The Bloomington city council approved rezoning for a new student housing project Wednesday night that will have 433 units, 1,072 bedrooms and 681 parking spaces.
The site is planned on 7.22 acres at East Brownstone Drive and 14 th Street, just south of Memorial Stadium.
The city’s senior zoning planner Eric Greulich said the new development, called “The Standard,” will replace the existing Brownstone Terrace.
“It’s been on the ground for about 40 years now and has kind of outlived its useful life,” Greulich said.
He said the location also pulls student housing away from the downtown area, which has been an emphasis in the city’s Comprehensive Plan.
“So, while that has been great for the vibrancy of the downtown and the businesses within that area, there was a desire within the Comprehensive Plan to diversify the location of student housing outside of the downtown,” Gruelich said.
The rezoning request changed the property from a planned unit development (PUD) to mixed-use student housing (MS). MS zoning was recently added to Bloomington’s unified development ordinance (UDO).
READ MORE: City Resumes Public Talks On UDO, Discusses Student Housing
“So far, the petition has been designed to meet all of the requirements within the mixed-use student housing district,” Gruelich said.
Landmark Properties will invest its own cash to build and manage the property.
“As a company, our strategy is to develop multi-family projects adjacent to major universities,” said Aaron Stange at Landmark.
The project proposal shows the complex with three separate buildings—five to six stories tall-- facing north toward 14 th Street, with a parking garage in between.
Within the complex, 15% of the units will be set aside for affordable housing.
“Our projects have several advantages to the community, including relocating student renters out of owner-occupied, single-family neighborhoods, which tends to improve relations with local residents,” Stange said.
Gruelich added that Landmark will improve utility lines as well as install new sidewalks, curbing and tree plots.
“In the end, we were pleased about the affordable housing commitment by the petitioner. We liked the fact that the parking garage was wrapped with housing, so it wasn’t visible,” councilmember Isabel-Piedmont Smith said.
With council’s approval, the site plan now moves to the Plan Commission in early 2021 for final review.
