Murfreesboro Post
MURFREESBORO WEATHER

One East College moves forward




This rendering, printed in Murfreesboro Planning Commission documents, shows the planned appearance of a residential building and a hotel at One East College.MURFREESBORO

This rendering, printed in Murfreesboro Planning Commission documents, shows the planned appearance of a residential building and a hotel at One East College.MURFREESBORO

The Murfreesboro Planning Commission on Wednesday endorsed a request to rezone the old First United Methodist Church on North Church Street to create a mixed-use development.

The project, One East College, had previously appeared before the commission last month. It will move on to the City Council next for final approval of a Planned Unit Development (PUD).

Matt Taylor of SEC Engineering said developers hope to receive building permits this summer and complete the project by late 2022.

The project will include the restoration of the church to use as some sort of entertainment venue, Taylor said. The 627 parking spaces in a garage will be split into uses for residents and other tenants, with 200 being “undesignated” for public parking to replace a parking lot that is being built upon.

During a public hearing, Keith Beckman of Beckman’s Prescription Shop spoke. He said the project looks fantastic, but he is concerned his patients – especially seniors – will have trouble accessing his shop during construction when there will be road closures. He said he is especially worried about the drive-through and people’s ability to exit the business. He said he is concerned some customers will take their business to pharmacy retail chains.

Bob Woods, owner of The Hammery meat store, spoke. He said when the city rebuilt Lytle Street, they promised not to take out parking spots, but he said they reduced parking Front to Maple Streets by 40 percent. Therefore, he said, he is apprehensive about One East College’s parking plan which splits spaces between a hotel, offices, stores and the public, especially with the loss of the current public parking lot.

“I’m not against this project,” Woods said, adding it will be good for downtown and for his store. But “serious consideration” needs to be given to parking.

City staff said that they used formulas to allow the developer to reduce the number of parking spaces considering the project has some “neighborhood shopping” uses and there is on-street parking downtown.

Taylor said the hotel likely will not use every one of its designated parking spaces constantly.

Assistant Planning Director Matthew Blomeley said another consideration is that when people visit downtown, when they park their car, they walk around from one destination to another.

Senior living

In other business, a mixed-use development that includes senior living options received the commission’s endorsement to modify its architectural design and other aspects.

The Murfreesboro City Council will consider the request at a future date. The original PUD zoning was approved in December 2016.

The project is called Autumn Plaza, and a building with multi-family and retail uses is currently under construction on Old Fort Parkway next to the new RaceTrac gas station near Just Love Coffee Café – West.

The developer, Autumn Plaza Partners, wants to make changes that include reducing the senior apartments building size from 55,920 square feet to 55,059 square feet as well as the building’s footprint, according to Planning Commission documents. The configuration of one- and two-bedrooms will change somewhat also.

The assisted living facility will increase from 65,466 to 66,925 square feet and will be 3 stories high instead 2.5 stories.

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