In addition to being near the recently renovated commuter rail station, it also is next to Centennial Park, according to the Department of Planning and Development. Despite being a transit-oriented development, Zitella Development's project includes 80 indoor parking spaces. While the proposal calls for a single three-bedroom unit, the other 45 units are two-bedroom, priced at $389,000. Designs by Architekton, Ltd. incorporated grade changes along Northwest Highway, with the retail space on the western end of the buildings at a higher level than the similar space to the east.

The 1.2-acre site is zoned M1-1, and Zitella Development is seeking a planned development with B2-3 zoning for its 100,000-sf project. Zitella Development acquired the land and 31,000-sf industrial buildings last summer for $3.6 million, according to property records, financing that purchase with a $2.9-million loan from Parkway Bank & Trust. The company also has lined up construction financing, plan commission members were told before they endorsed the project.

"It looks like a real nice project," says plan commission vice chairman Linda Searl. "We're looking forward to seeing it complete."