FAYETTEVILLE — Representatives for Specialized Real Estate Group will likely return to the Planning Commission’s subdivision committee next month with revised plans for a multistory apartment complex at West Center Street and Hill Avenue.
City planning and engineering staff said Thursday several changes including adjustments to building height are needed for the project to be eligible for approval without exemptions to city code.
At A Glance
Harvey’s Hill
Developers planning an apartment complex along West Center Street are calling the project Harvey’s Hill, a nod to Daniel Harvey Hill, a Confederate general in the Civil War who became president of the University of Arkansas in the 1870s when the institution was still called the Arkansas Industrial University.
Source: University Of Arkansas
Andrew Garner, planning director, said the project — across the street from another of the company’s complexes under construction — appeared to fit within proposed height and setback standards the City Council is reviewing, even though it features more than 50-foot-tall buildings next to single-story structures on Duncan Avenue and Treadwell Street.
The development as presented Thursday doesn't meet height limits in city code however. The Downtown General zoning district, where most of the 2.1-acre property is located, allows 56-foot-tall buildings. According to preliminary designs submitted by Modus Studio, portions of five-story buildings along Hill Avenue peak above the 56-foot limit, as do parts of other buildings in the interior of the site.
The project would feature 432 bedrooms in 175 units. Seth Mims, company president, said Thursday he would do whatever it takes, including reducing the number of apartments, to make the development comply with code and ordinance changes proposed by Alderwoman Sarah Marsh.
Staff members also asked Chris Baribeau with Modus Studio and Leslie Tabor with McClelland Consulting Engineers to clearly identify where parking spaces will go in a roughly 342-space parking garage. Commissioner Tracy Hoskins said he was concerned about having adequate space for trash removal, and Alison Jumper, parks planning superintendent, said the city’s urban forester wants to see more room for on-site tree planting.
Developers will be required to repave all four streets around the property: Center Street, Hill Avenue, Treadwell Street and Duncan Avenue. New sidewalks, curbs and gutters are also required.
Project designers plan to install gabion baskets, or cages filled with native rocks, along Center Street for erosion control. A trellis with vines is meant to screen the parking garage from Treadwell Street on the south end of the project. And a rainwater catchment system for on-site irrigation is planned.
Specialized Real Estate is under contract to buy an eight-unit apartment complex and four single-family houses across Center Street from the University of Arkansas campus. Property owners include Paul Gayer, Mikel Lolley and a company called Casa Americana, according to Washington County property records.
The subdivision committee’s next meeting is Nov. 14. The development could be approved then or forwarded to the full Planning Commission for review.