Apartments planned for 10th and Peach are one step closer to starting construction.
A final plat application for Paschal’s Landing and 10 Union Lofts was approved by the City Commission at Monday night’s meeting.
The project by GW Weld and Dustin Baker includes a market rate building and an affordable housing building, as well. Construction on the building with those affordable housing options will start first, Weld said.
The next step is for the developers to work on a sewer extension plan and to get a building permit from the city before starting construction, Weld said.
Weld said they expect to start construction in late spring.
The plat was approved by the Planning Commission at the February meeting. They had no additional recommendations or conditions they wanted to see for the plat other than describing who is responsible for the maintenance on tract one – a pond planned for the property.
The plat was also presented at a November meeting where more details were discussed by the City Commission.
Pachal’s Landing will be able to offer rents from $500 to $1,000. Paschal’s Landing will have 36 two- and three-bedroom units and 10 Union Lofts will have 96 one-, two- and three-bedroom options. Rent rates for the lofts are yet to be decided.
Mayor Tim Reazin wanted to make sure they were not approving the crosswalk plans and confirmed that would be taking place at a later time.
In other business, the commission held a public hearing for the reinvestment housing incentive district proposed for the Shadow Ridge North neighborhood.
Holding a public hearing is a required step in the process. Due to a new ordinance the city passed based on recommendations from Gilmore and Bell, the public hearing won’t close until May 12.
The ordinance will allow the city to approve a district with less than 100% of the new property taxes generated to be available for reimbursement, meaning the developers are still going to have to pay some taxes so the city will still get some benefit.
The district will collect the percent increase in property taxes created by the new housing and will reimburse the developers for the creation of infrastructure like utilities, sewers, etc.
No residents spoke during the public hearing.
Another public hearing will take place at the May meeting, after which the board will consider making an ordinance to create the district.
Previously, the developer requested 75% reimbursement for 22 years. A different request may come in the future as plans have changed. The project includes 149 residential lots and 30 maintenance-provided townhome senior housing.
The city also presented the idea of this district to both the County Commission and School Board. They both have the opportunity to present any adverse effects, which would halt the entire project.
Following Assistant City Manager Zack Daniel’s presentation to the School Board, Stu Moeckel shared his support for the project since more students potentially coming to the district is increased funding.
“What I would tell you, in my experience, in my four years here, if they could build houses and sell them in Eudora, with the market we have now, they would already have done that,” he said.
County Commissioners shared they were glad to receive this update during their own meeting last week.
Commissioner Shannon Reid said she was glad to see the project including mixed styles of housing. She also thanked the city for keeping the county updated on this process.
Commissioner Gene Dorsey said he is glad to see more housing in the works.
“I was just going to say we need housing in this county, whether it’s in Lawrence or Eudora or Baldwin. I know Baldwin has some developments also underway, so anywhere we can put up some more roofs would be helpful,” he said.
Also Monday night, the City Commission approved a new project for the pavement management program. Although the commission recently approved this year’s program, more streets can be added due to costs being lower than expected.
This new addition will help Public Works be more proactive for the next phase of Shadow Ridge, Director Branden Boyd said.
Lastly, the commission approved leases for some new equipment for the Rec Center. There will be 11 new pieces coming into the fitness room for what will be a three-year lease. These include new treadmills, rowers, recumbent bicycles, ellipticals and a recumbent cross trainer. These additions were included in the 2025 budget and will cost about $13,000 per year.
