Developers behind a proposed 100-foot tall, mixed-use development on the corner of Pine and Front streets unveiled project details for the first time Tuesday at a Traverse City planning commission meeting.

Project plans call for the construction of three buildings up to nine stories tall on the 1.6 acre site that would house 180 residential units – including 64 affordable housing apartments – as well as commercial space, restaurant and retail space and 183 underground and above-ground parking spaces.

Project representative Doug Mansfield of Mansfield Land Use Consultants told commissioners the development was unique in that it would be one of the first downtown buildings designed to face west toward the Boardman River, rather than north toward Grand Traverse Bay. He outlined amenities including 300-500 square foot, sunset-facing decks attached to residential units, a community center room and a first-floor “restaurant/café/concierge service” through which residents could place meal orders via app for pick-up. Mansfield said two local eateries have already expressed interest in partnering on the restaurant project.

Building materials would heavily feature stone, brick and glass and an “appreciable amount of windows,” according to Mansfield. “The building is meant to be a prize in the city,” he said.

The site could also feature a public-private parking deck, though Mansfield cautioned that component of the project was still conceptual and would require city partnership and public funding. The 183 parking spots already included in project plans “are sufficient to provide for all the parking needed for this development,” the developer said.

Senior Vice President Craig Patterson of The Woda Group – which is overseeing the affordable housing component of the development – also attended Tuesday’s meeting to give an overview of the company’s plans. The proposal calls for 24 one-bedroom and 40 two-bedroom workforce family apartments; Patterson said rent could “range anywhere from the mid-$400s up to $800 (per month), depending on the number of individuals in the household.” Woda plans to seek Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA) funding this fall and would target tenants who fall between “40 and 60 percent” of the area median income level, Patterson said.

A key component of the proposal that drew criticism from neighboring residents was also the reason developers sought to meet with commissioners before beginning a formal permitting process: the project’s height and density. Mansfield plans to seek a special land use permit (SLUP) to build up to 100 feet, the maximum height allowed in C-4 districts. The developer told commissioners that “with property values and the interest in being downtown, we’re going to start to see the pressure to (build) up.”

“We may be the first one, but I don’t think we’re going to be the only one in the near future,” Mansfield said of the higher height proposed for the site.

The plan didn’t sit well with several residents of neighboring Riverview Terrace, who expressed concerns Tuesday the development would overshadow their housing complex.

“We are 115 residents, so really 115 households,” said tenant Priscilla Townsend. “You’re proposing this at the expense of cutting us off on that whole side from our views, our circulation of air, our light…and our lifestyles that have been set there since 1977 and established in this community.”

Mansfield acknowledged that the new development is “going to block most of (Riverview’s) views, no question.” But he also noted the city has long targeted the Pine Street parcel for a public parking deck, and said a mixed-used development would offer more “space and light” than the originally planned concrete slabs of a parking garage.

Patterson tells The Ticker developers plan to meet with neighboring residents in the coming weeks to directly address their concerns. “We hadn’t gone out yet because we’d been working on the overall master plan and wanted to get the feedback of commissioners before we talked to adjacent neighbors,” he says. “But we do plan to meet with them.”

Meanwhile, the next step for the project is a June 2 planning commission meeting. Developers are expected to return before commissioners on that date to begin the formal SLUP application process that would allow them to build up to 100 feet.