| By Big Radio News |
An architect says a 204-unit apartment complex planned east of Pine Tree Plaza would transform a farm field into multifamily housing aimed at “young professionals” and “empty-nesters.”
At a neighborhood meeting Thursday, Angus-Young architect Jeff Davis said the project would be similar to a four-building set of luxury-style apartments his firm designed in Janesville — The Glade off Myrtle Way.
Davis mentioned granite countertops, an in-ground pool and community center, and a courtyard with paths that link to a city bike trail, for rents that run to more than $2,000 a month.
“These are market rate. If you look at a comparable, it would be like The Glade apartments,” Davis said. “Those range from a studio at $1,200 a month to a three-bedroom at $2,400 a month. These are generally high-income-earners that are renting these apartments.”
The project is proposed by local developer Ramsey Partners. It would be along the same, new spur of Sandhill Drive that the city plans to build — but it is a separate project from a 49-unit apartment project Madison developer Horizon proposed east of Pine Tree Plaza earlier this year.
The city has said Horizon’s plans fell through because the developer failed to land federal funding it needed to bridge a funding gap.
Davis says the city’s been in talks with his firm for more than a year over his group’s 204-unit complex. Davis says the project could garner some city tax incentives.
The city’s long-term plans show open fields between Pine Tree Plaza and Wright Road as a key spot for a mix of apartments that transition to single-family homes. The city’s comprehensive plan has called for extension of Sandhill Drive for years.
The apartments would be built along a new stretch of Sandhill Drive that links to Deerfield Drive.
One neighbor, a man who identified himself as a retired engineer, asked Davis at the meeting Thursday if 204 units planned on a 10-acre lot would generate a deluge of extra traffic congestion.
“You’re going to have four apartment buildings, and have a lot of people in there. What’s that going to do to Wright Road?” the man said. “Is somebody from the city (of Janesville) going to get up here (to explain)? You know, they make these plans, but we live here. And we have concerns.”
City planners were not on hand Thursday to outline a traffic study of the new stretch of Sandhill Drive — although the city did give a presentation earlier this year on the street expansion.
The city said it intends to construct the new spur of Sandhill this summer, but as of earlier this year, it was still not clear how Sandhill’s expansion would ultimately tie into streets that make up single-family neighborhoods directly to the north and east.
Davis says the apartment plan should be ready for a city zoning review this fall. The apartments could be move-in ready by mid-2027.
