New Apartment Plans Emerge

Eco Downtown, 555 Maple Would Add More Than 1,200 Bedrooms in Downtown Fayetteville

— The prospect of two, five-story apartment complexes with more than 1,200 bedrooms along Lafayette Street excites many people — and makes some nervous — about the future of downtown Fayetteville.

Two developers are planning the projects, which are called 555 Maple and Eco Downtown.

Seth Mims of Springdale-based MC3 Multifamily said he and his business partner, Jeremy Hudson, want to bring more housing options to University of Arkansas students and Fayetteville residents who want to live the urban experience.

“This is everything they’ve been asking for,” Mims said Wednesday. “It’s walkable. It’s infill. It’s sustainable. It’s higher end.”

Both projects would be a short walk from the university, Dickson Street, the city’s main trail system and Wilson Park.

The 555 Maple development would span a full city block between Lafayette and Maple streets where three homes, a boarded-up church and the Maple Street Apartments are located.

Eco Downtown would be built south of Lafayette and north of Watson Street, behind the Legacy Building on the site of an existing activity center and parking lot owned by University Baptist Church.

Mims said affected property owners — including Eric and Charlene Lloyd with the three homes, Terry Turpin with Maple Street Apartments and the University Baptist Church — are under contract to sell their land to a company he created called Project Canada Partners LLC. According to Mims, 555 Maple would be wrapped around a 594-space, five-story parking deck. Plans for Eco Downtown include a five-story deck that would accommodate about 490 vehicles.

He said growth at the University of Arkansas and the recent success of MC3 Multifamily’s Eco Modern Flats motivated him and Hudson to build more. Eco Modern Flats is a roughly 100-unit, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified apartment complex on Hill Avenue that opened earlier this year.

At A Glance

Apartment Complexes

Jeremy Pate, Fayetteville Development Services director, said 555 Maple and Eco Downtown are two of about 10 plans for apartment complexes aimed at university students that have been proposed in the past six months.

North Carolina-based Campus Crest LLC is in the process of submitting final construction plans for a site in south Fayetteville where the Washington County Sale Barn used to operate. Jesse Fulcher, a city planner, said he expected construction to begin later this year or in early 2012.

City Council members recently approved a rezoning request for a planned multifamily development south of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard at the Love Box Co. site.

Planning commissioners recommended approval of a rezoning request for what could become another apartment complex southeast of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Futrall Drive at their Nov. 14 meeting.

Source: Staff Report

“We obviously are growing with our university population and with our community-based population,” said Steve Clark, president and CEO of the Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce. “Housing is an important part of what we need for that process to continue.”

Paula Marinoni, a local historic preservation advocate who lives near the planned developments, said she isn’t opposed to the project in principal.

“It needs to fit in and not be something that people regret from here on out,” Marinoni said.

She said in a Nov. 15 letter to city planners the two multistory buildings must not block views of Old Main on the university campus — particularly from Lafayette Street to the east.

“No planning should occur that diminishes the importance of this vista for the citizens of Fayetteville and the state,” Marinoni said. “We’re talking about the premier piece of architecture in the whole state, and that view was planned,” she added.

Marinoni suggested building two stories close to Lafayette and adding higher density further away from the road.

Jeremy Pate, Fayetteville Development Services director, said Monday nothing in city code expressly prohibits developments from blocking views of Old Main.

“But we do have height limits,” Pate said, noting the proposed developments exceed them. The zoning district where both buildings would be built limits construction to four stories or 56 feet, whichever is lower. Pate said Fayetteville planning commissioners would have to approve a variance request for Mims’ large-scale development application to be approved.

Mims said a fifth floor for both structures is needed to recoup the high costs of buying land downtown, building LEED-certified apartments and making needed infrastructure improvements. He estimated overall costs for the developments at more than $30 million apiece.

Mims added that both developments are being designed with sight lines to Old Main in mind. Even at five stories high, “we don’t believe we’re blocking public or private views to that historic structure,” he said.

Pate identified several other hurdles. He said developers would be responsible for upgrading water lines in the area to allow adequate flow to the apartments.

Mims and Hudson are conducting a traffic study to analyze the apartments’ impact on downtown traffic patterns. Pate said a traffic signal might be necessary at Maple and Wilson Avenue.

City planners also are determining whether parking spaces would have to be replaced if the University Baptist Church’s parking lot is removed. The apartments’ parking decks would be reserved for tenants, Mims said. Pate said University Baptist Church would still have to meet city parking-space requirements, which are based on the building’s square footage.

Pate said Mims’ plans in general fit well into the city’s long-range goals of reducing suburban sprawl, growing a livable transportation network and creating attainable housing, as spelled out in city approved City Plan 2030.

“It provides more housing options in an area that doesn’t have a ton,” Pate said. “You could park your car, literally leave it for weeks on end, and walk everywhere you need to go.”

He and Clark also noted the economic impact that more than 1,000 new rental units would have on the economy, both in terms of property and sales tax proceeds.

“It’s what a 21st century community looks like,” Clark said.

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