H-T report | Aug 29, 2018
This guest column was submitted by Bloomington residents Lauren Bryant, Sherry Knighton-Schwandt and Thomas Schwandt.
In a recent Herald-Times article on repurposing the current Bloomington Hospital site (“Hospital site reuse recommendations focus on housing”), Bloomington Deputy Mayor Mick Renneisen said “everyone is aware that there is a huge supply and demand issue in the Bloomington housing market, raising rental rates higher than the state average. “Anybody want to refute that we have a housing challenge here? I didn’t think so.’”
But who defines what that “housing challenge” actually means? For many in our community, the challenge is the lack of affordable dwellings (both owner-occupied and rental) for senior residents and for the workforce. That challenge arises largely because it appears that the city of Bloomington is shouldering the lion’s share of the burden of housing IU students.
The city continues to green-light the building of luxury student apartments. Developers, specifically companies that are outside of Bloomington or the state and who target university towns like ours, market their standard upscale student dwellings with an expectation that they will achieve a return on that investment in 10 years. In other words, these companies have little or no true investment in our community.
For example, EVOLVE, which is being developed across from Memorial Stadium, is being built by a company in Chicago called CA Student Living. From their website, you will see that they have developed a series of sub-brands and have built in numerous large public university towns.
These companies construct high-end, high-rent luxury units with granite countertops, stainless steel appliances, TVs and other onsite amenities such as fitness centers, pools, basketball courts and hot tubs. Such development drives up the rental rate in Bloomington; depending on what source you use, the average apartment rent in Bloomington is about $1,050/month.
Right now, our city is considering more of these student-centered housing developments, including a 632-bed complex proposed for the site next to the former Chapman’s restaurant at the intersection of Highways 46 & 446 (proposed by Fountain Residential Partners from Dallas, Texas) and the 425 market-rate apartments (proposed by Trinitas from Lafayette, Indiana) for the Kmart lot redevelopment.
These developments are on top of the sprawling student housing complex across from Memorial Stadium at 17th and Dunn (751 beds) as well as Patterson Pointe (480 beds) on the former Rogers Building Supply lot on West Third Street and The Dillon (635 beds).
The city council and plan commission contend that their goal is more affordable housing. It is difficult to imagine that this goal is being achieved when we seem to be witnessing only the construction of luxury student housing.
The 2018 Comprehensive Plan for the city of Bloomington states, “(T)here is a concern that many residents looking for quality rental or owner-occupied housing within the city are being priced out of the market. The community must offer living options across the community for people from a wide range of life circumstances, incomes and capacities.”
In addition, Goal 5.2, Housing Planning and Design, reads, “Guide growth, change and preservation of residential and business areas through planning policies that create and sustain neighborhood character and green space, and that build a sense of community, civic involvement and neighborhood pride.”
Neighborhood character. Green space. Community. Neighborhood pride. This is a valuable, desirable vision, one that is not met by towering apartment complexes that, despite promises, end up catering to students.
We encourage the city and especially the plan commission to carefully evaluate proposed housing developments in light of the objectives of the city’s own comprehensive plan.
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