The Fifth Third Bank on the corner of East Fourth and South Washington streets may soon be wrapped in a new housing development.
Lewis Development Co. proposed a site plan at Monday night’s Bloomington Plan Commission meeting involving two four-story, mixed-use buildings at 200 S. Washington St., 114 E. Fourth St. and 121 E. Third St. The project would essentially fill the eastern half of that city block by building one apartment complex in the current parking lot and locating another atop and beside the existing bank. Commission members voted that the project be heard a second time on April 17.
“This is a long list of waiver requests,” said commission member Isabel Piedmont-Smith. “The height is something that concerns me. There’s a vacant lot next to it where the post office used to be, and this will really set the trend for what gets developed there.”
The southernmost building, the one not featuring the bank, would have a proposed 48 units with 75 bedrooms. At four stories, it would stand at a height of about 56 feet. The northernmost building, atop the existing bank, could be even taller, at 60 feet, requiring both buildings to receive a height waiver in a part of the downtown area that has a 50-foot height limit.
The southern building’s units would be a mix ranging from studios all the way up to five-bedroom apartments. Combined with the northern building’s 19 units with 60 bedrooms, that brings the total number of bedrooms up to 135. To serve that number of residents, the petitioner laid out plans for more than 60 parking spaces. Those parking spots would be spread across both halves of the property, throughout a 29-space underground garage and along South Washington Street.