Council held a public hearing concerning a zoning request to change a market-rate apartment complex into apartments geared toward student housing in Richardson at the July 15 meeting.
The hearing concerned changes to a planned development district located between Waterview Parkway and Frankford Road near UT Dallas, according to city documents. The development originally included two apartment buildings, one intended to be a market-value apartment building and the other a purpose-built student apartment building.
Two-minute impact
The developer, ZoneDev, requested to change its previously approved development plan to replace the market-rate mixed-use apartment building intended for higher income rentals with a mixed-use, purpose-built student apartment building meant for college students.
The amendment reduces the number of units from 335 to 173, per city documents. Additionally, the number of available beds will increase from 450 to 534. Under the proposed amendment, infrastructure and sidewalks for all phases of construction must be completed before the city will issue a certificate of occupancy for the student apartment building. The change would also require a shuttle to and from UT Dallas.
Per city documents, a certificate of occupancy for the other purpose-built student apartment building will not be issued until the buildings, including a proposed hotel, are weather tight.
The Richardson City Plan Commission previously recommended approval during its May 21 meeting.
What’s next
A representative for the developers said at the meeting the project would take about a year to design and another year to develop, and wouldn’t come online until 2027.
