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Council hears request to rezone London Road parcel for 48-unit multifamily project
Summary
A developer requested rezoning of a parcel at London Road and Damon Street from C-2P to MR (formerly R-3) to build four 12-unit buildings (48 units total) of studios and one-bedrooms; planning commission recommended approval and one email opposed; developer said similar projects leased quickly.
Eau Claire City Council members heard a public hearing Oct. 13 on a proposed rezoning and site plan for a multifamily housing project at the northeast corner of London Road and Damon Street.
Director White described the parcel as currently zoned C-2P (commercial planned) and said the new purchaser seeks approval to convert it to MR (the new code designation replacing R-3) to allow multifamily housing. "The plan commission did recommend approval of the zoning change," Director White said, and staff noted one emailed comment opposed to the application was received and addressed by staff.
Developer Derek Trainor, who identified himself as president of Property Minds and a developer working with Rocket Construction, told the council the project will include four buildings with 12 units each for a total of 48 units — a mix he described as "40 efficiency apartments and 8 one-bedroom apartments." Trainor said the product mirrors units the developer built elsewhere in Eau Claire and emphasized leasing demand: "The first 12 leased in 10 business days. The second 12 is already over 50% leased and won't open until Nov. 1," he said, citing leasing velocity from the developer's similar Cassie Lofts project.
Trainor said efficiencies would be priced in the mid-to-high hundreds to low four digits, and he described planned on-site tree plantings along London Street, bicycle parking for about 48 bikes and site-level landscaping. When Vice President Worthman and Council Member Miller raised concerns about noise and screening from nearby commercial uses such as a drive-through coffee and a sandwich shop, Trainor pointed to the site's layout and a planned water-retention area that will have natural grasses and cattails and said buildings would be positioned along London Road.
Council Member Anderson noted the neighborhood's lower equity score and asked the developer to consider additional shade and walkability measures during site-plan finalization; White said those details would be addressed in the site-plan and engineering review and deferred specific landscaping commitments to the developer.
The planning commission had approved an amended parking reduction to the maximum allowed based on unit counts, White said. No final council vote on the rezoning occurred at the Oct. 13 hearing; the item remained at public hearing pending council action.
The council proceeded to a separate public discussion on the 2026 operating budget after the developer's presentation concluded.
