WFHB Bloomington Community Radio
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The one hundred block of Kirkwood Avenue could look decidedly more modern when an empty parking lot next to CVS is replaced with a condominium project.
The City of Bloomington’s Case Manager James Roach described the project in last night’s Bloomington Plan Commission meeting.
The proposed development will contain more than two thousand square feet of commercial space on the bottom, with 16 condominiums above. Plans call for a 19 space parking garage for tenants, and three new curb side spaces. The project petitioner, real estate lawyer Randy Lloyd, says the condos will be custom designed for owner occupancy.
The site plan presented last night is a revision of the original submitted in November. Roach says planning staff could not positively recommend the first plan because it was well over height and density restrictions. Roach says that plan was altered to bring the building down from five stories to four, and the number of units down from 22 to 16.Roach says the developer also committed to adding more green elements.
However, Roach says the current site plan still contains code violations. The structure is 16 feet taller than surrounding historic structures, with more units per acre than current building code allows.
After review and discussion, Plan Commission members largely voiced support for the project, though they did not give their final approval.
Commission member Susan Sandberg says she is impressed the condos would be owner-occupied as opposed to rentals. She also says she’s pleased more time and consideration will be given to the design.
As for the ways the site plan does not comply with UDO standards, Sandberg says she doesn’t think it’s that far off base.
Plan Commission President Joe Hoffman says he expects some will say the building’s design doesn’t fit with the historic buildings nearby.
The commission agreed to give planning staff and the developer more time to tweak the site plan. The project will come before the Plan Commission again on March 5th.
