A zoning amendment for a proposed 10-story student housing and hotel redevelopment project is one step closer toward approval.
In a 4-1 vote, the Planning Commission approved a zoning change for the Future Land Use Map that was submitted by Up Campus Student Living LLC. The project is now slated for its first and only public hearing on Dec. 13 before city commissioners are expected to vote on the zoning change.
If approved to move forward, the project could be the tallest structure on this segment of the West Tennessee Street strip near the fringes of FSU's campus.
The amendment includes several parcels made up of approximately four acres on the southeast corner of Tennessee and Dewey streets. The sites are now home to a vacant and dilapidated University Inn & Suites and strip mall of small businesses and empty commercial space.
During a brief discussion among Planning Commission members, Jo Laurie Penrose was the sole dissenting vote, saying the proposal was "not compatible with everything else around it."
Up Campus Student Living is requesting the change because the proposed site doesn't allow the development intensity or height needed for the 2.15-acre project.
It would redevelop four blighted properties, according to the project's site plan. The 10-story, mixed-use project includes a 90,000 square-foot hotel with 155 units, 7,450 square feet of retail space and a residential unit mix of roughly 320 apartments.
Steve Leoni, co-founder of Student Housing Partners, a Tallahassee-based student housing management concern that serves properties throughout the southeast, said the project would complement the area.
"I just think this is a really great idea," said Leoni, adding that his company is a student housing developer with thousands of beds in Tallahassee that include properties near the site. "I think this is where we want student housing."
Contact Reporter TaMaryn Waters at tlwaters@tallahassee.com. Follow @tamarynwaters on X.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Proposed 10-story student housing near FSU campus faces final hurdle