University Daily Kansan
Friday, April 20, 1979
North Lawrence is overlooked, distinct
7
By BRUCE THOMAS
Staff Reporter
While real estate developers are vying for land to the west and south of Lawrence, land to the east and the north seems to have been passed over.
North Lawrence, across the Kansas River, is almost an anomaly in the city. Standing next to a city that is growing in size, this town has a sleepy little place, almost a separate town.
But two large real estate developers have turned to North Lawrence to build homes.
1 one lawrence developers with North Lawrence interests are Phil Bay of Bay Real Estate, who has about 20 undeveloped properties. Realtors Real Estate, which has about 30 lots.
This interest has come about only in the last six months, according to Dick Edmondson, a general contractor who works with Stebens.
Edmondson said developers had become interested in North Lawrence because the Army Corps of Engineers had been able to control flooding on the Kansas River, which has already received loans and loans are willing to provide mortgages for prospective buyers in the area.
Lawrence lot was less expensive than the cost in a new subdivision. The lots are narrower, which reduces the cost for the house buyer, he said, and the streets and sewer lines are already built so the new buyer does not have to assume those costs.
Another reason for renewed building in North Lawrence is people like the at- lender and relaxed area, Edmondson site. Many of the in the area moved to the subdivisions because they could not find adequate space in North Lawrence, but now want to move back.
Edmondson added that because the area was near downtown, and because jobs were available in North Lawrence, such as at the North Lawrence Institute, North Lawrence should continue to grow.
Edmondson said he thought 50 houses were on the drawing boards for the area. Bay said his company planned to start developing his 20 acres in the next year. Four houses have been built and sold on the Stephens lots.
For those who want to buy a new house in an older section of town with a relaxed atmosphere, North Lawrence might be the right place, according to Edmondson. He said, "Since I've been working there I see what a pleasant place it is."
Stepping stones
spare me entity early spring fishing Estell Johnson, 714 Grant, spends another afternoon fishing from the supports of the old Kansas River bridge in North Lawrence
Johnson, who spends much of his time fishing local waters, said that although the water level of the river was a big high this spring, the fishing was the same as last year.
Clinton Lake offers economic benefits
By LYNN BYCZYNSKI Staff Reporter
The tread of a million visitors playing at Clinton Lake each year will be felt far beyond the boundaries of the park.
Staff Reporter
Economic tremors may be felt most strongly in Lawrence, which is five minutes by car from the 7,000-acre reservoir and surrounding recreational
"It isn't very hard to understand that those numbers are going to have an impact." Glenn West, executive vice president of Lawrence Chamber of Commerce, said.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which built Clinton Lake, has estimated that the recreational facility would attract one million visitors annually for the next few years, then 1.3 million each year thereafter.
Although there are no firm statistics about the number of dollars that will flow from the lake to Lawrence, local merchants are expecting a boost in business.
BRUCE LEINMILLER, co-owner of The Captain Shop, 1411 W. 23rd St., said he hoped the opening of two marinas at the resort summer would bring boaters his way.
Leinmiller and his father, George, have owned the boat store since 1969, but moved the business to 23rd Street in 1977.
Proximity to the lake was one factor in their selection of a new site for the business, Leimmiller said.
"We're right on K-10, the road that leads from Johnson County to Clinton," he said.
Leinmiller said few new businesses had come to Lawrence because of the lake. But he said he thought every town in town would benefit from Clinton.
"I have a theory I call the development of energy. The lake will be a focal point. It will get people out and around. It will develop action. And people have a bad habit of spending money when they're out," he said.
New development in the area will increase the tax base of the city. More revenue means that city government can spend more money while keeping taxes constant. West said.
"The growth we've had in Lawrence in the past seven or eight years has expanded the assessed valuation and kept the milv levy constant. Yet we've had an adequate amount of money to do things that are not the community wants to do them." he said.
Further growth of city predicted while student population declines
By LAURIE WOLKEY
Staff Reporter
The predicted decrease in KU enrollments will not significantly affect the growth of Lawrence, according to the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce.
Glenn West, executive vice president of the Chamber of Commerce, said, "I think the growth of Lawrence will continue to be healthy. It may not be as rapid as in the last five years. There has to be a time when the University element decreases."
Lawrence has a population of about 54,000,
17,000 of which are students. This figure does not include the approximately 7,000 students who live in residence halls,
scholarship halls, fraternities and sororities.
In 1974, a population projection study by Kenneth Anderson and George Smith for the State Education Commission estimated the number of KU students living in Lawrence at 17.000. By 1990, the number probably will be 15.000.
WEST SAID he thought those projections of the study were too low.
"We have had quite a few problems, particularly with the population projections. The Lawrence to underplain. You underplain you have a biggie problem than if you had no problems."
The population study was used to design
Plan '95, a comprehensive growth plan for Lawrence.
West said another five-year study, by Sales and Marketing Management, estimated a 13.3 percent population growth for Lawrence between 1976 and 1981, making the city the 25th fastest growing U.S. city in 1981. It also predicted a 71.9 percent increase in Lawrence retail sales, from $186.4 million to $191.7 million between 1976 and 1981.
However, West said the Sales and Marketing Management study projections were too small.
"MY OPINION is that we are somewhere in between the two predictions," he said.
According to the calculations of the Chamber of Commerce, West said, Lawrence will shift toward industry because the probable decrease in KU enrollment.
"Right now, the largest industry in the
YEAR LAWRENCE (NON-STUDENT) KU (Students living in Lawrence.) HASKELL LAWRENCE (TOTAL)
1960 24,637 7,261 960 32,858
1970 29,765 15,019 914 45,698
1975 30,298 18,500 1,200 49,989
1980 35,500 17,000 1,300 55,800
1985 37,800 17,000 1,200 56,000
1990 41,000 15,000 1,200 57,200
1995 44,000 14,500 1,200 59,700
2000 46,800 14,500 1,200 62,500
*probable figures
*probable figures.
The housing market in Lawrence is growing along with the city and it's growing to the south and the west.
However, developers are going to run into a wall that will prohibit any further development to the south of lawrence. That wall will continue onward as we progress.
"We have pushed about as far to the south as we can," Philip Gill Harrison, of Gill Real Estate Agency, said.
Arkie Vaughn, an executive at Lawrence Savings and Loan, agreed.
Flood plain to prevent city growth
He said that because of the flood plain, development would begin to move toward the west, southwest and northwest, once all of the land in the south was developed. Gill estimated that would be in the next five years.
Grove, a subdivision, across the Wakarusa Valley, which forms the flood plain.
Vaughn said residential development in Lawrence had been healthy.
Some of the new subdivisions are:
Harrison said some developers already were building subdivisions on the bluffs across the flood plain south of Lawrence.
- Pleasant Grove, a 60-lot development with houses in the range of $70,000-$100,000.
- Prairie Meadows, a development by Gill and Bay realors near the Hockey Sports Complex, west of Iowa Street. House sells for $600.
- West Ridge Heights, a subdivision in northwest Lawrence.
Houses sell between $60,000 and $79,000.
- Floral Estates, a subdivision in east Lawrence, offers condominium-like houses. They sell from $3,000 to $45,000.
One developer,Phil Bay, of Bay Real Estate, has built Pleasant
Bay Real Estate also is developing two subdivisions west of Lawrence toward Clinton Lake. Houses in these subdivisions are
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However, West said the city did not have enough industrial sites for the new project.
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West said that the city had been investigating possible sites for industry. Two of those sites were located northeast and northwest of Lawrence.
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"In fact, we discourage more companies than those we encourage. But when we find one that seems suitable, we roll out the red carmen to convince them about Lawrence."
"LAWRENCE IS between two large cities, Topeka and Kansas City, but still has the qualities of a small town. The University adds vitality and excitement to the town. We also have had a readily available work force," he said.
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