LaGRANGE – With thousands of jobs expected to become open in the next few years thanks to new industry entering the county, the focus of local government groups has begun to shift to the housing where new residents can live.

That need for quality housing was one of the points of discussion when LaGrange City Council reviewed a request to rezone 1005 South Davis Road from mixed use development to multi-family residential during its regular work session on Tuesday.

“The Four Magnolia property… has had a lot of interest in recent years – primarily for residential developers, and this particular applicant, they are different,” said City Planner Leigh Threadgill. “They are interested in building a luxury-style apartment complex on 31 acres.”

Previous plans met with board opposition for different reasons, but the board of zoning recommended approval on this rezoning request after reviewing a plan for the property which met the board’s quality and density requirements, and even exceeded the board’s usual expectations on several counts.

“With the kind of housing situation that we are in, we need some product on the ground,” said Threadgill. “They did a market study – a market analysis – and it came back very favorable for what they are planning on doing, so they are ready to move forward. … Their amenities package is more robust than I think what we will typically require. It is showing several areas including a dog park, a clubhouse and a pool, and in their other projects… the pool is a real focal point for them. They do a really upscale club house with a bar, and the pool is sort of resort like with landscaping and interesting water features.”

The developer would be tied to the plan submitted to the board of zoning as well as the location for the plan to move forward.

Like on many large projects, the developers are from out of town, in this case New Orleans, but Mayor Jim Thornton was happy to report that family members of the developers are from LaGrange creating a personal connection for the developers to the area.

The city council plans to hold a public hearing on the rezoning on May 9 at 5:30 p.m. at 208 Ridley Ave.

Reach Alicia B. Hill at alicia.hill@lagrangenews.com or at 706-884-7311, Ext. 2154.