Councilmembers, residents and officials from developer CityPads discussed issues surrounding design and construction of the condemned property at 801 Main St. at a Monday community meeting.
CityPads officials outlined a plan that included a 1,800 square foot building for retail on the corner of Main Street and Sherman Avenue as well as four townhomes situated in a courtyard behind the building and a 64 unit apartment building.
“This is a little bit of a unique approach we’re taking due to the proximity to the residential (area) on Sherman and being a little bit more into the community,” said Andy Ahitow, the co-founder and managing partner of CityPads.
City Council bought the 801 Main St. building last June, along with the neighboring parking lot, after the city sued the landlord of the building for health and safety violations. The city then conducted community engagement meetings to decide what the development should include and got an offer from developer CityPads through the Request for Proposal process, according to Ald. Jonathan Nieuwsma (4th).
CityPads also developed Tapestry Station, which sits diagonally opposite the 801 Main St. property.
Several attendees raised concerns that the development would result in reduced parking. They worried that residents who will live in new units at the property will overwhelm nearby long-time residents’ streets.
“My primary concern here is a lack of parking in the neighborhood,” said former Ald. Steve Bernstein (4th). “I have noticed with the advent of Tapestry, filling up the spaces that customarily would not fill up on my street.”
Ahitow said the proposed development would create 14 parking spots while eliminating approximately 25 of the parking spots in the lot packaged with the current building.
The company plans to conduct a traffic study to assess availability of parking in the area in the coming months, Ahitow said.
The developers also confirmed that they are looking into acquiring adjacent property 914 Sherman Ave. which they said they plan to renovate. With these renovations, they said, most units will be classified as “attainable housing” meaning they will cost less than what other developers are offering for renovated units.
Third Ward resident Scott Roberts said while he supports the development, he is concerned that the 914 Sherman Ave. project would displace current residents in affordable housing units.
Roberts acknowledged that the city has initiated several programs that aim to make housing more affordable, but added that it is difficult to completely eliminate situations where affordable housing is threatened if development proceeds.
“We’re trying to create more affordable housing, but also things like this remove them,” he said. “The city needs some backup plan for those people.”
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