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RDA approves modified plan allowing 20 row‑home units at Riverside site over earlier live‑work concept
Summary
The RDA approved a developer’s request to modify its development agreement and proceed with a 20‑unit row‑home plan on two narrow lots adjacent to Cannery District Park. The vote was recorded in the transcript as 4 in favor, 3 opposed.
The Eau Claire City Redevelopment Authority on March 31 approved a developer’s request to modify its development agreement for a Riverside site, allowing a proposal to build 20 row‑home units instead of the previously pitched live‑work concept.
Aaron, an RDA staff member presenting the proposal, said the new concept responds to construction cost increases, financing challenges and narrower buildable lots after street and parking work reduced usable width. He described the revised plan as 20 units arranged in four‑to‑five‑unit rows, with tuck‑under interior parking and street‑facing porches or trail‑facing stoops. “They were able to come forward with a new concept, that fits the space, hits mostly what they're looking to do and looking at roughly the same valuation,” Aaron said.
The developer’s earlier concept had included roughly 24 live‑work units and ground‑floor commercial. Staff said banks have become reluctant to lend on mixed commercial‑residential product in the current market, citing a separate developer’s experience that lenders would not finance a residential project with any commercial component. The presenter said the current proposal is about a $5 million valuation, smaller than an earlier Ambient Inks proposal that was closer to $10 million.
RDA members debated tradeoffs between preserving commercial space along the river and moving ahead with a smaller residential project that the presenter said could start site work this fall if approvals and contracting proceed quickly, or more likely begin in earnest next year. Steve (RDA member) noted there are “two commercial available lots to the south” and said some pre‑tenancy commitments exist for nearby commercial space; another member said leading with residential has been a viable strategy in other redevelopments.
Board members were told the site will likely need rezoning from the current public or industrial designation to allow the proposed residential development; that process would require plan commission and council review. Staff also said the city's tax increment financing (TIF) district is early in its life and that PNR Properties’ increment is expected to fund public improvements for the district over time.
A motion to approve the requested modification was moved and seconded during the meeting. The transcript records the final vote as four in favor and three opposed; the RDA instructed staff to notify the developer and asked the developer to explore whether a commercial element could be incorporated back into the project while the site remains on the market for other proposals.
