Multi-family apartment complex proposed in north Bellingham
A high-density, multi-family residential development could soon be on its way to north Bellingham.
The 3701 Home Road project would include two apartment buildings with anywhere from 75 to 95 units varying in size on an empty lot between a church and garden apartments.
The project will likely include surface-level parking, under-building parking and additional indoor and outdoor community space, according to Bellingham-based AVT Consulting, the permit consultant company for the project.
The proposed site is next to a zoned single-family neighborhood. In order to create a more appealing visual transitional from the single-family homes to this multi-family complex, AVT Consulting is proposing the two new buildings be different heights — fewer stories on the front building and more stories on the back building.
“The idea was to create transition so you don’t have something really big in mass immediately adjacent to the single-family homes. So you have a physical setback, a smaller building, then a taller building which will be more than 200 feet from the single-family zoning,” said AVT’s Ali Taysi in a telephone interview with The Bellingham Herald.
The front building will likely be three stories while the back building will be four or five stories.
AVT Consulting hosting a forum for community members to offer feedback on the project and help refine the design. Many cited concerns about traffic impacts and sidewalk availability, Taysi told The Herald.
To help address these issues and support the project, AVT Consulting is proposing a sidewalk extension on the north side of McLeod Road, which intersects with Home Road.
This would help create a pedestrian walkway to nearby commercial areas, according to Taysi.
“This would build continuous sidewalk connectivity from the site down to McLeod Road and then all the way along McLeod Road to the east to get out to Northwest Avenue,” Taysi said.
The project must go through land use permitting and further design review before construction begins. Community members will be able to offer more input on the project by the spring of 2023.
Construction is expected to begin sometime between fall 2023 and spring 2024. A project of this size is estimated to take about 18 months to construct, according to Taysi.
