Area Plan Commission backs PUD to convert historic Cargus building into 127 apartments; residents express gentrification worries

The Area Plan Commission on Feb. 6 voted 8-0 to recommend that the City Council approve rezoning of the former Cargus Furniture factory (1501 West Maryland Street and 1516 Fountain Avenue) from M-3 industrial to a Planned Unit Development (PUD) to allow a multifamily project with an estimated 127 residential units.

The proposal, submitted by Morla Corp. on behalf of owner John Anderson, would record the submitted site plan as part of a PUD ordinance. Ron (staff) told commissioners no use-and-development commitments were filed with the application and said the site is in an area of mixed uses and legal nonconforming residences. The staff report noted the site was originally built as a furniture factory in 1889, expanded in 1919, and has been vacant since 2014. The applicant purchased the property in 2023 and is proposing rehabilitation of the existing industrial facility into multifamily housing.

Why it matters: the requested PUD would change an industrial-designated block into higher-density residential, adding dozens of housing units in the urban core. Proponents said reuse of the vacant historic structure advances neighborhood revitalization goals; opponents said the…