Franklin approves Siler road apartments
Plans for a 60-unit apartment complex in Franklin are moving forward after Workforce Homestead received approval for a special permit from the Franklin Board of Aldermen.
The special permit application required a public hearing during the board’s meeting Monday night but no one spoke in opposition. Town Planning Director Justin Setser said the planning board recommended approval after making sure the project fit the town’s Unified Development Code.
The apartment complex, Indigo, will occupy about 5 acres and have three, three-story buildings with a clubhouse. Indigo would offer residents one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments that are both affordable and energy efficient. The garden-style flats units would have a 2.0 Energy Star standard, which means residents would save on utilities.
The clubhouse will include a fitness center, computer center, kitchen, common area and coin-operated laundry facility.
The planning board recommended requiring the developer to construct a sidewalk along the property and a turning lane into the entrance.
Jim Yamin with Workforce Homestead said the apartments’ appearance would be similar to an existing development in Franklin — Westgate Terrace — since he was using the same architect for the project.
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Yamin said he was under a strict deadline to get the project moving so he can apply for a federal affordable housing tax credit. To qualify for the affordable housing units, Yamin said a household income would have to be about $30,000 a year or less.
“The tax credit requires all residents in the housing to earn no more than 60 percent of the county’s median income,” he said.
The board approved the special permit unanimously.
