144 more apts., en route to Blake St.?
Local legislators cleared the zoning path for 256 new mostly market-rent apartments to be built in Westville and Long Wharf.
Alders took those votes Monday night during the latest regular bimonthly meeting of the full Board of Alders, which was held in-person in the Aldermanic Chamber on the second floor of City Hall.
Alders voted to amend regulations governing two “planned development districts” (PDDs) on opposite sides of the city to allow for lots more rental housing to be built. (PDDs are small, cohesive sections of the city granted unique sets of zoning rules about what developers can build there, without having to adhere to the city’s zoning code that would otherwise apply to that area.)
First, alders amended PDD #103, located where Blake Street meets Stone Street, to increase the number of housing units permitted on the 1.89 acre site from 293 to 437.
The 293-apartment-limit had already been reached by the Wintergreen at Westville apartment complex at 400 Blake St., which is also on PDD #103.
The alders’ amendment will allow for a new residential development at 446A Blake St, atop what’s currently a surface parking lot and a three-story office building. The development, proposed by Brooklyn and California-based developers, is slated to include 144 apartments.
Last month, alders pushed during a committee hearing for the Blake Street proposal to include more affordable housing. The initial proposal was submitted before the alders enacted the city’s new inclusionary zoning (IZ) law. The proposal sets aside 11 of the new apartments for tenants making 80 percent of the Area Median Income (or $63,120 for a one-person household.)
According to Westville/Amity Alder and Majority Leader Richard Furlow on Monday night, the developers have since expanded their affordability plan so that six units will be available to tenants making 80 percent AMI, and six more will be available to tenants making 60 percent AMI (or $47,340 for a one-person household.)
In total, Furlow told his colleagues on Monday, the building will feature 30 studio apartments, 17 one-bedrooms, and 17 two-bedrooms.
“I think this fits this area,” Furlow said, noting that the building would be ideal for empty nesters or “singles like myself.”
“I can’t wait till this project is over. I might want to rent something over there,” he added.
A map of the Long Wharf hotel lot.
The second PDD amendment approved on Monday night affected PDD #65, which covers the Village Suites hotel at 3 Long Wharf Dr. and 175 Hallock Ave.
The Village Suites owner, Juan Salas-Romer, plans to convert the 112-room extended stay hotel, which spans 14 buildings, into 112 new apartments. In order for him to do so, alders needed to amend the PDD — which previously permitted only a hotel at that site — to allow for a multi-family dwelling.
The Board of Alders did just that. They unanimously voted in favor of both PDD amendments, allowing both projects to advance. That project is in compliance with the city’s inclusionary zoning law by setting aside 5 percent of the proposed new apartments for renters making less than 80 percent AMI.
Both developments would “provide much-needed additional housing” to the city, Furlow said on Monday before the full board voted in support.
