61-unit, 4-story Pappas apartment building gets second green light from DeKalb commission

DeKALB – A new 61-unit, four-story apartment complex proposal by DeKalb-based developer Pappas Development is one step closer to gaining full city approval.

On Monday, the DeKalb Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously voted to recommend that the DeKalb City Council approve the plans put forward for what Pappas called Arista Residences, 1383 Barber Greene Road. The DeKalb City Council next meets Monday.

Commissioners Max Maxwell and Steve Becker were absent from Monday’s meeting.

Construction for the apartment building is already underway, and began in late March.

Arista Residences, owned and developed by Pappas Development, will be located on a 1.8-acre site at the northwest corner of Barber Greene and County Farm Roads, 1383 Barber Greene Road. The apartment complex will be four stories tall with 61 single bedroom units. A portion of unincorporated DeKalb County was annexed into the city in January to pave way for the plans.

According to development plans, the fully-furnished apartment units will be about 700 square feet, and the estimated monthly rent will be $1,350. Amenities will include a hotel-style lobby, hospitality room, business center, full gym and electric vehicle charging stations. There will be no commercial uses in the building.

Hannah Roche, office manager for Pappas Development, attended the meeting to speak about two changes Pappas has made to the plan since it was first proposed. Roche said new plans include removing an access point along the north side of the property and changing the building’s lower level brick shade to white, as well as adding white vertical pillars.

According to development plans, there were three points of access originally proposed: a right-in/right-out access along Barber Greene Road, a full access off County Farm Road and along the north side of the property. The north access would have been attached to a private east-west drive that is controlled by the owner of the Northland Plaza Shopping Center, which objected to using the access. The site plan and the third access was removed.

Commissioner Jerry Wright questioned the changing of some of the exterior’s bricks to white.

Roche said that the addition of white was purely a design choice.

“We are excited to offer apartments that are out of downtown, yet still in close proximity to shopping and dining,” Roche said. “It’s within walking distance to grocery stores. The location is the unique factor to this building.”

If approved, Arista Residences would be the sixth of its kind to be built by Pappas Development over the past nearly three years.

Other prominent developments in Pappas’ portfolio include constructing the former K-Mart into the Hy-Vee Shopping Center, and the retail center with Ellwood Steak and Fish House, along Sycamore Road in both DeKalb and Sycamore. Many of the residential complexes under the Pappas portfolio in DeKalb offer what the developers call executive or luxury units.

Two are still under construction, including the $13.8 million Agora Tower built on the land once formerly used for the Mooney Car Dealership and the oldest barbed wire factory in DeKalb at the corner of North Fourth and Locust streets. The four-story, 94-unit tower was awarded $3 million in tax increment finance funds from the city in June 2019, and will feature retail and office space on the first floor, according to development plans.

In October 2020, the City of DeKalb sold the former DeKalb Municipal Building to Pappas for $600,000, to build Johann Executive Suites, a $7.5 million development aided by $750,000 of city TIF funds which will have 57 units on Fourth Street. The old city hall was demolished in the summer of 2021. As part of the sale agreement with the city, Pappas will need to complete the build in 2022.

Artista Residences does not fall under a TIF district.