A Bloomington entrepreneur wants to tear down a warehouse west of Switchyard Park and build 19 townhomes and 104 multi-family apartments. (Courtesy rendering)
The proposed housing development is planned for the warehouse at the upper center of the map, running parallel to the B-Line Trail and Switchyard Park. Grimes Lane runs along the northern border of the property. (Courtesy rendering)
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A Bloomington entrepreneur wants to raze a warehouse west of Switchyard Park and build 19 townhomes and 104 multi-family apartments, which he estimates could cost up to $20 million.
The property’s owner Thomas Brennan, told The Herald-Times this week that if he gets the go-ahead from the Bloomington City Council, he hopes to raze the existing building, a roughly 100,000-square-foot warehouse at 300 W. Hillside Drive, at the end of the year and begin construction on the residential development in spring 2022.
Some city council members, who are discussing the proposal in their land use committee, have voiced concerns about the project, including its height, limited parking, lack of green space and potential impact on flooding, but city planners said the project would substantially improve the property and add much-needed housing.
Brennan said the warehouse on the property is “arguably the ugliest building in Bloomington” and he hopes the townhomes and apartments will be occupied by retirees, young professionals and families.
He said he bought the building in 2004 to house his business, which made household and automotive cleaners. When the business folded about six years ago, he began renting out the space to small businesses.
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