Troy Puts Luxury Apartment Complex On Hold

TROY, MI — A 140-unit luxury apartment complex is on hold by the Troy Planning Commission after neighbors in Troy said rezoning the single-family district to allow for construction of the five-story building would unfavorably alter the character of the neighborhood.

The developer, Tollbrook LLC, wants to build on McClure Drive, just north of Big Beaver Road and east of Crooks Road, the Troy Times reported. The Troy City Council would have to approve a conditional rezoning to the Big Beaver Form-Based District, which was designed to promote high-density and mixed-use projects with vertical integration.

Peter Stuhlreyer, an architect with Designhaus Architecture, said the luxury, high-end apartments would range from 850 to 1,500 square feet. A “significant landscape buffer” would shield the project from the adjoining neighborhood, he said.

“It’s not an overwhelming scale,” he said of the proposed building height.

Neighbors' concerns ranged from the lack of sidewalks on McClure Drive to a negative effect on their property values.

Tom Krent, a member of the Planning Commission who lives in the neighborhood, said homes are built on large lots up to an acre in size and range in value from $750,000 to $1.5 million. He called the neighborhood “a jewel,” and said the apartment building “doesn’t fit the mold.”

“The character’s going to change,” added Chuck Walker, who has lived in Troy for 40 years and owns a home on McClure Drive. “It’s not for our neighborhood.”

» For more on this story, go to the Troy Times.

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