Avondale’s desire to capitalize on the upcoming $106 million MLK Interchange with more dense, walkable development took a big step forward on Monday with the approval of the rezoning of several properties by City Council’s Neighborhoods Committee.
If approved by the full City Council on Wednesday, the move would rezone approximately 16.76 acres along Reading Road from commercial community-auto to commercial community-pedestrian.
The properties were recommended for the creation of “a more structured street edge” in the September 2014 MLK/Reading Road Corridor Study, and were chosen by the Avondale Community Council, Avondale Comprehensive Development Corporation, and Uptown Consortium.
“We really looked at the areas that they felt maybe were at the most risk for auto-oriented development,” said supervising city planner, Katherine Keough-Jurs. “Obviously they want to make this the gateway to their community, and they felt that these were the areas they really wanted to focus on.”
Under commercial community-pedestrian (CC-P) zoning, new construction must be built to the front lot line. Existing buildings can remain as they are, unless altered.
Uptown Consortium President and CEO Beth Robinson has stated that she expects the construction of at least 3 million square feet of real estate within five years of the interchange’s completion, which is scheduled for November 2016.