The Planning Commission voted unanimously to approve the application for the redevelopment of the Heritage at Old Town apartments during the Feb. 2 Planning Commission meeting.
The project, which now heads to City Council on Feb. 20 for approval, would demolish the existing brick buildings built in the 1970s and replace the 244 units with three multifamily apartment buildings housing 750 units and reaching, in some sections, seven stories. The redevelopment will preserve 140 units of afford-able housing currently located on site and will add 55 additional affordable units.
The meeting represented the contentious nature of the project. Although some speakers did express support for the Heritage project and the additional affordable units, the majority of the 42 speakers who signed up for the meeting argued against the project.
They expressed concern that the project’s scale and height are disproportionate with the rest of the Old and Historic District. Opponents also argued that home values, traffic and current residents would be negatively impacted by the redevelopment.
-cmelloklein@alextimes.com
