Monday, July 18, 2022

Apartments Out in Ridgeland Development

Apartments will not be coming anytime soon to Highland Colony Parkway after a developer notified the city of Ridgeland he is taking a 30 acre-mixed use development back to the drawing board. 

Developer Andrew Mattiace notified the city of Ridgeland he is "revising the site plan" for the project.  The project was going to include 500 apartments.  The planned apartments drew widespread opposition.  Mr. Mattiace said patio homes, zero-lot line dwellings, condos, and detached single-family homes will replace the apartments.  

 

The Ridgeland Board of Ealdormen was supposed to discuss the project at its regular work session tonight.  However, the developer asked the Board to remand his zoning application to the Zoning Board for another public hearing.  

The controversy began when  Mattiace Properties submitted a petition for a conditional use permit for residential dwelling units (otherwise known as apartments.).  The property lies north of Highland Colony Baptist Church and south of the future UMC campus. It is bounded by I-55 on the east and Highland Colony Parkway on the west. The property is currently zoned Mixed-used District (MU-1). 

The proposed $70 million development would have 500 rental units.  The developer never used the word "apartments" but kept using the term "residential dwelling units" at the hearing.   There will be no condos or town homes in the project.  The petition states: 

The proposed development will be a mixed-use project with office space, retail stores and restaurants with a residential component to complete the mixed-use nature of the project, which with the nearby developments will be consistent with the growin national trend of live, work, dine and play projects with walkable features. The adjacent properties are offices and churches and a proposed medical campus. The residential dwelling units are compatible with, and complementary to, the adjacent properties as the units will provide residences for employees of the businesses and future businesses and members of the churches within a reasonable walking and/or biking distance. Therefore, the project represents a compatible use for the existing properties and the proposed medical campus by providing conveniently located residences.

 The Zoning Board rejected the petition on a 6-1 vote but the Board of Ealdormen were going to vote on it tomorrow night.  

 

38 comments:

Very British said...

Comments about "Ealdormen" in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1...

Anonymous said...

Palm greasing doesn't work in Madison and Ridgeland. I can't speak for Canton and the county.

Anonymous said...

Is the new construction on Old Canton Rd near Lincolnshire apartments? Anyone know. My friend doesn't.

Anonymous said...

"Palm greasing doesn't work in Madison and Ridgeland. I can't speak for Canton and the county." Works like a fucking charm up here in Canton.

Anonymous said...

I would be willing to wager they never had any real plans of building the apartments that were originally proposed – – odds are they new it would create a firestorm of protest – – therefore their new proposal will look so much better by comparison

Anonymous said...

2:45 I like you read that word twice, and looked it up. I still don’t know what it means. Any help appreciated.

Anonymous said...

Again, if Mississippi were to experience a population boom and be the cause of high housing prices I would welcome it. However this struck me as a developer taking advantage of a low interest rate environment (that is quickly disappearing) to bring in yet more rentals. I wouldn't even be opposed to owner-occupied condos, but that was not what was being proposed.

I expect an attempt to be made at a later date.

Anonymous said...

July 18, 2022 at 2:52 PM said ...."Palm greasing doesn't work in Madison and Ridgeland.."....
LOLing out loud while ROTF LOLing out loud.
Oh, please tell us for what country you cannot speak. !!~!!
Meanwhile....still LOLing out loud.

Anonymous said...

Nice. Glad to see my home value protected.

Anonymous said...

Would still like a detailed explanation of "patio homes, zero-lot line dwellings, condos, and detached single-family homes." Are these the paper-walled units we see in college towns rented by 2-4 students for around $600 per person per month? If so, doesn't appear much different than the residential dwelling units previously proposed. Seems like he is using neatly crafted language to shoe-in a variant of what was originally proposed. Unless this is an actual neighborhood with well-constructed standalone homes or town homes that rival those of the township in price, no thank you. Thanks for keeping us simple folk in the loop KF.

wise_guy said...

@ 2.45PM and 3.04PM

Antiquated term synonymous with "alderman"; Kingfish being cheeky.

@ 2.52PM, 3.02PM and 3.22PM

Palm-greasing probably does work in Madison and Ridgeland up to a point, but the ealdormen of those municipalities want to be re-elected. However, the payola associated with approving apartments on Highland Colony would have to be of more value than re-election to this august board, as the ealdormen would likely be facing a wipeout in the next election if they approved the apartments.

@ 4.14PM

All of the residential units in The Township in Ridgeland would fall into the descriptions in the new plan, so this is nothing new for HCP. Whether Mattiace is proposing the same level of finish and architectural standards as the Township remains to be seen.

Anonymous said...

What's the difference in a condo and an apartment?

Anonymous said...

So Hegelian! Thesis (Apartments and all that implies), Antithesis (No you're not), Synthesis (tiny shotgun shacks, all that was implicit in "apartments" with no evictions of undesirables and no restrictions on paint color, yard art and pitbull breeding operations!) Beautiful work!

Ben Dover Ridgeland said...

Patio home - double talk for multi-family building, also known as townhouses, garden homes, twin homes, carriage homes, duplexes.

Zero-lot line - minimum distances/setbacks.

He is trying to pack as many homes/acre as he can get away with.

Anonymous said...

This hostility to decent apartment homes might be one of the reasons Mississippi is ranked dead last in livability for millennials (and why so many young folks with brains and means leave the state). https://wallethub.com/edu/best-states-for-millennials/33371 https://yallpolitics.com/2022/04/04/mississippi-loses-half-its-college-graduates-to-brain-drain-within-three-years-osa-report-shows/

Anonymous said...

patio homes, zero-lot line dwellings, condos all sound like keywords for apartments

Anonymous said...

Is this an EB-5 or similarly funded project? I don't see apartments or condos/patio-/town-homes/anything similar providing a reasonable ROI on its own economics in the current overall situation, given interest rate increases, inflation, margin and earnings compression, compartmental retail issues (many of which would directly affect the intended customer for commercial portions of this development), etc.

Anonymous said...

"What's the difference in a condo and an apartment? "

People own their condo (i.e., a long-term mortgage, with an owner-occupied property). Apartment renters have no long-term investment in their property or their neighborhood.

Anonymous said...

Zero lot line refers to property line.

Patio homes are ZLL but can be attached or detached. All of ours are detached (single family, detached buildings). That's not the case in many areas. You ain't got much of a yard, if any.

Townhomes share one or more walls.

Condos refer to ownership of the home instead of it being rented. Most condos are attached. Condo owners share common properties. You own the walls and everything inside. You own a condo which is a glorified apartment. Share costs for landscaping, maintenance, etc.

An apartment is rented unless you are lucky enough to be in the NYC area where you can "buy" a co-op apt. You own the air and paintings on the wall but not the walls in a lovely co op, which has a board that can refuse to accept you, or not. Keeps out the riff raff.

All enjoy commons fees or "maintenance" or HOA fees etc.

Anonymous said...

Just remember that a Madison developer (resident of Madison) sued Brandon over minimum sq ft on some spec homes he was trying to jam in, claiming "racism." That's rich from a guy in a town that has no apartments. At least until Disparate Impact HUD rulings change that. Mary is very, very, happy to see this effort in the downscale next door town. Less heat on her legacy of "racism" in the words of one of her resident developers.

And, 5:02, no. Wrong. 2022 NAR report:

Millennials now make up 43% of home buyers – the most of any generation – an increase from 37% last year.
Generation X bought the most expensive homes at a median price of $320,000.
The largest share of buyers purchased in suburban areas and small towns.

Millenials are moving OUT of apartments and settling down in sane areas. Yep, even Ridgeland.

Anonymous said...

"...i.e., a long-term mortgage, with an owner-occupied property..."

Ah, so just like Fort Morgan to Panama City. Why, shoot, I bet there are at least 8 or maybe even 10 condos down there that are "owner-occupied."

Anonymous said...

Poor people live in apartments

In MS there are lots of poor people

A large % of the poor people are black

Poor / Black people would live in the apartments near the white people

White people would be scared and run away from the poor / black people

Anonymous said...

5:14 PM isn't that the functional equivalent of what will happen when investors buy these low value homes or "condos" and begin renting them out?

Anonymous said...

Not sure what you all were told but I was told by a very reliable source when it all began
MAYOR MCGEE and board will not grant apartments…
Period.

Seems the source was right.

Anonymous said...

All of you people live in your mother's basement. What do you care?
Young professionals need affordable, safe housing, whether it is rental or a purchase. And preferably something with quality and character. Can't have anything nice because of people with your mentality.

Anonymous said...

With all of the available apartments in Jackson why would Ridgeland need to allow more to be built? I saw some lovely ones today off of Meadowbrook behind the Piggly Wiggly. Also there are some winners on south Terry Road.

Could President Biden please send Zsar Kamala Harris to Jackson to fix these multitude of issues? She has done a great on the southern border.

There was a private citizen directing traffic today on County Line Road. The intersection that has been a four way stop for over a week. He was doing great. Would probably make a great Mayor, at least he is actually out amongst the people.

And of course the garbage is still on the street as well. Good job Mr. Mayor and your crazy chief of staff. Making Jacksonians proud one screw up at a time!


Anonymous said...

nothing destroys property values faster than bringing in renters
a nuclear waste dump or a prison for the truly violent and destroy things faster than renters

Kingfish’s Middle School English Teacher. said...

Ealdorman is a little-known literary character. He made a cameo appearance in “Beowulf.” Oh, that scamp Kingfish! My worst student in middle-school English class. He just won’t check his work before handing it in!

Kingfish said...

Try watching The Last Kingdom

Hookah said...

Why do you need apartments when investment companies are buying up homes and moving renters into neighborhoods they would never qualify for on their own merits.

Anonymous said...

Ealdorman was a term in Anglo-Saxon England which originally applied to a man of high status, including some of royal birth, whose authority was independent of the king.

Anonymous said...

Totally as an aside....KF for the win at 1026. LK was/is an awesome series. Ah, if only we could have an Uhtred.

Anonymous said...

"Poor people live in apartments...white people would be scared and run away from the poor / black people."

The same old ignorant, race baiting drivel.

People starting out or starting over in life rent apartments. People who can't afford a home in a nicer area, but want to live there, rent apartments. People who don't have the down payment or credit history to own a home, rent apartments. People who don't want to make a longer-term commitment to the area or a job, rent apartments.

The housing starts figures, published every month, have always had single-family and multi-family components. There is typically an inverse relationship -- when housing prices and interest are higher, more multi-family units are built.

But, there is a greater strain on the infrastructure, when you have more inhabitants per acre.

Anonymous said...

Not sure how anybody could come to the conclusion that Mayor McGee was not quietly pushing this project. And as for palm greasing, let's just say, McGee has a greasy hand.

Anonymous said...

6;28: " Millennials are moving OUT of apartments and settling down in sane areas."

There are no "sane areas" for people who just don't have the means to buy. and/or want a smaller SF (known as empty-nesters, or I- don't-want-all this-stuff- anymore seniors. There are "iffy" areas and strict, gated Eastbrooke-like condo developments.

Krusatyr said...

Housing costs and interest rates are sky high, so large real estate projects not previously funded with pre-committed labor and material and financing costs can't be developed within a marketable budget. Mattiace did not want bad PR while perhaps still considering small projects that are owner financed.

Spec and custom houses on cash basis can still happen where financing isn't necessary.

Anonymous said...

July 18, 2022 at 4:47 PM
Condos are owner occupied and pay an HOA for building upkeep and services. Apartments are tenants and do not own their abode. The company (or person) owning said apartments pay for repairs and upkeep.

Krusatyr said...

Zero lot line refers to a lot where one side property line set back is 5' to 15', depending on local set back requirements and the other side is zero. This results in all homes being 5' to 15' apart.

Many zero lot line projects with 4 or more units in Jackson and Madison/Ridgeland are very attractive, well built and fairly expensive.



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