This proposal called for offices. Now a developer wants to build multi-family homes
Residents who live near the 820 Exchange Business Park are fighting a developer’s request to build multi-family housing in an area currently zoned for office space.
LGE Design Build, an Arizona-based company that is developing the business park, in partnership with the McRae Group, wants to build around 100 rental homes in a 10-acre area where offices were supposed to be built.
The houses range from 550 to 700-square feet.
Residents who live near the business park showed up at a recent Haltom City Planning and Zoning Commission meeting to voice their opposition to the homes, saying they would bring crime and other problems to their neighborhood.
The zoning commission approved the request on a 4-2 vote, but stipulated that the developer must meet certain standards, including making sure the homes had masonry as part of the construction and a fencing upgrade to screen the neighbors from the houses.
The city council will meet June 14 to vote on the zoning request.
David Sellers, president and CEO of LGE, said, “What we’re proposing is a brand new rental product. It will have a beautiful design, it definitely looks more single-family,” he said.
Sellers said the homes are one-story buildings.
When asked about who would rent the homes, Sellers said that the company is “very early in the process in terms of design.”
Sellers said there are no offices in the 10-acre area because of no demand in that submarket, and a lack of momentum due to COVID.
Residents said they don’t want the homes near their neighborhood.
Jo Garrett, who has lived in the Colonial Park area since 1995, said her home is 26 feet from the proposed multi-family housing location. Garrett said she doesn’t have a problem with single family homes or luxury condos, but they are not in the proposal.
Garrett and her neighbors said that since the business park was built they deal with lights shining on their homes from warehouses and constant truck traffic on their streets.
Madeline Cooley said she realizes the developer has “every right” to build on the land, but she is concerned about drainage into her backyard, the bright lights and trucks.
She said she also wants the developer to stick to the original plan.
“I know they are going to build something. As long as it’s not subpar or cheap looking, we will have to live with that,” Cooley said.
Glenna Batchelor, director of planning and community development, said the 72-acre business park was approved in 2019. It included distribution centers and office space.
In September of 2020, the developer requested a zoning change to multi-family to build three-story apartments on the 10 acres where the offices were going to be built, she said.
“The applicant determined that with COVID, there wasn’t a market for offices,” she said.
The zoning board denied the request, and the developer withdrew it before the city council could vote whether to accept it. Then, the developer submitted another request to change zoning in order to build the small homes.
Batchelor said amenities included a pool and sidewalks throughout the complex, but she did not have information about what the homes are like inside.
City manager Rex Phelps said the 820 Exchange is not a city-proposed development.
“The law allows developers and property owners to apply for zoning changes,” he said. “We told the developer that the housing wouldn’t fit in to the vision we have for that area (the 10 acres).”
“We told them that this would be an uphill battle. We love the fact that we have the business park,” Phelps said. “We try to be honest with developers on what will and what won’t pass.”
Kelly Johnson, a resident, said he is not in favor of having the homes so close to his property.
Johnson also said the lights from the nearby warehouses make his house look like an airport runway.
“It’s a nightmare. What about all of the traffic?” he said.