CHAMPAIGN — A local apartment company plans to demolish some of its existing buildings near downtown Champaign and create new facilities with a total of about 100 units among them. Royse and Brinkmeyer is set to hold two open-house meetings today to discuss the proposed redevelopment of 10 properties in the middle of the block bounded by South State Street, South Prairie Street, West White Street and West Springfield Avenue. The meetings are set for noon to 1 p.
m. and 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.
in Robeson Room C at the Champaign Public Library. “We have numerous apartments on that block that we’ve owned for many, many decades,” said CEO Collin Carlier. “And many of them are still viable, but some of them need to be reinvested in.
” The company will use the two drop-in sessions to gather feedback from neighbors and provide information about the concept, he said. According to Eric Van Buskirk, an associate planner with the city of Champaign, the proposed project includes: When asked how many residents would be affected by demolition of properties on South Prairie, Carlier replied that a couple of the buildings are already vacant, though there are at least 30 residents living in the others. The company has notified them of the project and invited their feedback.
He added that these tenants are currently on month-to-month leases, and Royse and Brinkmeyer has been “overly transparent” about the future of these sites. Carlier estimated that the company has spent at least two .
