Pablo Group sets sights on Cannery District apartments

Apr. 15—EAU CLAIRE — Pablo Group is the latest company that sees potential in building apartments in Eau Claire's Cannery District.

The Eau Claire-based company is proposing a three-story apartment building to replace older rental homes and vacant land it owns along Maxon Street.

"The project is intended to provide more attainable housing option in the downtown area," Julia Johnson, a partner in the Pablo Group, wrote in a letter to the city.

Building plans show 14 one-bedroom apartments on the ground floor and 14 three-bedroom units on the upper two floors. Parking would be provided in a 22-stall lot next to the building and there would also be spaces to park bicycles.

Dubbed the Sawmill Flats, the building will feature architectural aspects that reflect Eau Claire's history as a logging town.

"Just to the east of this site ran the historic log canal and we plan to use exposed timbers and other exterior site elements to pay homage to the history of this logging industry feature," Johnson wrote.

The building's proposed site is in the middle of a block with a row of houses to the east of it and the Eau Claire Children's Theatre directly to the west.

If necessary approvals are granted, construction is scheduled to begin this summer and finish in spring 2022.

Pablo Group is seeking a vote of the Eau Claire Plan Commission on Monday night to recommend rezoning the property to allow the apartment building there. The City Council would then hold a public hearing on the proposal on April 26 before voting on it the following day.

Per its usual procedure when large building projects are proposed in an area, the city sent notice to nearby landowners of the plans.

Randal Hill, who owns a small business nearby, wrote a one-sentence letter to the city stating that he totally disapproves of the change in zoning for the new apartment building. Hill owns the tax service building on Platt Street, which has not sold its property to the Eau Claire Redevelopment Authority while other neighbors already have. In recent years the RDA has demolished other buildings it purchased in that area to open the land for redevelopment as the Cannery District, which is being pitched as an area with a mix of small businesses and new housing.

Sawmill Flats is actually right outside the borders of the Cannery District — the developer pursued acquiring the property on its own without the RDA's help — but is close to new housing attracted by the area's potential for redevelopment.

On the block adjacent to the Sawmill Flats site, an apartment complex called The Current opened its first building last fall and a second building is in the works. GRIP Development recently received rezoning approval for its plans to build townhouses on a block farther north in the Cannery District, and the RDA is in talks with a Minnesota developer who has plans for buildings containing storefronts and apartments.

Eau Claire-based Pablo Group is led by two former Jamf executives and one who still works at the software company. The company owns a downtown Eau Claire hotel, various housing projects, local restaurants and has a philanthropic arm that made a major contribution to a downtown arts center.

CCF Bank scaling down

Citizen Community Federal Bank's location on Eau Claire's southeast side will be turned from a full-service office to a drive-thru only building.

The local financial institution filed plans with the city to demolish its existing building at 3625 Gateway Drive and build a smaller drive-thru next to it, maintaining the same lanes for teller service but not walk-in business.

The current bank building there is 10,360 square feet while the proposed drive-thru one is 2,311 square feet, based on the plans.

CCF Bank is seeking the commission's approval on Monday for its new site plan for the property.

A project timeline submitted to the city shows CCF intends to start construction this spring and open the new building in spring 2022. The old building will then be demolished.

Other business

Also during Monday night's Plan Commission meeting:

—Home improvement retailer Menards is seeking the city's approval for its plans to create a 163-lot residential subdivision on 55 acres it has on the far west edge of Eau Claire. A mix of single-family homes and twin homes are planned for the land located on the northeast corner of Folsom Street and North Town Hall Road.

—Wurzer Builders is proposing the second phase of a large housing subdivision it is planning for former farmland recently annexed into the city from the town of Washington. Whereas the first phase approved last year was multi-family buildings, this second phase is for less dense housing. As proposed, Timber Bluff II will consist of 62 single-family houses and 31 twin homes — each of those containing two residences.

—J.W. Custom Homes is adjusting plans for a small housing subdivision on 13.3 acres of vacant land on the city's far west side along Folsom Street. Previously the project was slated to have a mix of twin and single-family homes, but the new version proposes to exclusively build twin homes.

—Also on the city's west side, Holzinger Homes is planning an eight-lot subdivision for single family homes on 4 acres of vacant land on Vine Street.

—After receiving rezoning approval last month for vacant land on Scully Drive, JCap Construction & Development is now seeking the city's OK for its specific plans to build apartment buildings there. The Eau Claire company intends to build nine four-unit apartment buildings and five duplexes on the land, which is next to the Camping World SuperCenter.