Apartments, Twin Homes, and South Side Neighborhood Get Thumbs up

V1 Staff |

The Eau Claire Plan Commission has given the go-ahead to three major housing projects while rejecting a plan to redevelop a former drive-up bank on Water Street. At their Nov. 18 meeting, commission members approved several requests from developers:

• A final plat for Jeffers Ridge Twin Homes, a development planned by SW Properties & Investment on the east side of Jeffers Road on the city’s north side. The development will come in two phases, the first with 48 of 80 lots being developed.

• A rezoning request and general development plan for Prairie Heights Residences, a four-story apartment building with 80 units slated for the corner of Birch Street and River Prairie Drive on the far east side of Eau Claire. The apartments will be priced as affordable “workforce housing,” and eight units will be reserved for people who were previously homeless. 

• A final plan for a 46-lot housing development south of Eau Claire, at Highway 93 and County Road II. The Trilogy development, owned by Southside EC Properties, will consist of 44 single-family lot and two commercial lots.

All three proposals were scheduled to be addressed by the Eau Claire City Council during their Nov. 25-26 meetings.Meanwhile, the Plan Commission voted 3-5 against approving a site plan by Investment Realty for a new two-story building at 328 Water St., the former site of the BMO Harris drive-through bank branch. The building would have included two commercial spaces facing Water Street (one with a drive-through), four apartments on the upper floor, and two ground-floor apartments in the rear.

According to Scott Allen, the city’s community development director, commission members were concerned that the proposal wasn’t in line with the Water Street Business District Plan, in part because of the inclusion of a drive-through lane and off-site parking.