City officials are weighing two apartment proposals in a rather unusual situation — because the proposals are for the very building they were hearing the presentation in.
Representatives from Lokre Companies and S.C. Swiderski each proposed building apartments on the city hall site, which the city will be abandoning for a new site. The site is nearly five acres and includes waterfront property. Both proposals aim to keep some of the space public.
A third proposer, Commonwealth, was not present at Monday’s meeting when the projects were pitched and appears to no longer be under consideration.
Lokre would build 100 apartment units and 30 condos on the site. Lokre is now a fully integrated building company, not only building the projects but also managing the properties, explained Austin Lokre. All units will include all amenities — heat, water, electricity, wifi, etc — in the rent, so people can pay one price and be done with it.
Lokre says the company focuses on building community — instead of just a common room with a pool table, he explains, the company will build things such as shared kitchens, yoga rooms and outdoor spaces such as pickleball to foster people actually getting to know their neighbors and the community. That’s become even more important in the post-COVID days, Lokre says.
Another proposal, by S.C. Swiderski, would see 97 units over two buildings, with apartments ranging from 427 to 1,156 square feet. Like Lokre, Swiderski is a fully integrated company from the design phase to managing the units, with more than 2,000 units in its portfolio. The apartments would be market rate, ranging from $1,100 to $2,000. That would include utilities and wifi as well.
Swiderski’s project would begin in 2023 and be completed by 2026, according to Swiderski presenter Jacqui McElroy.
The city will consider the two proposals again in a couple of weeks.
