|
|
|
|
By Paul Minnis pminnis@therepublic.com A neighborhood of energy-efficient homes moved closer to reality Wednesday when Columbus City Council rezoned three acres at 11th, Jackson and Brown streets. Rezoning from a community business district to a central business district keeps the Casa Verde development on pace for a February or March groundbreaking. Detailed building plans have to be approved before construction begins. Developer Michael Greven, a Columbus resident and Casa Verde partner, wants to build 45 townhouses made of "green" materials. Fourteen would be built in the first of three phases, with first-phase completion by the end of 2008. Base prices would be from about $175,000 to $455,000, Greven said. Going green According to U.S. Green Building Council, buildings with green materials and designs use dramatically less energy and water, produce less solid waste and cost less to run than other buildings. The houses, built just north of the Cummins headquarters, would adhere to USGBC specifications and be certified under USGBC's Green Building Rating System. Columbus Planning Director Jeff Bergman said the housing addition essentially would be a northern extension of the downtown. The new zoning would allow structures to be built taller and closer to the road, like in downtown, and for homes to be built on top of businesses, such as loft apartments. In other business, City Council voted unanimously to abate Rightway Fasteners' property taxes for 10 years on a $2.5 million zinc-plating machine. Rightway, located at Woodside Industrial Park, plans to add four employees to run the machine, increasing its number of employees to 220, company representative Ray Duty said. The company began with 20 employees when it opened in 1991 as Indiana Metal
Coatings.
|
|
Send mail to
info@casaverdellc.com with
questions or comments about this web site.
|
