If given approval by Bridgeport City Council, a recommendation unanimously approved by a city board Monday could pave the way for a multi-million dollar project that would create hundreds of additional housing units on the outskirts of Bridgeport.

 

Yesterday afternoon, the Bridgeport Planning Commission gave its blessing to the rezoning of 38 acres on Meadowbrook Road (Route 2) in an area where a city official said there are no abutting property owners with any residential units. The approval was given to AB Contracting, which has corporate offices in Point Pleasant.

 

Bridgeport Community Development Director Randy Spellman said the property’s only concern would be that the potential new property owner would have to get access of an existing stone bridge to the property from the West Virginia Division of Highways. The land in question is the Belcastro farm property.

 

According to Melanie Goode, who is a marketing specialist with AB Contracting, the acquisition of the land from the Belcastro family is contingent upon the property being rezoned. If that happens, she said the closing on the deal would be Dec. 1 and that dirt could begin moving “that evening.”

 

The Commission’s decision is only a recommendation. That recommendation and accompanying report from Spellman now goes to the Bridgeport City Council for approval. Council has to have two readings and a public hearing since the land in question is going from being zoned Industrial-1 to Residential-3. The requirement from Council is due to it being a zoning change, which impacts the city’s comprehensive plan.

 

“The property was actually rezoned to Industrial several years ago when Baker Hughes was looking at doing something there, but that didn’t happen,” said Spellman.

 

The I-1 designation allows for any type of industrial activity. The R-3 designation being sought would allow for single family, duplex, and multi-family residential units. The initial plan is to build more than 300 units – none of which would be single-family units. Goode did say the buildings would be stick built and will feature many upscale features such as granite countertops.

 

“Our preliminary plans call for that many units,” said Goode. “… They will all be multi-family units.”

 

The units created would not be sold under the current plan. All of the units created would be leased. Goode said they would be multi-family units featuring one to two bedrooms and town homes with garages.

 

As for the actual breakdown of what type of units will be built, Goode said they’re hoping for flexibility from the city. She said there’s a reason for that.

 

“We’ll let the market dictate whether we need to build three bedroom town homes or one bedroom apartments,” said Goode, who didn’t know an exact price on the project, but said it was safely a multi-million dollar endeavor within the city limits.

 

Commission member Doug Gray made the motion to approve the rezoning request. Commission President Rodney Kidd and others then followed suit.

 

Eventually, Goode said the company would like to acquire additional properties in the area. She said over the course of four to five years that AB Contracting would like to create up to 1,000 units in the area.

 

Spellman was going to try and get the first reading included on this coming Monday's Bridgeport City Council agenda. However, he wasn't sure if that was going to happen.

 

Editor's Note: Top photo shows Community Development Director Randy Spellman, while Melanie Goode is shown in the middle picture. Commission member Doug Gray looks over drawings of the property in question Monday.