Starkville’s Russell Street and downtown corridors are flush with upcoming developments that will give the area an urban feel thanks in part to the city’s thriving economy and form-based codes.
The areas’ population is soon to explode as numerous multi-story housing developments — either mixed-use facilities with retail on the bottom floor and housing above, or units solely planned for urban living — are turning dirt in the area after developer Mark Castleberry’s Mill at MSU development yielded a state-of-the-art conference center and parking deck near the area described as the university’s front door.
A windshield tour of Russell Street shows projects — condominiums across the street from the Mill and apartment buildings under construction where Jarnigan Street meets Russell and at the intersection of Russell and Spring Street — quickly moving from concepts to actual structures.
Even Castleberry is getting into the condo market with 550 Russell St., a mixed-use development that has already sold one of its four three-bedroom units, valued about $400,000 each, before the facility has been built.
Developments are also in the works around downtown’s periphery, with The Balcony Starkville’s plans to open a “college living” facility next to Central Station on South Montgomery Street and a mixed-use development planned at the corner of Lampkin and South Jackson streets.
Others ventures, including a proposal that could yield multi-story apartment buildings — and possibly Starkville’s second parking deck — deep in the Cotton District, are moving through the city’s planning and zoning processes.
Guiding these infill developments — undeveloped parcels near a city’s core — along Russell Street, Main Street/University Drive and Highway 182 are Starkville’s previously implemented form-based codes. Transect districts, which allow for high density, mixed-use developments, are in place along much of the city’s blossoming corridors.
“The form-based code is designed to put out a welcome mat and say, ‘Build these types of (high density) projects here,'” said Mayor Parker Wiseman. “Small towns, much more so than metropolitan areas, struggle to get infill development projects. To be a city that’s not part of a metro area, that’s seeing this development is extremely encouraging for us.
“Much of this development more than likely would not be occurring under traditional codes,” he added. “If (Community Development Director Buddy Sanders) tried to shepherd these projects under traditional code, there’d be so many uncertainties with the variance and waiver processes that it’s fair to say in many cases developers wouldn’t even go through the processes.”
While the housing boon will add more residents to Wards 4 and 5, both Wiseman and Sanders said they’re confident multi-modal transportation options will alleviate any fears of traffic congestion in the areas.
A Mississippi Department of Transportation-led project will reduce Russell Street from four lanes to three — two one-way lanes and a turning lane — in the future. Additional pedestrian and bike paths will be placed in the space created in the reduction.
Additionally, the Russell Street-Cotton District-Main Street corridor is heavily serviced by Starkville’s mass transit system, the Starkville-Mississippi State Area Rapid Transit.
Increased ridership also allows MSU a better sales pitch when applying for the rural grants that fund the system.
The growth along the Russell Street and downtown corridors reflects a large percentage of the more than $100 million in active and conceptual projects in Starkville.
“Our consultants working on the comprehensive plan were highly impressed with how healthy the growth taking place is … and how it has a neat and proper path to go down. Generally when you do a zoning change to get the form you want, it takes 10-20 years to see results. We’re fortunate we’re already seeing results now,” Sanders said. “It’s not only a great time to be a developer in Starkville, but it’s a great time to be a homeowner or a commercial landlord.”
Carl Smith covers Starkville and Oktibbeha County for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @StarkDispatch
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