows the proposed design for a clubhouse and outdoor pool area that would service a new apartment complex at the Jayhawk Club in west Lawrence.

The idea that changes are coming to the area isn’t shocking. The site was approved for residential development a few years ago, but the plan that is coming forward now is quite bit different than what was approved. The site previously was approved for 96 condos and patio homes, according to filings the development group made with City Hall.

The new plan, however, scraps the idea of patio homes and has pivoted to more traditional apartments. The plan calls for 204 apartments that would contain 408 bedrooms. Specifically, the plan calls for 60 one-bedroom apartments, 84 two-bedroom and 60 three-bedroom units. The project will be served by about 370 parking spaces.

While the development plan has changed for the project, what hasn’t is the zoning for the property. It already has multi-family residential zoning in place that technically allows for up to 24 living units per acre.

“This was approved for 24 units per acre and we are a little bit under 12 units per acre,” Adams told me. “So we are well under the density that could be out there.”

The fact that the site has multifamily zoning in place is significant in that zoning changes often are the most contentious and time-consuming aspect of a new development in Lawrence. The project will still have to win necessary City Hall approvals, but those will consist primarily of technical aspects to ensure items like parking, drainage, lighting and other aspects meet the city development code. The project won’t have to argue whether an apartment project is suitable for the site because the existing zoning has already determined that such development is allowed.

Plans call for the apartment buildings to be three stories in height, or about 30 feet tall. Plans call for traffic from the development to use Crossgate Drive to head south to Clinton Parkway or to use the private street known as Birdie Way to go north and connect with Bob Billings Parkway. Traffic concerns have been raised by some neighbors as developers have begun to share the plans with them. City officials will have to decide whether developers are required to make additional improvements to the surrounding street network to serve the apartment complex.

There is one other potential golf issue to keep an eye on with the project. Hole No. 13 is just east and south of the proposed development site. Adams said he is not aware of any significant changes that will be required for that hole. However, the plans show the project’s parking lot being very close the current green for Hole No. 13. In fact, the plans show the parking lot occupying a space where a portion of the cart path for the hole currently exists. The grading plan also shows about 10 feet of slope for the property where green No. 13 is today.

So, there may not be significant changes coming to hole No. 13, but I also would view that statement much like a 3 on my scorecard — based more in theory than fact, at the moment.

photo by: City of Lawrence/Journal-World

A site plan shows the proposed layout of an apartment complex at the Jayhawk Club in west Lawrence. The red star marks the location of the No. 7 fairway of the golf course, while the blue star marks the location of the No. 13 green.

The proposed apartment development continues a trend at the Jayhawk Club property, which previously operated as the Alvamar Golf and Country Club before a Fritzel-led group purchased the property in 2016. In addition to clubhouse renovations, a new pool and wellness center, and a new practice facility for the University of Kansas golf programs, the Fritzel-led group has devoted large sections of the center of the property — near the clubhouse and wellness center — to apartment buildings.

This latest development proposal would continue that trend, but bring the apartment development south of the clubhouse area for the first time.