Turner Avenue apartment complex continues construction

The corner of Turner Avenue has a new look lately as construction crews continue to build a new apartment complex for the corner.

Builders broke ground in October, but the project was proposed nearly two years before that.

One of the reasons it went through such a long approval process was because the developers proposed such a large project model.

“The process was lengthy due to the fact that they were asking for 52 units per acre,” said city planner Pat Zenner. “Whenever you get to something that’s going to have that significant a density, the stakes normally get a little bit higher.”

The land was originally for medium density, but the high density proposal needed to clear several different hurdles, including approval for rezoning by the city council.

Additionally, city planners made the developers aware of some of the infrastructure and traffic flow problems that might occur should they go ahead and build.

Eventually, ACC agreed to financially help with the improvement of the streets and sidewalks in the area, as well as help with the infrastructure limitations.

Zenner indicated that the city was already hoping to make those improvements.

“We were able to get the right of way that will assist in us being able to make the intersection improvements there at turner and Providence,” he said.

Council members also got involved, getting reaction from their residents and passing it along to developers and planners.

“There were certain aspects that were tweaked for constituents,” said Zenner.

After months of tweaks and changes, the city ultimately decided the plan would fit into it’s vision for Columbia.

“Was all the effort that we put forward on the front end going to result in the project we expect to see when it’s complete,” said Zenner.