Developer plans 300 new apartment units at Katy Station site in Columbia

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A developer plans to build 300 new apartment units along with retail space on the property where the Katy Station currently sits in downtown Columbia.

DLR Group has submitted a letter and plans to City of Columbia staff for new zoning for two new apartment buildings that will hold the housing units with "ground floor amenity" and retail space. The letter states DLR, which is working on behalf of a company called Core Spaces, is in discussions with the Save Katy Station group, which hopes to move the current building.

Shiloh restaurant and bar occupies Katy Station.

Plans include 371 parking stalls, with building heights of about 70 feet.

City Development Services Manager Pat Zenner told ABC 17 News that a city staff concept review is planned for Nov. 10, and that the city government will have no comment until then.

A group of volunteers has formed to save the Katy Station building, which was once a railroad passenger depot for the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad. The group has proposed two new locations for the building: Flat Branch Park or in front of the gateway to downtown.

Group leaders say it will cost more than $400,000 to move the building.

"The coalition is actively evaluating alternative locations along the Flat Branch corridor. Campaign leaders have conducted on-site feasibility walks with experienced building relocation specialists to assess potential sites and the logistics of moving the historic depot," James Roark-Gruender with Save Katy Station wrote in a news release.