A proposal for a 360-unit, 760-bed apartment complex to be built at 503 N. Rogers St. in Bloomington was approved Monday at a city plan commission meeting. Currently, Bloomington Iron and Metal is located there.
Greystar, an international real estate developer, is the developer on this project.
The plan is for a multi-family apartment complex with commercial and retail space. It will also include a parking garage with 275 spaces and 17 surface parking spaces near the non-residential space, city zoning planner Gabriel Holbrow said.
“The proposed site plan allows for the redevelopment of a 5.2-acre site adjacent to downtown, providing a large number of new dwelling units that help meet the need for more housing in the Bloomington community and enhance the long-term viability of the trades district as an employment hub within downtown,” Holbrow said.
The history of the site having soil contamination was addressed during the meeting. Other concerns such as it being a multi-family complex, rental prices, and Greystar’s past litigations were discussed.
The site was contaminated with PCBs. Recent soil testings show no hazardous material, Holbrow said. However, there were areas not accessible due to material piles. Due to this and the site’s history, the proposal includes additional soil testing to be conducted and sent to the Indiana Department of Environmental Management and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, as well as previous soil testing results.
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To ensure the project’s residential use of multi-family dwelling units, the proposal states that individual rooms cannot be advertised and leased. The apartment will have a variety of bedroom units from studios to three bedrooms.
Plan Commissioner Steve Bishop questioned why these units will be leased instead of sold as permanent housing.
“You keep referencing the city's goals of adding more housing, and this is not what they mean when they say they want to have more housing,” Bishop said. “They want to add houses that people can occupy permanently as owners, they don't want more apartments.”
Greystar Director of Development John Anest said providing more for-rent apartments helps offset the increase in rental prices because it helps balance supply and demand.
Anest said the apartment unit prices will be market-rate competitive. When Bishop asked for an estimate rent pricing, Anest could not provide it immediately. Later Anest gave an estimate of $1,300 to $1,600 based on the current market for one-bedrooms but also noted that a variety factors and changes to the market will also be accounted.
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Bishop also brought up Greystar’s past legal issues. This includes Greystar paying the Federal Trade Commission $23 million and the state of Colorado $1 million due to the company misleading consumers about monthly rent costs. The Justice Department’s Antitrust Division filed a proposed settlement because of claims about Greystar’s algorithmic pricing system.
“Like any big company, Greystar has been involved in litigation from time to time, but we cannot publicly comment on litigation matters,” Anest said. “Greystar is committed to always doing things the right way, and that direction comes straight from the top of our company, with the focus on the residents and the communities that we serve.”
Concerns of a sufficient amount of parking and traffic were also shared.
For parking, Anest said factors such as walkability, bike paths, and public transit were taken into consideration. He said the number of planned parking spaces is also between the minimum and maximum of the city’s code.
Plan commissioners and Bloomington residents had concerns about traffic in the area, specifically with Fairview Elementary nearby. Anest said a traffic study shows minimal impact to the surrounding area. However, commissioners said they have not seen the traffic study.
Plan commissioner Hopi Stosberg said she’s interested in seeing the traffic study and especially if it was done during school hours to account for additional traffic during those times.
Anest said the project also includes contributing about $2.3 million to the city’s Housing Development Fund.
The approved proposal also includes the development achieving Silver Certification by the Home Innovation National Green Building Standard Green Certified rating system before final occupancy; recording of easements for a multi‑use path and portions of public sidewalk on private property including explicit language that the property owner will maintain the path added by the commission; and off‑site tree planting.
