More student housing is set to be built in Clemson after the City of Clemson planning commission approved a planned-use development for a new apartment building on Keowee Trail during its meeting on Feb. 12.

The new development, as planned, will contain over 1300 beds, primarily student housing. However, according to the city council and planning commission presentations, several townhomes will be designed with family units in mind.

The building, which is planned to be built on the corner of Tiger Boulevard and College Avenue, is expected to be built by 2027. According to the presentations, there will be seven stories on the Keowee Trail side and five stories on the Wall Street side.

The development will also include a large public plaza opening onto Abernathy Park. It will function as an extension of the park, with 8,500 square feet of retail facing onto the plaza and Lake Hartwell, according to the presentation.

More public parking would be a part of the development, as plans include 75 public parking spaces for retail and the park, along with a pedestrian connector to Wall Street near the Pot Belly Deli.

The planned-use development approval allows the developer to build a larger, denser project than allowed by normal zoning in exchange for benefits to the public, such as public parking and open space, like the plaza. The proposal will now go to the city council for final approval.

This development is taking place on the abandoned and underutilized houses along Keowee Trail across from Abernathy Park, along with several offices on Wall Street next to the Pot Belly Deli.

The development will have its main parking entrance from Keowee Trail, with an auxiliary entrance off Wall Street. This project is expected to convert Wall Street so vehicles cannot make a left onto or from College Avenue.

This building plan was developed as an extension of the Uptown Next plan, with details released in January, which seeks to develop and urbanize the area around the corner of Tiger Boulevard and College Avenue.

The developer, Core Spaces, is a national firm specializing in student housing. They are the new owners of several projects in the Clemson area, including The Pier and Clemson Lofts. They have also developed several similarly dense projects in areas such as Tucson, Arizona; Madison, Wisconsin; Blacksburg, Virginia and Knoxville, Tennessee.

While the presentation doesn’t outline any improvements to Abernathy Park outside of the plaza for the planned project, the developer will pay significant impact fees, including a park impact fee. There will also be a substantial increase in city taxes over the long run.

Many residents expressed their displeasure with the development of another large student housing complex during previous city council meetings. Those displeasures included concerns over traffic congestion and the park’s development not benefiting city residents enough.

However, proponents emphasized that students would be able to walk to class from the development, reducing traffic and cultivating extensive public benefits from the plaza and parking.