Present for the June 10 Planning Commission meeting were, from left, Scott Osterholm, Carmen Brown, Gary Zaremsky, Stephen Green, Susan Stiles and Planning and Economic Development Director Meg Leatherman. (Video still)
Planning Commission recommends Council’s approval for Windsor apartments
- Published: June 16, 2025
On Tuesday, June 10, Columbus-based real estate developer Windsor Companies returned to Planning Commission — this time, to get approval for a two-building, 96-unit apartment complex at the site of the former Antioch College Student Union.
By two back-to-back votes of 5–0 each, Planning Commission members voted unanimously to recommend approval for Village Council to authorize Windsor’s preliminary development plan, as well as its request to rezone the property from E-1, or educational, to a PUD, or planned unit development — both necessary steps for Windsor to advance its plans to build its apartments.
Village Council will hold its first readings of the ordinances — separate pieces of legislation dealing with the preliminary plat plan and the PUD rezoning — at its next regular meeting Monday, June 16.
Additionally, Council will weigh Planning Commission’s recommendation to approve Windsor’s plans for Kettering Hall — that is, renovating the former Antioch-owned building to accommodate 43 rental units for those 55 and older.
Should Council pass all these pieces of legislation in the group’s forthcoming meetings, Windsor will press ahead with its apartment plans.
Columbus-based real estate developer Windsor Companies’ newest plan for apartments at the site of the former Antioch College Student Union entails building a two three-story apartment complexes composed of 48 units each. (Rendering courtesy of Windsor Companies)
Student Union apartments: 128 to 96
At the previous Planning Commission meeting last month, the developer had requested commissioners’ approval for a 128-unit apartment complex.
When met with sizable public pushback on the density of the proposal during the public hearing, Windsor went back to the drawing table to come up with a plan for fewer units.
The real estate developer’s initial vision was to erect two, three-and-a-half-story buildings — 64 units each — on the 2.169 acre-site of the derelict Student Union.
True to their word, Windsor arrived at this Tuesday’s Planning Commission with fewer units — hoping to satisfy concerned neighbors over the size of the complex and the potential influx in population in that area of town.
Windsor’s new plan detailed the eventual construction of two three-story buildings — thus, shorter buildings by half a floor or a total of six feet — consisting of 48 units each.
“We proposed reducing the density at the Student Union from 128 units to 96 units … as a good faith effort on our part to work with the village in finding a middle path, while still proposing a plan we can execute,” Windsor representative Erik Alfieri said.
Of those 96 apartments, there will be a mix of one- and two-bedroom units. According to Windsor documents, each structure will have four entry points, with shared stairwells providing access to the apartments.
Under the new plan, Windsor will offer 110 off-street parking spaces.
In an interview with the News last summer, Windsor’s head designer Jason Dorsey estimated rents for all these units will range from $900 to $1,700 per month.
As the News has reported in the past, Windsor intends to demolish the Student Union building and build the new structures in its place. The company purchased the building from Antioch College last summer for $500,000. In past public meetings, Windsor representatives committed to following sound environmental protocols in safely ridding the property of mold, asbestos, lead and other contaminants ahead of any future development.
Before Planning Commission’s votes on Tuesday, Yellow Springs Planning and Economic Development Director Meg Leatherman recommended approval of Windsor’s request, if the developer abides by certain conditions.
In a staff memo provided to commissioners before the meeting, Leatherman said her staff recommendations “align with the intent of the Village Zoning Code and Comprehensive Plan, which emphasize the preservation of land outside Village boundaries through conservation easements — commonly referred to as the Village Greenbelt — while encouraging redevelopment within Village limits.”
Staff’s recommendation for approval comes with the following conditions:
• Windsor must conduct a traffic impact study prior to final development plan approval, and then upon completion of this study, incorporate any recommendations into the plan;
• A minimum of 15% of dwelling units are to be permanently affordable, defined as housing for households earning 80% or less of the area median income;
• Windsor constructs a five-foot-wide sidewalk along the property’s frontage on both President and Livermore streets;
• The development shall provide 48 bicycle parking spaces; and
• Windsor must complete a stormwater management plan prior to final development plan approval.
Public reaction to Windsor’s new 96-unit plan was mixed at Tuesday’s meeting; some community members opposed the density variances embedded in the PUD application, while a few others expressed support for Windsor’s plan to increase the rental stock in Yellow Springs.
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