Independence City Council voted to pass a resolution approving the development plans of 52 town homes at a Monday night meeting.
The development will take place within a planned unit development in Independence that also contains The Villages of Beechgrove apartment communities, located off of Beechgrove Drive.
“I really look forward to introducing a unique rental community to the Independence area,” said developer Gregory Bridges.
The zone itself was established in the 1970s, and numerous residential complexes under the ownership and management of several groups have been built throughout the area.
This specific development has gone through multiple planning stages since the beginning of last year. The city had originally approved the development of 32 units, but Bridge’s company, Grand Preserve, LLC., requested several changes throughout the summer and fall of 2022, finally culminating in the development request that came before the council on Monday.
Bridges said that these townhomes are the first phase of a development called The Reserves. In all, he hopes to build 186 town homes that will spread across the 20-acre parcel. The development plans approved on Monday take up three acres.
The first phase will include “two bedroom, three bedroom [apartments] and there will even be some studio apartments, which is very unique to Independence,” Bridges said.
He added that the development will also feature a gym and an office.
Greg Steffen, the only council member who voted against the approval and who has been critical of development in the past, was perturbed by the fact that the number of units had ballooned up to 52 since last year.
“This… just doesn’t strike me as a minor change,” Steffen said, remarking at the characterization of the unit increase in the city resolution. “When it went from 32 to 35, yes, that’s a minor change. But 35 to 52, that’s a pretty significant percentage of increase.”
Mayor Chris Reinersman remarked that the numbers were still within the allowable figures for the zone.
“It’s actually zone for 240 units,” Bridges said. “We’re 186 units. So, we’re actually well below what could have been built there.”
In the end, the council approved the resolution 5-1.
Grand Preserves has already started clearing land and putting in infrastructure. Bridges said that construction of the first building will begin in August and completion of the 52 town houses should take somewhere between 24 and 30 months.
The next Independence City Council meeting is slated to occur on July 3 at 7 p.m. but may be rescheduled due to its proximity to Independence Day.