A proposal to reuse a vacant industrial building as upscale residential lofts would require the rezoning of the property located between Grant Street and Lincoln Avenue from its current light industrial to an office-residential designation.
Troy’s Planning Commission voted April 13 to recommend City Council approve the rezoning. Council would hold a public hearing on the request as part of its consideration of the proposal.
Local developer Jessica Minesinger is the proposed buyer and the applicant agent for the 0.772-acre property at 532 Grant St. The property includes a former industrial building most recently used by Pro2Respiratory Services.
Minesinger said the proposed use and the proposed purchase are contingent on the rezoning.
The building is just over 25,000 square feet. An environmental inspection is under way as an architect works on design drawings for the project, Minesinger said.
“We believe there is a market for this type of housing as well as a significant need to repurpose older industrial buildings in keeping with the residential areas in which they exist,” she wrote in the application.
Shannon Brandon of the city staff said the rezoning was being recommended. Plans are for the residential units, but some light office use might also be incorporated, she said.
Issues such as parking for the building would be addressed as part of the project proposal, planning commission members were told.
“It would be a good use of a property that exists today,” Mayor Mike Beamish, a commission member said.
In other business April 13, the commission:
- Approved an application in the historic district for 111 N. Mulberry St. tp replace concrete steps and install a 23-inch retaining wall in the front yard.
- Recommended the city council approve a proposed rezoning of 16 S. Short St. from B-2 general business to R-5 single-family residential. Realtor Kimberly Yardlay told the commission the prospective owner of the building is requesting the rezoning based on the building’s use as a residence since at least 1993.
