Apartments planned for Bristol
Aug. 22—BRISTOL — Two local businessmen are attempting to curb the housing crisis in their own way. Cory White and Kean Swank, owners of Swank and White LLC, are attempting to build an apartment complex in Washington Township coming into Bristol. White spoke to Elkhart County Commissioners on Monday about the project, his partnership with the town of Bristol, and the need in the community.
A representative of Abonmarche attended the commissioner's meeting on behalf of Swank & White LLC to request a zone map change from R-1 to R-3, a necessary part of the process to allow for apartment construction. The apartments would be located on the west side of Ind. 120, northeast of C.R. 19 near Longboat Pointe.
The concept currently includes five two-story apartment buildings at 20551 Ind. 120, a total of 18 units on 5 of the 13 acres the land. The property, residing along the St. Joseph River, encompasses floodplain and wetland mass, although White told commissioners the buildings themselves will be on the high bank.
The apartments are expected to cost $1,450-$1,600 per month for a two-bedroom two-bath and $1,250 for a one-bedroom one-bath — a number White himself isn't thrilled about, but said it's better than no options and it's market rate right now.
"It's scary because we're watching interest rates and they're climbing above 7," he said. "What every developer is looking at right now, building multifamily housing is, you can't build it at fair market. ... It's hard to make the numbers work."
White said the apartments would only be "a few steps" above, not qualifying for low-income housing.
"Construction prices have gotten so insane," he said. "I'm looking at spending $30,000 more a unit, and I'm just a step above bare bones."
Still, White says it needs to be done.
"The town of Bristol like doubled in size," he said. "Giant factories and the industrial park next to the toll road in Bristol — there's like 20 new factories, and no one built a house for anyone."
The project is White's first attempt at development, as a Realtor by trade.
"I'd love to capitalize on the river views. I would love to do higher end, but when midrange is so expensive ..." he said.
Planning Manager Jason Auvil told commissioners that the Plan Commission provided no recommendation. Several variances would be needed to make the property manageable.
"There's a lot of environmental concerns here," Auvil explained. "It's adjacent to the river, it's kind of low, there's flood plain issues. ... There are a lot of moving parts in the development, and there are a lot of unanswered questions."
On Aug. 17, a portion of the property was annexed by Bristol, rezoned for the new use, and even created a tax increment finance district, and has agreed to provide utilities. The rest of the property is also expected to be annexed, but at the moment, is still under the jurisdiction of the county.
Swank & White LLC was organized officially in February, but White said the idea for the apartments came long before that and it's been a process learning and ins-and-outs of apartment construction and management. White says he's also been told they'll need a developmental variance, traffic study, and possibly a wetland delineation study.
With the time it takes to get all of those done, they chose not to wait for the complete annexation because according to Abonmarche Senior Urban Planner Chris Godlewski, the annexation won't be able to be completed in time anyways, even though development isn't expected until spring 2024.
Dani Messick is the education and entertainment reporter for The Goshen News. She can be reached at dani.messick@goshennews.com or at 574-538-2065.
