The Mayor and developer Martin Mehall yesterday announced Plusquellic's apparent return to sweetheart deals for fellow democrats. Mehall will get a deal on the land at Exchange and Main. Kevin Davis will make out by either selling his property or being included in the development. Mehall will build a 450 bed series of townhouse apartments and retail, with the apartments available exclusively to University of Akron students. The deal brings expensive housing downtown, but only for students with limited disposable income. Plus the kids will be closer to bars which under our current law they shouldn't be frequenting.
It's also interesting that the Mayor makes this announcement on the same day the University of Akron announces it's plans for a new, 470 bed dorm east of campus, and a hike from downtown. If I didn't know better I'd say there was a tug-of-war going on for the students' dollars between UA and the city. Wait...I don't know better.
And all of this begs the question of just how many students are available to live either on or close to campus, and whether any of this housing meets their needs. Mehall may think his project is "very, very viable", but so did Tony Troppe of his Hickory Street project. After seeing the developments in Portland and even Cleveland, I think the city needs to think very carefully about where it's pushing new development. Students can live in decent housing near the university, or at reasonable prices in areas like Highland Square or Firestone Park, and still be minutes from downtown. The city hasn't come up with plans for any decent, easy to use public transporation like the light rail of Portland, and doesn't provide bike paths or other alternatives to get around, so if you have to have a car what's the incentive to live in expensive, downtown student housing. And is it even legal to say you will only rent to students?
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1 comment:
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