More than 200 high-end, luxury apartments will be going up as part of Colonial Highlands, a mixed-use development planned for Northeast Jackson.
Nearly two years after the site was rezoned from special mixed use to traditional neighborhood development (TND), developers are moving forward with the first phases of the project.
Last week, crews demolished the old Colonial Country Club clubhouse, located at 5636 Old Canton Rd.
Developers were also working to push plans for the first phase through the city’s site plan review process.
“There will probably be a 2019 groundbreaking and a 2020 delivery,” said Dave Ellis, executive vice president of Arlington Properties.
The Birmingham-based firm is designing and building the first phase, which will include 220 apartments.
The firm also designed the apartments at the District at Eastover.
“They will be very similar to the District, with stainless steel (appliances), at least granite if not quartz counter tops, high-end light fixtures, walk-in closets – all the things you see in a good, high-end Class A apartment development,” Ellis said.
Class A developments represent the “newest and highest quality buildings in (the) market,” according to areadevelopment.com. “They are generally the best-looking buildings with the best construction and possess high-quality building infrastructure.”
Ellis said there is a market for that kind of residential development in the capital city.
“I know this from my experience at the District, which is 100 percent leased, with zero available units.”
Dwellings would be approximately 1,100 square feet and would rent for around $1,100 a month.
By comparison, the District Lofts range from 572 to 1,358 square feet, from one-bedroom lofts to dwellings with three bedrooms and two baths, according to the District’s Web site.
The District is located at the corner of Eastover Drive and the I-55 North frontage road, north of the Mississippi Schools for the Blind and Deaf.
The development’s apartments are located near the rear of the property in a single, five-story building.
Unlike the District, apartments at Colonial will be located in a more traditional apartment complex, which will include multiple three-story buildings, Ellis said. He didn’t know how many acres the apartments would take.
TND developments may dedicate up to 20 percent to multi-family residential, according to Jackson’s zoning ordinance.
The Colonial site is approximately 152 acres, meaning apartments could take up 30.4 acres. The complex would be located near the center of the Colonial site, which is designated specifically for multi-family, high-density use.
The development is owned by Luke Guarisco, manager partner of Ouray Capital Management in Baton Rouge.
Guarisco, along with former partners Bo Lockard and Rob Hydeman, purchased the Colonial site after the Colonial Country Club was foreclosed on by Trustmark National Bank.
The club closed in 2014, after 68 years in operation, according to wapt.com.
The property was rezoned in 2016, and a master plan for the site was approved the same year.
The club house was demolished last week, after developers noticed it had been vandalized and was no longer structurally sound.
