Columbia City Council turns down large student apartment complex

In a 6-1 vote, the Columbia City Council denied the Park 7 Group’s ability to build a large student apartment complex on the east side of town.

The developers planned an 849-bed complex on Cinnamon Hill Lane, near the Stadium Boulevard intersection of Highway 63. The area north of the new Holiday Inn would feature 321 units geared for students, called “The Avenue at Columbia,” along with 880 parking spaces, using more than 32 acres of land.

The Park7 Group presented plans for the complex in 2013, where the city council voted against it 4-3. This time, the group allowed a 10-acre tract between the new apartments and the Shepard Hills neighborhood to the north. Several residents that spoke at the meeting supported the idea, citing the 10-acre “buffer zone” and the addition of a fire hydrant for the southern part of the neighborhood.

Mayor Bob McDavid, a supporter of the student housing developments in downtown Columbia, voted against the plans. He felt the new apartments would increase traffic and strain on the roads, while combating the “walkable” community, by driving the student population away from campus.

The Avenue would sit down the street from The Domain, another large student apartment complex built only a few years ago. Park 7 developers relied on the University of Missouri’s prediction of 38,000 students enrolled by 2019, and felt the complex provided for the growing student population. However, some residents feared the two complexes would become useless if the projections turned out false, since the buildings strict design for student use left no room for something else.

“These proposed student apartments are not the type of buildings that will be put to re-use for other purposes over time,” Anne Minor, a resident on Timberhill Road said. “We already have enough of these developments with little application to other housing re-purposing.”

Park7 Group CEO Ron Gatehouse told ABC 17 News he was still interested in the Columbia rental market. However, the council’s decision left them “limited’ in what they can now do.