photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World

Crews doing earthwork can be seen near the No. 7 fairway of The Jayhawk Club on April 22, 2026.

I know mulligans are certainly allowed in the golf games I play (I insist on either a mulligan or a machete,) but we’re set to find out how they play when it comes to development proposals along one of Lawrence’s premiere golf courses.

After the Lawrence City Commission late last year denied plans for a 200-unit apartment complex near the seventh hole of the Jayhawk Club in west Lawrence, the same developer is back with a plan for a 176-unit apartment complex in the same spot.

A development group led by Lawrence businessman Thomas Fritzel has filed plans at City Hall for a new apartment complex that would occupy land that sits between the seventh and 13th holes of The Jayhawk Club golf course. The complex would be in a spot just south of the country club’s main parking lot.

More specifically, the project would begin just southeast of the intersection of Quail Run and Crossgate Drive. The project would stretch southeast about 17 acres — tucked behind a row of existing homes and alongside the No. 7 fairway on the golf course, which is the golf hole closest to Crossgate Drive. The project would end at a point north and east of the intersection of Crossgate and Greenbrier drives. Crossgate and Greenbrier intersect in two locations, and the project would stretch nearly even with the northern of the two intersections.

photo by: Google Maps/Journal-World

The area with blue lines is generally the site for a proposed apartment complex near west Lawrence’s Jayhawk Club golf course.

The proposed site is the same one that Fritzel’s group sought to develop last year. There are differences, however, between the new plan and the old one. The previous plan called for 200 units spread out among 17 buildings that generally housed fewer than a dozen apartments each.

The new plan calls for 176 apartments, with the bulk of those apartments being housed in three large buildings. The plan calls for those three, multi-story buildings to house 168 apartments. The remaining eight apartments would be in smaller townhome buildings that would house two apartments each.

The smaller townhome buildings would be the structures built closest to the No. 7 fairway, which means they also would be the closest to the existing homes that are located on the opposite side of the fairway. The larger apartment buildings would be built farther away from those homes.

When commissioners denied the previous plan on a 4-1 vote in December, they did so after hearing multiple concerns from neighbors related to stormwater drainage issues, traffic issues, and a loss of green space.

Whether this new plan will lessen the concerns of neighbors is unknown. However, we are about to start the process to find out. The plan will need to go through the Lawrence-Douglas County Planning Commission and Lawrence City Commission for future consideration.

photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World

An apartment complex at The Jayhawk Club in west Lawrence is pictured on April 22, 2026.

The new plan does have a few notable differences from the previous plan. The previous plan really only had one way in and out for motorists. The new plan has two ways in and out, it appears.

The number of buildings directly along the No. 7 fairway — the closest point to existing homes — also has changed significantly. The previous plan had about a half dozen apartment buildings — or approximately 100 apartment units — directly along the fairway. The new plan primarily puts four duplexes — or eight apartment units — directly along the fairway. The new plan concentrates more of the apartments on the northern end of the lot rather than along the fairway.

Other details of the new plan include a a pool and a fitness center that would be located on the northern edge of the property, which is the edge closest to the existing country club’s main facilities. The southern edge of the property would include multiple pickle ball courts, an outdoor grilling pavilion, an area for disc golf, and a small dog park.

In total the project would include a mix of one-bedroom, two bedroom and three bedroom apartment units. There would be 356 bedrooms in the development, with 48 one-bedroom units, 152 two-bedroom units and 156 three-bedroom units. As for parking, the plans call for 324 parking spaces in the complex. City code, which has changed its parking requirements significantly in recent years, requires only 176 parking spaces for the development.

The fact that a new plan has emerged for the property shouldn’t come as a big surprise because the property has a key ingredient in place for development — it already has the proper zoning. The city several years ago approved zoning that allows for multifamily development on the property. Fritzel and his development group have steadily been adding apartments along The Jayhawk Club property, and he pitched a master plan concept for The Jayhawk Club property several years ago to city officials.

The new proposal also comes at an interesting time for Fritzel and his development business. As the Journal-World reported earlier this month, a group of residents who live in a different area of the golf complex — farther east of the proposed development site — has filed a $26 million lawsuit against a Fritzel entity. That lawsuit is over concerns that Fritzel eliminated multiple holes of golf on the complex, and homeowners who once lived along a golf course now live next to an unmaintained grassy areas.

The lawsuit shouldn’t have any direct bearing on the proposed apartment development, as the lawsuit is dealing with a different site. However, it may impact the politics of the development, as the December city commission meeting already was full of people arguing against allowing Fritzel to do further development due to concerns that he had broken promises related to to how the golf course would be maintained.

But, generally, to stop development on a piece of property already zoned for development, the reasons for denial have to be more technical in nature than concerns about the developer’s past record.

No date has been set yet on when this latest apartment proposal will start receiving public hearings at City Hall.

photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World

The sign for hole No. 7 at The Jayhawk Club is pictured on April 22, 2026.