Construction workers work on the Cameron Harbor development.Map
Cameron Harbor
The riverfront, $100 million Cameron Harbor development along Riverfront Parkway will expand into the old Gilman Paint and Varnish Co. building off Molly Lane if developers get the go-ahead from elected officials.
First up, Cameron Harbor leaders will petition commissioners at Monday’s planning commission meeting for a zoning change at the 3.16-acre parcel of land tucked between Riverfront Parkway and the ongoing Cameron Harbor development on the riverfront.
Developers want the property’s medium-density manufacturing zoning to be replaced by high-density, mixed-use zoning that would allow for retail and residential uses.
Aaron White, principal and co-founder of Evergreen Real Estate, said on Monday that Cameron Harbor developers see enormous potential in the property and the long-vacant, one-story industrial building once used by Gilman.
“It’s got a lot of great old features,” said White. “There’s a character to old buildings you really can’t replicate with new construction.”
The existing brick structure has exposed steel ceiling trusses throughout as well as a loading dock and a railroad loading alley.
White imagines building out the interior of the building with upwards of 25 apartments, a handful in the urban loft style.
He imagines turning the old loading dock into a one-of-a-kind patio for residents, the railroad alley a courtyard.
White said developers would like to add town homes, cottages and some mixed-use retail space in the open grassy area adjacent to the existing brick building.
“It’s all kind of long-term planning, but we’re putting the pieces in place now so we can work toward it,” he said.
Regional Planning Agency documents state that several lots in the vicinity have been rezoned from one-time manufacturing uses to mixed-use, commercial ones.
BlueCross BlueShield’s hill-top campus and a vacant car dealership lie immediately across Riverfront Parkway to the east, and the ongoing Cameron Harbor development lies immediately to the west of the proposed rezoning.
The property’s vicinity to the upscale residential development is one factor in developers’ hopes to nab it.
“The building next door, it’s looking right at these buildings, which we think have a lot of potential,” said White. “But we’re eager to see them improved, as well, with the investment that’s been made next door.”
Consumer interest in Cameron Harbor has been good, he added, even slightly better than originally anticipated.
The developers wanted phase one of the project — 20 single-family homes and 19 luxury town homes — sold out in six months.
Those homes are expected to be ready around Sept. 2015.
Phase two homes just went up for sale.
The collapse of two partially-built, three-story houses in mid-November at Cameron Harbor slowed the project down a little, but the development has bounced back on schedule, White said.
There is currently no timeline for the renovation of the old brick storage building and construction of new buildings at the Molly Lane property.
Contact staff writer Alex Green at agreen@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6480.
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