Several properties on the corner of Lincoln Street and East 1st Avenue in the Speer neighborhood, including Parlor Doughnuts, are being rezoned to make way for a mixed-use development with housing and ground floor retail.
City Council approved the rezoning on Monday, making way for potential redevelopment at 61, 73, 75, 87 and 95 N. Lincoln St.
According to city documents and applications, owner and developer Dirk McCuistion intends to build a seven-story multi-use building with retail on the ground level and a mix of market-rate and affordable housing on the six upper floors.
For the zoning nerds: The five parcels included in the redevelopment area are a single-story commercial building (that's Parlor Doughnuts), surface-level parking, a single-family home and a duplex.
The parcels were zoned for different building forms and contained three zoning overlays.
Overlays apply additional standards to existing zoning codes. In this instance, there was a billboard overlay, an adult-use overlay and a historic structure overlay. None of these things exist on the sites, currently. Nor are any planned.
According to Community Planning and Development, McCuistion applied to rezone all the parcels and remove the overlays to make development in the future simpler. The rezoning creates a single zoning district for a singular redevelopment site.
The district is now G-MS-5, which stands for general urban main street usage with five stories. The main street description means a pedestrian-friendly building where the ground floor is transparent, as opposed to an unyielding blank wall or car garage. Think of the shops on neighboring Broadway.
During a previous council committee meeting, McCuistion said Parlor Doughnuts has already agreed to utilize that ground floor space.
While the district is zoned for five stories, McCuistion will be taking advantage of the Expanding Housing Affordability standards that allow developers to add height to their buildings if they include more affordable units.
In this case, McCuistion has agreed to rent 10% of the units to households earning 60% of the area median income, according to city documents. For example, a family of three would need to make about $67,020 a year to be at the 60% AMI level.
It's unclear how many units will be developed.
Overall, the proposed development received a ton of support from surrounding neighbors and the nearby registered neighborhood organizations. Many supporters loved the addition of housing, especially the affordable housing, and the plan to keep the ground floor as retail space to support local businesses.
During Monday's council hearing, McCuistion said he's worked with community members over the past two years, creating good relationships with neighbors and ensuring that support was received for the project. He noted that at one point, he decided not to pursue the project because of the cost, but with the passage of the Expanding Housing Affordability standard, he was able to move because of the density increase incentive.
One person signed up to speak during Monday night's required public hearing and was in support of the project.
It's unclear when development will begin on the site.
