After many months of design reviews, Skip Weiler and David Ruma’s proposal to redevelop the Taco Bell site at 1525 North High Street was approved last night by the University Area Review Board. The new plan boasts a smaller unit and bed count, but retains the same number of parking spaces as the previous proposal.
The approved building will be six stories tall and will feature 95 apartments (containing 147 beds), a 116-space parking garage, and 7,000 square feet of ground floor commercial space, with a new Taco Bell taking up the southern corner. Two levels of the parking garage, which will be accessed from the alley, will be underground.
“Now that we are approved we are very excited to move forward with the design and hope to break ground this April,” said Weiler, adding that, “we are very bullish on the rental market…and confident with the location and the design of our building we will be 100% leased upon completion.”
Weiler said that the goal is to wrap up construction by August of 2017.
That timeline likely means a busy year ahead for the section of High Street between Eighth and Ninth avenues. Renovation work has already begun just to the south of the Taco Bell site on an existing three-story brick building, and a plan from Edwards Communities for a five-story mixed-use development across the street was also recently approved.
All renderings via Berardi + Partners.