UPDATE: ACC Commissioners Approve 10-Story Apartment Complex

UPDATE:  The Board of Commissioners voted 7 to 3 on the use of a 1.7 acre property on Mitchell Street being used for a 10 story condominium. Members of the Athens Clark County Board of Commissioners cast their votes last night at 6pm at City Hall. The new development will consist of three stories of parking, around 25,000 square feet of restaurant and office space and six stories of housing, consisting of mostly two bedroom housing.

Athens-Clarke County commissioners will vote tonight on a proposition that would rezone a property on Mitchell Street to allow for the construction of a new, ten-story apartment complex. The new units will be for sale, rather than for rent. This will differ from the renter-only style of many Athens apartments, in hopes of attracting permanent residents.

Some current residents are worried that this new project will diminish Athens’ culture. They believe only rich people will be able to afford to live in the new complex, named Oconee Views.  One longtime resident, Corwin Weik, worries the apartments’  target market, retirees, empty nesters, and professors, will diminish the diversity of Athens. Others worry that the new construction will encroach on the flood plain. The newly poured concrete could possibly eliminate too much of the permeable surface required to absorb water.

The vote will take place tonight at 6pm at City Hall. The floor will be open for comment.