Last Phase of LaBelle Greene Housing Project in South Wheeling Before Planning Commission
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WHEELING -- Wheeling Planning Commission members could take the next step in the completion of a South Wheeling housing project at its meeting this evening.
The commission will review and consider the site plan for the final phase of Woda Cooper Group's LaBelle Greene housing project at its monthly meeting, scheduled for 5 p.m.
LaBelle Greene IV is the fourth and final phase of the overall project that brought three new LaBelle Greene apartment complex buildings to this South Wheeling neighborhood. The apartments include on-site maintenance and management offices, along with residential green spaces for each.
Plans for LaBelle Greene IV call for the construction of a new four-story building at 32nd and McColloch streets near the former site of the city's LaBelle Nail Plant. The affordable housing complex is designed to contain 38 two-bedroom apartments, along with 43 parking spaces.
In November, the planning commission approved a request for a zone change from I-2 General Industrial to C-2 General Commercial to allow for the proposed development.
City staff has recommended the commission approve the site plan.
The LaBelle Greene multi-family community apartments each occupy several blocks of property around the area where the former nail plant and many vacant, blighted homes once stood. The LaBelle Nail Plant -- for decades a symbol of Wheeling's industrial might -- officially ceased operations in 2010 and eventually was demolished in 2017 as part of the overall plan for the multi-phase development of the apartment complex. The plant first opened in the late 1800s and was once the nation's top producer of cut nails. It was named to the National Register of Historic Places in 1997.
The developer has acquired several dilapidated structures that remained on lots in the block along 32nd and McColloch streets. The rundown, vacant homes will be cleared from the property to accommodate the new apartment building.
According to the city staff report regarding the upcoming site plan review, the developer is currently working to acquire one last parcel of property on the northern end of the site in order to secure ownership of the entire city block where LaBelle Greene IV is planned.
A number of new apartment structures built in the first three phases of the LaBelle Greene project are townhouse-style units with attractive, modern facades. The living units are designed to be efficient and filled with features and amenities that everyone from families to individual tenants seek in today's affordable housing market.
Those features include laundry facilities, a business center, elevators, community clubhouse, playground, recreation rooms, library and more.
Tonight's Wheeling Planning Commission meeting will take place virtually and can be viewed live on the city's official Facebook site.