Historic commission backs Oread housing project near KU, 4-1 vote

Lawrence’s housing shortage and Oread’s preservation worries collided again Thursday as the Historic Resources Commission backed an 83-unit apartment project near the University of Kansas, sending The Place @ KU another step forward despite concerns over demolition, scale and neighborhood character.

By a 4-1 vote on April 16, the commission found the latest design fits Oread neighborhood guidelines for the 1.34-acre site at 14th and Ohio streets. The updated plan calls for 83 units and 335 bedrooms, along with an underground parking garage with 91 spaces. If built, the project would replace five buildings at 1423 and 1433 Ohio St. and 1430 and 1432 Louisiana St., adding a dense block of student housing within walking distance of the KU campus.

The site had already been rezoned to R-5, the city’s highest-density district under the new land development code. That zoning carries no maximum number of units per acre, requires at least 33 units per acre and allows buildings as tall as 55 feet. City commissioners approved the rezoning on Dec. 9, 2025, after earlier signals from the historic commission suggested the project could meet Oread’s design standards.

Preservation concerns centered most sharply on the art deco building at 1423 Ohio St., which staff said may be eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. Even so, historic preservation staff said the structure would be extremely difficult, if not almost impossible, to rehabilitate because of the type and extent of its failures. A second structure at 1432 Louisiana St. drew less alarm; staff said it was structurally challenged but not beyond repair, while also noting it was not a typical building for that part of the district.

The project also changed noticeably from the version first shown to the commission in March, when it was presented as a 75-unit, 300-bedroom proposal with two six-story buildings. After revisions and review by the Architectural Review Committee, the plan returned to the Historic Resources Commission with more units and more bedrooms, but still within the R-5 framework already in place.

The rezoning request was filed on behalf of Compton Holdings LC, Consolidated Properties Inc. of Lawrence and RGAPTS LLC, which is registered to KU Endowment. The City of Lawrence’s preservation process, which operates under Chapter 22 of the conservation code and in agreement with the State Historic Preservation Officer, will continue to shape how a project this large is built near one of the city’s most closely watched neighborhoods.