Five-story building planned for Kirkwood Avenue would include new restaurant

Correction: This post has been updated to change the spelling of Cassady.

A local developer plans to build a 5-story building with apartments , office space and a restaurant in downtown Bloomington .

Clearpath Services has designed a 67,000-square-foot building at 115 E. Kirkwood Ave., just west of CVS Pharmacy. The developer said the property has been a parking lot for "well over 60 years."

Private parking, restaurant and bar, office space and condos

Plans include a restaurant on the first floor, a bar and office space on the second and 14 condominiums on the three upper floors. A lower level would provide 26 private parking spaces.

“The proposed project is a continuation of Clearpath’s overall Bloomington redevelopment plans to add to the fabric of the Kirkwood corridor,” Randy Lloyd, president and founder of Clearpath, wrote to city officials.

Lloyd did not immediately reply to an email asking about the project’s timeline, condo prices and finishes.

The building would feature brick, limestone, glass and metal and would have a lobby entrance off Kirkwood, according to filings with the city. The building also would have solar panels on the roof, a car charging station, LED lighting and energy-efficient appliances.

A new restaurant on the ground floor would be created by Michael and Galen Cassady, owners of the Uptown Café. The second floor would have an “intimate bar … with a large outdoor space along Kirkwood.”

Project exceeds height limits, needs approval

Before the project can proceed, the company needs an exception from city officials from local zoning laws that would limit the building’s height to 54 feet. Clearpath plans to have the structure rise about 70 feet to accommodate the condominiums’ 10-foot ceilings.

“Our research indicates that the market desires downtown condominiums that provide a unique urban experience,” Lloyd wrote.

The condos would range from 1,620 to 3,402 square feet.

The city’s zoning appeals board is to take up the height restriction in an upcoming meeting. The city’s planning staff recommends the exception be granted, in part because allowing the additional height would “not be injurious to the public health, safety, morals or general welfare of the community” and would not substantially affect the use and value of adjacent properties.

The appearance of the building’s height would be ameliorated by step-backed fourth and fifth floors, the planners said.

Association rules aim to encourage owner occupation

Filings also show condominium association rules would reduce the likelihood the units are converted to rentals by prohibiting owners from offering the condos for short-term rentals such as Airbnb and by prohibiting the units from being occupied by more than two unrelated adults.

Lloyd wrote the developers initially came to the city with the project in 2018, but were delayed by the pandemic and lengthy negotiations with Duke Energy for relocation of powerlines and power poles in the adjacent east-west and north-south alleys.

Boris Ladwig can be reached at bladwig@heraldt.com.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Five-story building planned for Kirkwood Avenue would include new restaurant