[Urbannizer]

Mixed-use project in Bouldin Creek clears final hurdle

The Board of Adjustment granted a height increase March 13 that will allow a mixed-use project in the Bouldin Creek neighborhood to move forward.

Plans for the Copeland at 1000 S. First St. include two condominium buildings with a total of 120 units, a 95-room hotel and 65,000 square feet of offices, all with underground parking, as well as retail space, parkland and a row of townhomes.

To make the project viable, developer StoryBuilt requested a variance to compatibility, a rule that limits the height of buildings near single-family homes. Land use attorney Michael Whellan argued that the site is so constrained by rules governing heritage trees and water quality protection that it isn’t feasible to develop without additional height – a hardship he argued meets the Board of Adjustment’s legal standard for a variance.

Whellan also said the project has support from the Bouldin Creek Neighborhood Association. “The applicant worked with the neighborhood for over three years to develop a consensus plan, including support for this variance,” he said.

The compatibility variance allows buildings up to 65 feet tall, or four to five stories. Without the variance, buildings could only be that tall on about half the site.