Will Topeka OK six loft apartments to be created in Potwin Place? Here are the plans.

Tim Hrenchir, Topeka Capital-Journal
·3 min read
Topeka's mayor and city council on Tuesday will consider approving a zoning change, which would enable six loft apartments to be created in the addition shown on the right to Potwin Presbyterian Church, 400 S.W. Washburn Ave. The photo is taken from the south of that property.
Topeka's mayor and city council on Tuesday will consider approving a zoning change, which would enable six loft apartments to be created in the addition shown on the right to Potwin Presbyterian Church, 400 S.W. Washburn Ave. The photo is taken from the south of that property.

Mark Burenheide is confident he'll be able to find tenants for the six market-rate loft apartments he proposes to create in the former education wing of Potwin Presbyterian Church, 400 S.W. Washburn Ave.

Topeka's mayor and city council on Tuesday will consider approving a zoning change that would enable those apartments to be developed by Burenheide's Potwin Lofts LLC.

Burenheide said the project would be a nice addition to Potwin while keeping the building involved from "decaying and becoming a blight for the neighborhood," he told the Topeka Planning Commission on Jan. 23.

Planning commissioners voted 9-0 to recommend the proposed zoning change be approved by Topeka's mayor and council, who will consider them when they meet at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the city's Holliday Building at 620 S.E. Madison.

Church no longer needs the additional space

The proposal would create a planned unit development to replace the current zoning designation, which has the properties at 400 and 500 S.W. Washburn Ave. as being part of a single family dwelling district and a mixed use district, respectively.

A PUD is a designed grouping of varied and compatible land uses, all within one contained development or subdivision.

The proposed PUD would allow part of the church at 400 S.W. Washburn Ave. to be used as loft apartments and permit the property at 500 S.W. Washburn Ave. to be used for associated parking. Loft apartments have high, lofted ceilings.

The church was built in 1924 and the education wing was added onto it in 1958, according to the church website.

"They plan to continue using the original structure but no longer need the additional space of the add-on," Burenheide told the planning commission, according to a document in the agenda packet for Tuesday's meeting.

'Attendees appeared generally supportive'

Topeka's mayor and city council on Tuesday will consider approving a zoning change that would include allowing for this property at 500 S.W. Washburn Ave. to be used as parking for loft apartments, which would be created on property shown to the left at 400 S.W. Washburn Ave.
Topeka's mayor and city council on Tuesday will consider approving a zoning change that would include allowing for this property at 500 S.W. Washburn Ave. to be used as parking for loft apartments, which would be created on property shown to the left at 400 S.W. Washburn Ave.

Burenheide plans to create six residential loft apartments, including three per floor, the document said.

No one else appeared before the planning commission at the meeting in which Burenheide spoke.

About 15 people attended a neighborhood information meeting Burenheide conducted Jan. 4 in the Fellowship Hall at Potwin Presbyterian Church, said a separate document in the agenda packet for Tuesday's meeting.

Discussion focused on the appearance of the lofts, the targeted market segment for tenants and parking during and after construction, that document said.

"Attendees appeared generally supportive of the project," it said.

School property annexation also on agenda

This map shows the location of property at the northeast corner of SW. 29th and Auburn Road, which Topeka's mayor and city council are scheduled to consider annexing Tuesday evening. Plans call for the property to become the site of a new middle school for Auburn-Washburn USD 437.
This map shows the location of property at the northeast corner of SW. 29th and Auburn Road, which Topeka's mayor and city council are scheduled to consider annexing Tuesday evening. Plans call for the property to become the site of a new middle school for Auburn-Washburn USD 437.

The mayor and council also plan Tuesday to consider annexing a 93.05-acre tract of property at the northeast corner of S.W. 29th and Auburn Road.

The land involved is to become the site of a new middle school for Auburn-Washburn USD 437.

The move was requested by the Board of Education for Auburn-Washburn USD 437, where voters last April approved a $145 million bond issue that included earmarking $64 million to go to build a middle school.

Topeka mayor and council to have work session Wednesday

Topeka's mayor and city council will have a special work session focusing on budgeting priorities at 1 p.m. Wednesday in Classroom A at the city's Law Enforcement Center, 320 S. Kansas Ave., according to a document in the agenda packet for that meeting.

City staff members will share information with the mayor and council about public meetings the city held last February and March to ask residents what they want from their city in terms of budgeting.

The city's governing body, consisting of the mayor and council, will also hear about the results of brainstorming sessions had Jan. 24, in which the mayor and council members met in groups of two or three to brainstorm about their top priorities for the city.

"Following the presentations, the governing body will be tasked with coming together to determine their priority outcomes for the city," the agenda packet document said.

It said city staff members will use the input they receive to prepare a plan, which they will present to the mayor and council on March 28.

Contact Tim Hrenchir at 785-213-5934 or threnchir@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Topeka may change zoning to enable loft apartments in Potwin Place