6
Thursday, March 3, 1988 / University Daily Kansan
Kansas City growth may overtake Lawrence
Area businessmen taking advantage of development boom along K-10
By David Sodamann
Will Kansas City be The Blob That Ate Lawrence?
Become a professional student, get tenure, marry into an old family, find your niche in life here. Do anything to hang around another decade or two or three, and you'll probably see it happen.
Near the Missouri line south of Kansas City, at intersections of rustic rural lanes that wind through lost-in-the-last-century hills, far-sighted planners have already posted street signs reading 300 and something-or-other Street South. The numbers are so high they are frightening.
Like The Wave circling a sports stadium, Kansas City is rippling outward, with homes and hospitals, warehouses and whatiz-marts springing from once fertile farmland.
And just like overly-enthusiastic fans in the cheap seats, so anxious to be part of the human curl, Lawrence area developers have already started jumping to their feet and throwing their hands into the air Banzai-style. They know it won't be long until that big breaker brings business opportunity.
Kansas Highway 10 from Lawrence to suburbia is seen as the highway to economic heaven.
"We definitely think it's going to be a growth area in the future," said Bill Martin, Lawrence Chamber of Commerce economic development expert. "We're not anticipating any boom but just steady growth."
Martin doesn't see a need yet for thousands of acres of industrial parks along the highway, but the chamber has created the 300-acre East Hills Industrial Park on the big-city side of town to accommodate much of the business growth foreseen here in the next 20 years.
Farther east, the city of Lenexa is playing the role of point man in Kansas City's march down K-10. Not long
Analysis
ago, Lenexa, once little more than a country village,
appeared 10 square miles along the line of advance.
"We see things continuing to move out that way," said Roger Kroh, director of Lenexa's economic development commission.
"We foresee a lot of activity there." he said.
At the junction of K-10 and Interstate Highway 435, an area that's still just a little bit country, a 130-acre mixed use development is planned. Owners of limestone mines near the crossroad are thinking of turning their digs into underground storage facilities and office spaces, Kroh said.
Caught in the middle, and enjoy it, is Mike Leib,
president of Orthopedic Casting Laboratories, or OCL.
He said his company's Intech Business Park, one mile east of Eudora on K-10, was showing promise.
Intech Industrial Park is one mile north of Eudora, off Kansas Highway 10.
Leib's Lawrence-based firm recently completed a headquarters for itself and a subsidiary, Summit Medical, in the 93-acre park, where it is visible from the highway.
"Since the first of the year, a lot of prospects have been coming through," Leib said. "It's looking season."
OCL produces patented, pre-fabricated splinting systems for medical use. Summit distributes the systems.
Catherine Wheeler/Special to the KANSAN
"We haven't done a whole lot of marketing," he said. "We've just been trying to get our building done."
Many of those interested in Intech, Leib said, have been basketball fans who traveled K-10 to the University of Kansas for Jayhawk games. They liked what they saw as they drove by and called to ask about the park.
The response proves a point. Leib said OCL planners recognized right away that the K-10 corridor was going to
develop. And although no one has any idea how long it will take, development is inevitable.
Leib said OCL was planning Intech Park carefully.
Wait, the word in line 2 is "carefully".
The word in line 3 is "carefully".
So it's a typo in line 3.
I will just use "carefully" if it looks correct.
If it looks correct, the text is:
Leib said OCL was planning Intech Park carefully.
Lebanese pianist Phalabi said, "We don't worry to do little or little time." he said. "We think it will be a real nice place for people to work."
OCL has set aside 15 acres in the park for itself. The remainder is open to others. But developing the park is not a priority, Leib said. So the company will have time to choose its neighbors carefully.
Intech Park is attracting the attention of those who want to do business near Kansas City and its airport but are not in Kansas City.
"It's a little less convenient, but you can save a whole lot of money." he said.
Kroh sees a variety of developments along K-10
commercial, residential, industrial and, perhaps, even a race track. It will take a few years, he said, but development is inevitable.
The towns of Eudora and DeSoto will become havens for Kansas City area executives who want to live in the country, Kroh predicted.
Martin said planners in Douglas and Johnson counties don't want K-10 development to get out of hand. They're planning to avoid sprawl and to make efficient use of space and community services.
"From what I can tell," Kroh said, "they want to do everything right. People are wanting to plan it right and do it right."
But there's time enough. Just wait and see.
Mark's Jewlers 843-4266 817 Massachusetts
843-4266
817 Massachusetts
Steve Schaffer of Hoxie, KS, is majoring in Electrical Engineering.
"With a Mac in my room, I can access mainframe computers across campus."
"For my electrical engineering courses, I often need to download programs and data files and do other work with the university's mainframe computers. Using a modem and telecommunications software, I can connect to them over phone lines.
"The Mac and electronic mailboxes have made it much easier for engineers to work together. Recently my project team created a large document in sections and put it together on the mainframe. Our final print on the LaserWriter $ ^{ \circledast} $ looked professional.
"Why a Macintosh? It's easy to use and still a powerful computer. There's plenty of software, from simple word-processors like MacWrite® to complex computer-aided design (CAD) programs. A Macintosh can keep up with me as my needs expand."
Macintosh $ ^{\mathrm{TM}} $
Helping You Make the Grade at KU
KU Macintosh Sale Savings:
KU Macintosh Sale Savings:
Macintosh Plus...$1200
Macintosh SE
with 2 disk drives...$1979
Macintosh SE
with 20 meg hard disk drive...$2399
Step 2: Order your Macintosh at the Burge Union. Stop by and place your order before March 11. Tell us which Macintosh, Plus or SE, that you want. ($50 deposit required)
Step 1: (optional) Interested in finding out if you qualify for student financing? Contact the Financial Aid Office at 864-4700. Make your appointment as soon as possible. The counselors there will be more than happy to help qualified students choose the best program. (Financial need is not the qualifying issue.)
Step 3: Pick up your Macintosh at the Burge Union on March 31 or April 1. Attend a free seminar to learn how to get started, if you'd like.