Memorandum
City of Lawrence
City Manager’s Office
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TO: |
David L. Corliss, City Manager Diane Stoddard, Assistant City Manager
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FROM: |
Roger Zalneraitis, Economic Development Coordinator/Planner
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CC: |
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Date:
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September 10th, 2008 |
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RE: |
Update to available lot inventory |
This memo provides an update to the available residential lot inventory conducted on December 31st, 2007. The following analysis includes new building permits through the first half of 2008 (January 1st-July 1st).
Available Lots
In January of this year, a survey was conducted that measured the number of residential lots platted since 1997 and their subsequent development. The survey found that, from 1997 to the end of 2007, almost 4,400 lots had been platted in Lawrence. Approximately 2,900 of those lots had been developed by the end of 2007. This equates to an average of 264 building permits per year over an 11 year period. By the beginning of 2008, about 1,500 of the platted lots remained for development, with 928 lots containing infrastructure and the remaining 564 lots platted, but containing no infrastructure. Map 1 provides an overview of where residential lots are located in the City, by readiness for development, as of the end of 2007:
Lot Inventory in Lawrence as of July 2008
Including all single family lots regardless of when they were platted, in July 2008 there were 1,463 single family lots with infrastructure and available for development in Lawrence. Almost 1,100 of these available lots could be found in just 20 subdivisions. Four of these 20 subdivisions were in or near downtown and North Lawrence. However, in these four subdivisions near downtown, only about 160, or 7%, of all residential lots were available for development. The remaining 16 subdivisions accounted for 933 of the available lots. Many of these subdivisions were platted after 1997:
Map 2 shows the location of these 20 subdivisions.
Residential Permitting and Available Lots in 2008
The residential real estate market has been considerably slower in 2008 than it has been in prior years. From January 1st to July 1st, only 51 new residential building permits have been issued, suggesting a target of a little over 100 new residential units this year (see attached map). Ten of these 51 permits have come on properties that were platted prior to 1997.
Within the subdivisions platted after January 1st, 1997, many of the 564 lots without infrastructure as of late 2007 will soon have infrastructure and be available for development. Approximately 206 of these lots have had infrastructure added since the beginning of the year. An additional 351 residential units are likely to have infrastructure by the summer of 2009:
As a result, approximately 1,100 lots that have been platted since 1997 now have infrastructure and are available for development, and about 1,450 lots will have infrastructure and be available for development by the end of next summer. At historical permitting rates of 264 lots per year, the 1,100 lots represents over 4 years of demand, while the 1,450 lots represents 5 ˝ years of demand. At current permitting rates of about 80 lots per year, these 1,450 single family lots would represent about 18 years worth of demand.
There are also several planned communities that have recently filed for site or construction approval. These communities contain 1,518 new apartment units, 117 new townhome units, and 37 single family units. A summary of these developments is provided in Appendix 1. All of these units are in addition to the 1,444 residential units in Table 2 that will have infrastructure and be available for development by the summer of 2009.
Finally, infrastructure projects are underway that will open new residential land for development soon. The completion of George Williams Way is predicted for the end of summer 2009, and will make over 100 acres of land available for development. Some properties in this area, such as The Links, have already submitted site plans, but other properties have not. These additional properties will eventually contribute to residential lot inventories.
