The Rockwell Planning Commission on Oct. 8 approved a level 2 site plan to convert 13,011 square feet of street‑level retail at 198 East Montgomery Avenue into 13 residential units, a move staff said would increase town‑center housing and support neighborhood commercial activity.

Staff said the site plan implements a project plan that the mayor and council approved on Sept. 15, 2025. Christopher Davis of Community Planning and Development Services described the site as about 1.41 acres in Planning Area 1 (Town Center) and said the application conforms to the zoning ordinance and applicable standards. Staff recommended approval subject to the findings and conditions in the staff report.

Nancy Reglin, counsel for applicant Comstock 33 Monroe LC, presented design perspectives and said the team had responded to previous planning‑commission and mayor‑and‑council feedback. Reglin explained how the conversion would arrange front doors, lobby entries and landscaping; she told the commission the applicant “accept[s] the staff's conditions” and “respectfully request[s] that it be approved.”

During public testimony, Connie Robinson, who identified herself as a resident at 2 Helen Hennigan Way in the Boulevard Lofts, asked whether any of the new units would be affordable. Robinson asked, “Will there or will they have some affordability?” Commission and staff answers in the meeting record noted that affordability provisions were not specified by the applicant at the hearing.

Commissioner Eric Fulton moved to approve the level 2 site plan STP-2025-00503 to permit conversion of 13,011 square feet of street‑level retail into 13 residential units, subject to staff findings and conditions; the motion passed unanimously.

What this means: the approved site plan allows the applicant to convert approved retail frontage into residential units consistent with the previously authorized project plan. The approval does not, on its face, impose affordability requirements; a resident asked about affordability and the transcript records that the applicant did not specify an affordability program during testimony.

Details from staff presentation and applicant materials: staff cited prior notice and outreach (pre‑application area meeting Dec. 9, 2021; required post‑application area meeting Feb. 25) and concluded the conversion would not be detrimental to public welfare, would comply with the zoning ordinance, and would be compatible with surrounding mixed‑use development.