61-unit, 4-story Pappas building gets second green light from DeKalb commission – Shaw Local

DeKALB – A new 61-unit, four-story apartment complex proposal by DeKalb-based developer Pappas Development is one step closer to receiving full city approval.

On Monday, the DeKalb Planning and Zoning Commission voted unanimously to recommend that DeKalb City Council approve proposed plans for what Pappas called Arista Residences, 1383 Barber Greene Road. The DeKalb City Council meets next Monday.

Commissioners Max Maxwell and Steve Becker were absent from Monday’s meeting.

Construction of the building is already underway and began at the end of March.

Arista Residences, owned and developed by Pappas Development, will be located on a 1.8 acre site on the northwest corner of Barber Greene and County Farm Roads, 1383 Barber Greene Road. The apartment complex will rise over four floors and will have 61 single rooms. Part of unincorporated DeKalb County was annexed to the city in January to pave the way for the plans.

According to the development plans, the fully furnished apartments will be approximately 700 square feet in size and the estimated monthly rent will be $1,350. Facilities will include a hotel-style lobby, hospitality room, business center, full gym and electric vehicle charging stations. There will be no commercial uses in the building.

Hannah Roche, office manager of Pappas Development, attended the meeting to talk about two changes Pappas has made to the plan since it was first proposed. Roche said the new plans include removing an access point along the north side of the property and changing the building’s lower level brick stain to white, as well as adding white vertical pillars .

According to the development plans, there were three access points originally proposed: right-of-way access along Barber Greene Road, full access from County Farm Road and along the north side of the property. The north access would have been connected to a private east-west driveway controlled by the owner of the Northland Plaza shopping center, who objected to the use of the access. The site map and the third access have been removed.

Commissioner Jerry Wright questioned changing some exterior bricks to white.

Roche said the addition of white was purely a design choice.

“We are delighted to offer apartments that are out of the city center, but still close to shopping and restaurants,” Roche said. “It’s walking distance to grocery stores. The location is the unique factor of this building.

If approved, Arista Residences would be the sixth of its kind to be built by Pappas Development in the past three years.

Other significant developments in Pappas’ portfolio include the construction of the former K-Mart in the Hy-Vee Mall and the mall with Ellwood Steak and Fish House along Sycamore Road in DeKalb and Sycamore. Many residential complexes in the Pappas portfolio at DeKalb offer what developers call executive or luxury units.

Two are still under construction, including the $13.8 million Agora Tower built on the land once used for the Mooney car dealership and DeKalb’s oldest barbed wire factory at the corner of North Fourth and Locust streets. The four-story, 94-unit tower received $3 million in funds to fund tax increases of the city in June 2019, and will include shops and offices on the first floor, according to development plans.

In October 2020, the City of DeKalb sold the former DeKalb Municipal Building to Pappas for $600,000, to build Johann Executive Suites, a $7.5 million development aided by $750,000 of city TIF funds that will have 57 units on fourth street. The old town hall was demolished in the summer of 2021. As part of the sale agreement with the town, Pappas will have to complete construction in 2022.

Artista Residences does not fall under a TIF district.