A proposal to build a four-story, 24-unit apartment building at the corner of East Prescott and North Pearl Streets will be presented to the Italian Village Society at their March 11th meeting.
The development, dubbed Prescott and Pearl, features 12 one-bedroom apartments, 12 studio apartments, and a ground-level parking garage with room for 20 cars. It would sit on what is now an empty lot – the deteriorating building that previously occupied the site was demolished last summer. The proposal was first presented to the Italian Village Commission in August as a five-story, 26-unit building.
Jeff Baur, who is developing the project along with partner Doug Borror, said that changes have been made based on feedback from the commission.
“We were very encouraged by the January commission meeting,” he said, “we are looking forward to meeting with the Society, and coming back to the commission in March.”
The Italian Village Commission issues approvals for developments seeking zoning variances from the city, although the Italian Village Society – a non-profit organization first formed by residents and property owners in 1972 – often meets with developers as well. Recently, the society took issue with certain elements of the Parkside on Pearl project, meeting with the developer after the building had been approved by the commission.
Italian Village Society president Larry Totzke said that the organization’s members take an interest in all new development in the neighborhood.
“Specifically in this project,” he added, “we want to advocate for neighboring property owners and ensure that the narrow alleys and streets in this part of Italian Village will be able to handle any additional traffic flow created by a new development at Prescott and Pearl.”
Baur said that he expects most cars to access the building from the north on Pearl Street, which is where the entrance to the garage is. He also said that their target market is young professionals and grad students; tenants who will be attracted to a lower price point than some of the other new development in the neighborhood and would likely not be very car-dependent.
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Renderings provided by Berardi + Partners. Site photo by Walker Evans.