Proposed apartment building renderings.

A proposal to build a 49-unit, 6-story apartment building on a parking lot at 4045 Baltimore Ave. was largely met with approval during a hearing before the Spruce Hill Community Association zoning committee last night.

Officials from New Horizons Housing, which owns several buildings in the area including one next door the proposed structure, told the zoning committee that their vision when they bought the property in 2001 was to eventually build more apartments on the parking lot. An apartment building occupied the space until a 1980s fire destroyed it, creating a vacant space that was transformed into the present-day parking lot.

Demand for parking lot spots among residents in the adjacent New Horizons building at 4045 Baltimore has dwindled in recent years. People in the community are renting fewer of the spots as well, according to New Horizons general manager Russell Galligher. 

“There has been a shift in our residents’ mindsets about bringing vehicles,” he said.

The building would include 49 one-bedroom apartments that, when completed about 18 months, would rent for $1,225 to $1,275 per month, Galligher said. The proposal also includes 900 square feet of ground-floor retail. A business has not yet been proposed for the retail space, but nearby residents have requested that it be one that closes in the early evenings – like a coffee shop. The building would include 17 parking spots.

Residents of nearby Woodland Terrace have also requested that the height of the building be reduced from a proposed height of nearly 80 feet. Galligher said that they have figured out a way to get the height down to about 68 feet while retaining a 6-story structure.

Woodland Terrace residents also requested that they be consulted about possible building materials, which will likely consist of brick, glass and metal panels.

A hearing before the city’s Zoning Board of Adjustment is scheduled for June 28. If approved, construction would begin in January.