Downtown site would house hundreds

A group of developers sponsored a meeting to present their proposal for renewing the old-Semicon property Tuesday night, making the case for two new buildings and renovation of a third on the currently vacant site. \nThe main building of the proposal, called Smallwood Plaza, will be mostly residential. In addition to the main apartment block, a smaller structure called Smallwood Annex would be built along Morton street. A historic building that is currently abandoned would also be redeveloped. Both would offer residential and retail space and the plans also call for a courtyard between the main building and the smaller ones.\n"We want it to be a beautiful building," said Kimberleigh Lowman of Midwest Property Services, a company that will manage the proposed property. "We're using brick and limestone for the building material."\nOne city block long and 80 feet high, the main building would be the maximum height allowed by city ordinance. Over 700 residents could live in the building, in a variety of two, three and four bedroom units. The site would also offer 22,000 feet of retail space along College Avenue.\nIn the next couple months the development must be approved by two city boards. The developers will go before the Planning Commission Oct. 14 to explain how they will develop the site. They also need permission for the residential density of the site from the Board of Zoning Appeals. While the site could be built with 100 housing units per acre because it is located in a special development area called the Downtown Development Opportunity Overlay, the proposed building would have 117 units per acre.\nConstruction, if approved by the city boards, would begin next spring. The developers said they expect the majority of residents to be students.\nA number of concerns about the project were brought up Tuesday. \nRobert Harmon, who lives two blocks from the site, said he liked the idea of high-density developments downtown.\n"But the scale kind of scares me, both vertically and the fact that it's a whole block long," he said. "This is our neighborhood. For instance, where do 700 students go to get groceries once a week?" \nAnother concern that was brought up was the status of Morton Street. Fronting city hall, Morton is often blocked off from traffic for various civic purposes, including the Saturday farmer's market. The parking garage of the proposed site, meanwhile, can only be reached from Morton.\nTuesday night's presentation came as the Bloomington City Council, developers and members of the public debate changes to the city's Growth Policy Plan, a document that articulates how the city wants to grow. \nWhere students live can have major impacts on the city, said Tom Micuda, director of the city's planning department.\n"Bloomington experienced a national trend during the 1990s, as student housing companies came into college towns and built 20-to-30 acre 'garden apartment projects,'" Micuda said. "They created congestion and parking problems because students were living far away from campus."\nOne of the alternatives to these large projects further from campus is building downtown, Micuda said. \nThe tension between the GPP's goal of high density residential downtown housing and the desire by preservationists and others to preserve Bloomington's unique characteristics is brought into full light by the proposal. \nLast week, for example, an amendment to the GPP offered by Councilwoman Patricia Cole removed certain building incentives in order to better protect historic buildings downtown. \n"We think this building fits in perfectly with the GPP," said Guy Totino, president of the Cleveland-based real estate firm that, along with Midwest Property Services, is proposing the development. "The look of it is very traditional and the building will fit the cityscape well."\nTotino estimated that the building would generate between $350,000 and $400,000 per year in property taxes for the Tax Increment Financing district where the site is located. TIF money could be used to fund other projects in the district.\nAlthough the Bloomington Historic Preservation Commission has met with the developers and reviewed the proposal, the commission will not have official comment until after the October meetings.\nTim Mayer was the only city councilman who attended the meeting Tuesday night. \n"It's an interesting proposal," he said. "And a good approach"