“When they come in and say ‘Hey this is what we want to do’, we look in our plan and in or regulating plan, is there a place that they can put what they’re trying to develop and does it meet our needs,” said city manager Amanda Zimmerlin.
Jack Kuntz, development director, said that staff believes that current and future residents need to have diverse housing options.
City council voted 6 to 1 in favor of the preliminary plans with council member Kenneth Henning abstaining.
The developer looks to build between 108 to 132 market-rate apartments on 15 acres of a 25.9-acre vacant property on Hoke Road south of National Road in a two-year construction process. Although the developer has had years of experience with managing renters, this will be their first apartment complex as they typically build condos and custom homes.
Developer Brian Jimenez said Grand Traditions is good for Clayton’s population due to its lack of single-story homes and those nearing retirement age that don’t want a new mortgage loan.
“You have a population here that is seeking for change from multi-story homes. They want to downsize, they’re looking for single story living and…lower maintenance,” he said. “Those individuals don’t have that housing stock here in Clayton and what they’re going to do is generally, they’re going to be looking to other communities.”
Jimenez said the apartments are targeted toward empty nesters but isn’t exclusive to that community. The apartments would be one to three bedrooms with an attached garage that sits on the side of the house tucked away from the street. Rent for the units start at $1,000 and cap at $1,600.
The final development plans will detail the findings of several studies performed with the help of the city.
“The final development plan must fully address utilities storm water runoff, landscaping, architecture and erosion control and other things,” said Seth Dorman, city planner and zoning administrator. The city is requiring a traffic study as well to assess the impact the development would have on traffic flow in the area and suggest improvements.
Once the required studies are completed, Grand Traditions will present them to the planning commission in a public hearing. Depending on the studies, Grand Traditions hopes to start construction sometime this year.
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