Developer seeks permit for collegiate overlay project

Borough Council is considering a conditional use permit following a presentation proposing a development in the collegiate housing overlay district.

Currently dubbed the “Rise,” the 12-story development seeks to provide commercial and residential space along the southwest corner of the intersection of East College Avenue and High Street. The development would overtake the two properties located at 532 and 538 E. College Ave. — The Colony Apartments and Kildare’s Irish Pub respectively.

Chicago-based developers CA Ventures submitted the application to request a conditional use permit, senior planner Anne Messner said. The proposal meets overlay conditions, which allow for a maximum building height of 124 feet.

Conditions include its location within the 500 block of East College Avenue, no ground-floor residential use and minimum lot area, she said.

The first two floors will be non-residential use, Messner said, with the remaining floors as residential. Professional and graduate residents are anticipated as the occupants of the first two floors of residential, with multifamily housing for students and inclusionary housing units as the remainder.

According to CA documents, the project would host 182 units with a total of 616 beds.

Inclusionary housing and a sculpted roof allow for an additional 10 feet of building height each, she said, adding an additional floor and a parapet wall and bringing the overall proposed building height to 140 feet. Eighteen units would be set aside as inclusionary housing.

CA Ventures Vice President of Design and Development Dan Hrankowsky said the top eight floors are considered “multifamily,” as CA Ventures has no plans on discriminating who wishes to occupy those floors. However, given the proximity of the building to campus, it very well may end up as student housing.

In addressing the ground floors, he said, it’s mandatory to have residential lobbies and meeting spaces within those non-residential spaces. The remaining area is a balance between service parking and commercial space, providing 100 percent of the required resident parking underground.

Potential retail tenants have already showed interest in the commercial spaces, he said. CA Ventures would be looking at a completion time around summer 2018.

Council showed concern with the idea of mixing families with children and students on the same floor. According to Messner, the inclusionary housing ordinance requires that these units not be clustered into a single location and interspersed throughout the project. However, it does not indicate the number of units on a particular floor.

President Jim Rosenberger said he liked that the project had accessible surface parking as well as underground parking, as well as a room for bicycle storage.

“What I’ve seen will catch people’s eyes coming into town,” he said.

According to borough solicitor Terry Williams, council has 45 days to render a decision regarding the application. Council may attach reasonable conditions to the decision in addition to those expressed in the ordinance.

This story was originally published December 8, 2015 at 12:02 AM with the headline "Developer seeks permit for collegiate overlay project."