100 units seen for Phase II of Zinc Mill Terrace

Tuesday, April 11, 2017
Artist’s rendering of one of the buildings planned for Zinc Mill Terrace, Phase II.
Courtesy photo

Buoyed by 100 percent occupancy in the 94-unit first phase of Zinc Mill Terrace, another 90-100 units are being planned for Phase II, the Greencastle Board of Zoning Appeals learned at its April meeting.

Developer Brad Emmert of Emmert Group Properties LLC, of Brazil, called the second phase “a carbon copy” of Phase I of the apartment complex off Tennessee Street at Veterans Memorial Highway (across the road from the Greencastle Middle School).

The developer appeared before the BZA to request a special exception use variance for the 7.5-acre property formed by Emmert’s acquisition of the homes at 810, 820 and 830 Tennessee St. to allow for multi-family dwelling units in a single-family 2 (SD2) zoning district and a development standards variance to allow more than one primary structure per lot.

The requests were unanimously approved by the BZA.

Emmert explained that Phase II will have more buildings -- eight or nine -- than the seven in Phase I.

Phase II will also see an increase in the number of garages since that has evolved as an attractive apartment-living feature, Emmert said.

He also noted that the second phase will get a reduction in the number of three-bedroom units, falling from 25 percent to 15 percent.

Entrance to Zinc Mill Terrace complex, currently operating at 100 percent occupancy with a waiting list.
Banner Graphic/ERIC BERNSEE

The developer said now that the economy has rebounded, those who previously had sought three-bedroom apartments are more likely seeking homes to buy instead.

The remaining 85 percent of the units, Emmert said, will be split 50-50 between one- and two-bedroom apartments.

“So you’re talking 90 to 100 units,” BZA member Brian Cox, who also serves as executive director of the Greater Greencastle Chamber of Commerce, responded. “That’s exciting. We really need that.”

Noting the 100 percent occupancy and the presence of a waiting list for apartments at the initial complex, Emmert said, “It’s been a great project for us. Greencastle has been good for us.”

Emmert also shared potential rental prices on the units, saying that a one-bedroom would be in the $850-$875 per month price range, while two-bedroom units would rent for $950-$1,025 (with the extra $75 charged for those units with a second bathroom). Three-bedroom apartments will rent for $1,150, he said.

Zinc Mill Terrace monthly rental costs include water, sewer, basic cable and Wi-Fi.

Renters in Phase II -- which will be developed on property south of Tennessee Street and east of the land on which the Greencastle Community School Corporation will construct its new bus barn -- will use the existing clubhouse in Phase I, while a larger outdoor pavilion and a small dog bark park are other amenities planned for Phase II.

Emmert explained that plans are to keep the house on the corner of the property and reroof it to look like Zinc Mill Terrace buildings, while the vacant ramshackle house next to it and the stone cottage to the east will be razed.

Stone cottage (at left) and vacant home on Tennessee Street will be razed to make room for Zinc Mill Terrace, Phase II.
Banner Graphic/ERIC BERNSEE

BZA member Margaret Kenton, who is a member of the Heritage Preservation Society and owns her own historic home, asked if there might be some way to incorporate the stone cottage, built in 1900, into the plan as well.

Emmert said that is not the plan. The cottage sits right in the middle of the new property, he noted.

BZA member Wayne Lewis, meanwhile, said he knows the current owners of the cottage and reported that maintenance issues and a deteriorating condition make the home an unlikely candidate to be saved, suggesting it might cost more to fix it up than it is worth.

The timetable for the project, Emmert said, indicates a late-fall start as the best-case scenario. Bad weather, however, might push that until spring.

Once the work commences, he said, it should be an 18-month project with opening seen as spring 2019.

The project will include “a massive amount of earthwork,” Emmert said, as the site drops 15 feet in elevation from west to east.

Emmert told the BZA he encountered some interesting developments in marketing the initial phase of Zinc Mill Terrace.

He expected faculty and staff from DePauw University and even the school corporation to be a big portion of his renters but that has not proved true. Instead, he finds single-parent households “as a big part of it,” along with a lot of tenants from Greencastle’s industries.

“We found that a lot of people wanted to live in Greencastle,” the developer said, “but they couldn’t find housing and ended up living in a farm house outside the city or in another city.

“About half what we get is that,” Emmert added. “We never anticipated that.”

In other business, the BZA:

-- Unanimously approved a special exception use variance to allow for a two-family dwelling unit in a Traditional Neighborhood (TN) zoning district for property at 410 W. Columbia St. being remodeled by Derrick Ward. The original owner planned to make a triple unit out of the older home that has been added on to previously. Ward assured it would be only two units. “We just need a double,” he said. “We’re happy with that.”

-- Elected a new slate of officers, necessary not only by the calendar but the loss of the board’s prior chairman and vice chairman. Previous chairman John Phillips has retired from the board, while the term of vice chairman Donnie Watson has expired. Andrew Ranck was sworn in as one new member with a vacancy currently for a fifth member.

Reorganization resulted in Cox being elected chairman and Kenton taking the vice chairman role. Lewis and Ranck round out the present board. City Planner Shannon Norman ran the meeting at the outset.

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