Potsdam Housing Opportunity Sought
POTSDAM - Village officials are hoping planned construction of an 11-room fraternity house and a 50-apartment student housing complex could open up a section of property between outer Market Street and Elm Street to future development.
The Village Planning Board approved a site plan application submitted by Travis Glazier Thursday to build a housing complex, including a new fraternity across from SUNY Potsdam on outer Main Street.
The board approved the plan on the condition developers will also install about a third of a mile of sidewalk to make sure students renting the apartments have a safe walking route.
George W. Haus, an architect representing investors for the project agreed to incorporate a sidewalk into the development plans and also expressed interest in helping the village explore the idea of building a new street to the backside of the 3.5 acre parcel of land.
"Obviously that would open up a fairly substantial R-4 tract in the rear of this property," Potsdam Planning and Development Director Frederick J. Hanss told the board. "And there's also some connectivity back up to Elm Street."
Mr. Hanss said for the street development plan to work, Mr. Haus and his developers would have to work out a deal with the neighborhing Main Street Apartments, which shares a western boundary with the new housing developers.
The developer's architect said he was amenable to the idea of pushing a road to the backside of the property for the village, but said it would hinge in part on neighboring Main Street Apartments.
"We've discussed that a little bit, as far as making this into a public road, and that makes all kinds of sense," Mr. Haus said. "The only issue is, only half of it is ours, the other half belongs to Main Street Apartments, so we have to deal with them, and there's been no contact between the two as of this point."
The fraternity house and apartment complex being proposed for outer Market Street is a two-phase project, the first of which will be the two-story, 11-bedroom fraternity house called "Skull Manor" acording to planning officials. The second phase calls for construction of a larger housing facility consisting of 50 one-bedroom apartments accessible to people with disabilities.
