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By NOAH WORTHAM | Staff Writer

NORTH SHELBY – A new apartment complex for the 280 corridor has received rezoning approval.

On Tuesday, Jan. 17, the Shelby County Planning Commission approved a rezoning for the development of apartments located between Double Oak Drive and Salser Lane off U.S. 280, which sits across from North Shelby Baptist Church and near Dunnavant Valley Road.

“(It is) set to be a high-end product that is extremely energy and environmentally conscious,” County Manager Chad Scroggins said.

Bryson Stephens of Vestawood Apartments LLC, on behalf of property owner Wriske Properties LLC, made a rezoning request to the Planning Commission for the approval of an H-Z Holding Zone District to an R-5.

“It’s on the 280 corridor, just north of the intersection of Highway 41 going out toward Dunnavant Valley,” said Josh Osborne, manager of planning and community development. “They had the opportunity and the latitude to ask for a maximum 450 units. This particular developer, he’s taking a different approach. He’s going to work with the topography of the property.”

The developer will be leaving a significant amount of green space on the property and will utilize only approximately 30 percent of the acreage for the development of five buildings. According to Scroggins, four of the buildings will be apartments and one will be a clubhouse.

“This is going to be a different product, and I think it’s going to be a neat product for the area,” Osborne said.

The Planning Commission approved the rezoning of the development as a R-4 with specific conditions added.

“Which basically scales them down to a tighter, stringent zoning classification,” Osborne said. “But also, having the SD for the special district, it puts in certain policies in place that restrict them from certain things where we have latitude to ask for additional green space, additional buffers.”

The conditions also affect any potential buyers of the property in the future.

“(They) are going to have to abide by these conditions,” Osborne said. “And so, you get the maximum of five buildings and the maximum of 188 units, and that for example, protects that rezoning to that actual piece of property. If it were to transfer, I can’t buy that property based on the rezoning, I have to buy it based on the conditions.”

Due diligence is currently being done on the site alongside environmental assessment and geotechnical work.

“As soon as the rezoning was approved, they got those professional services agreements under contract,” Osborne said. “And that’s just due diligence so they can go ahead and be ready to move forward once the site assessments are completed, and then they’ll come back into our office.”

Osborn also shared an estimated idea of the time window for the project.

“At this point in time, it’s probably going to be within a two-year period given the market conditions with labor and the material supply side of things,” he said.