The mixed-use development proposed for Prince Avenue between Pulaski and Childs streets in the western edge of downtown Athens will be in front of Athens-Clarke County’s mayor and commission on Tuesday, but not for the anticipated final decision on a needed rezoning for the six-acre tract.
Instead, according to an email from Commissioner Kelly Girtz, the developer of 100 Prince will ask Tuesday that the proposal be sent back to the county’s planning department, and from there to the planning commission, for consideration of “some project modifications.”
Girtz’s email isn’t specific about the requested modifications, but he does note that the proposed changes will require “additional Athens-Clarke staff evaluation.” Once that staff evaluation is complete, a report will be presented to the planning commission, an appointed body that serves the mayor and commission in an advisory capacity. From there, the proposal will come back in front of the mayor and commission, along with whatever recommendations the planning department and planning commission might make in connection with the 100 Prince project.
In his email, Girtz indicates that he “will send additional information as it develops.” The 100 Prince developer’s request that the plan be sent back through the planning process will be heard during the mayor and commission’s 7 p.m. Tuesday meeting at City Hall, 301 College Ave. in downtown Athens.
Briefly, as proposed in plans reviewed late last month by the mayor and commission, the residential component of 100 Prince would comprise 81 one-bedroom units and 65 two-bedroom units arranged in both traditional low-rise apartment buildings and townhouse-style multifamily residences that will front Childs Street. The development also would include 27,000 square feet of commercial space, 10,000 of which is slated to house a grocery store, a long-sought amenity for the downtown area. Additionally, Homes Urban LLC would preserve the 1913 chapel on the site, repurposing it to serve as a restaurant.
In previous meetings in front of the county’s planning commission, nearby residents have raised concerns about traffic that the 100 Prince development could bring to their neighborhoods, the potential for the development to unduly shade their yards and homes, and the fact that the tract’s existing zoning would accommodate a similar project, but on a smaller, more acceptable scale.
Homes Urban, The Greenville, South Carolina-based firm behind the project, has worked to address neighborhood concerns, convening a number of neighborhood meetings at which the company’s cofounder, Russ Davis, has taken questions and heard concerns of area residents.
As a result of those efforts, Homes Urban has lowered the height of some buildings to address neighborhood concerns about shade, and has eliminated plans to install balconies on some units to address neighborhood concerns that 100 Prince residents could see into their yards and homes.
Girtz, whose district includes the project site, the St. Joseph Catholic Church and school property, spoke at length on the 100 Prince proposal at the mayor and commission’s April agenda-setting session
“While I understand my neighbor’s concerns ... this is generally a good proposal,” Girtz said at that meeting.