Log in

subscriber exclusive

Buckeye Planning Commission approves downtown apartment plan

Posted

BUCKEYE — By a unanimous vote Tuesday, the Buckeye Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approval of the site plan for a 216-unit downtown apartment complex.

The Buckeye Roers Downtown Site Plan will change the area around the southwest corner of First Street, marked as Miller Road, and Monroe Avenue, or MC 85. The complex wraps behind the U.S. Post Office, with a built-out single-family subdivision behind the 12.3-acre site.

The applicants, Roers Cos., was running three applications concurrently with the city of Buckeye. There is the site plan approval, a downtown commercial zoning recommendation from the commission at its Oct. 26 meeting and an application to subdivide the property and dedicate right-of-way that is currently in review and scheduled to go before the Buckeye City Council on Oct. 19.

James Riley spoke on behalf of Roers Cos. The three-story complex will be Roers’ first project in Arizona. After Commissioner Ted Burton asked why there were no elevators planned for any of the three-story buildings, Riley replied that keeping construction costs down on the nine-building complex was a priority.

“This is really intended as workforce housing,” Riley said. “It’s catered toward the folks having a tough time finding housing in Maricopa County. We’re targeting the 60% AMI (area median income) level, such as first-year teachers, health care workers and folks just starting out in the workforce, making between $33,000 and $50,000 per year.”

The apartment complex will include 378 total parking spaces — 162 uncovered, 174 under carports and 42 in detached garages. Some of the units in the complex will have balconies.

There will be one swimming pool, which at least two commissioners said was a concern. Riley said the size of the pool is still being determined, though it won’t be “Olympic” size.

Riley said the 38-foot height of the building, though right near an airstrip, did not present any concerns during planning. The developer also will need to build paved right-turn pockets to enter the complex. Exits will be right turns only.

The other main item on the published agenda — a plat approval for a 610-unit development called Legacy Trails — has staff reports included, but also a staff recommendation for continuing the item to a to-be-determined date.

The planned was on the commission’s Sept. 28 agenda, but was postponed until the commission’s Oct. 12 meeting, at the applicant’s request, as the developer and city staff.