8-story student apartment building on North Walnut OK’d by Bloomington plan commission

Locator map.

Shown are recent student-oriented housing developments approved since 2019.

View of Walnut Street looking south.

Site on North Walnut

Sidewalk gap looking north on Walnut Street between 17th and 19th streets.

At its Monday meeting, Bloomington’s nine-member plan commission gave unanimous approval to an 8-story apartment building to be built at the site of the former Great Wall restaurant on North Walnut street.

The 172 apartments will include a total of 463 bedrooms, with the following breakdown: 19 studios, 5 one-bedroom units, 87 two-bedroom units, 14 three-bedroom units, 12 four-bedroom units, and 35 five-bedroom units.

Other details of the project include 264 parking spaces incorporated inside the building.

Nathan Casteel, an architect with DLR Group, and Olivia Prais, with project owner Core SVA attended the plan commission’s meeting—with Prais joining via the Zoom video conferencing platform. Continue reading “8-story student apartment building on North Walnut OK’d by Bloomington plan commission” →

Planning notebook: Former Great Wall restaurant site could be home to 426 college students

Locator map.

Shown are recent student-oriented housing developments approved since 2019.

The property where The Great Wall restaurant formerly stood on North Walnut Street, across from the northern tip of Miller-Showers Park, is now the site of a proposed 8-story student-oriented apartment building.

The building would include a mix of 3-bedroom, 4-bedroom and 5-bedroom apartments, for a total of 426 bedrooms.

That’s based on a preview of an April 10 Bloomington plan commission item given at a Tuesday morning work session by senior zoning planner Eric Greulich. Continue reading “Planning notebook: Former Great Wall restaurant site could be home to 426 college students” →

Recent Bloomington employee death a reminder of dire effects of pandemic disease, even as indicators trend better

A push for people to get vaccinated against COVID-19 was again a main talking point at Friday’s weekly press conference of local leaders on pandemic response.

Among the local sites for free vaccine distribution is Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall at Indiana University.

The message for people to take advantage of the free vaccine got some extra urgency from Bloomington mayor John Hamilton, who confirmed an earlier press release that announced the death of a city employee due to COVID-19.

On the employee’s death, Hamilton said, “That reminds us that this disease is still very much among us, and can be dire, and can bring terrible consequences.” Hamilton added, “I just want to express our sympathy and condolences to family members.” Continue reading “Recent Bloomington employee death a reminder of dire effects of pandemic disease, even as indicators trend better” →