Lafayette

VISITABILITY REQUIREMENTS APPROVED ON NEW DEVELOPMENT

The Lafayette City Council unanimously approved the most rigorous accessibility requirements in the state on September 4, 2007. The so-called 'visitabilty' standards will require that 25% of new residential units constructed in the city provide at least one at-grade, stair-less entry, wider that normal bathroom doorway on the ground floor, and, installation of supports in the bathroom that can anchor future installation of handrails. The requirements are intended to make accessing, using or visiting the homes easier for persons in wheelchairs or using walkers. Homebuilders expressed the most reservations about the at-grade stair-less entry requirement saying it will cost more than projected and could pose drainage problems that might threaten the integrity of a home's foundation. The regulations exempt above grade multi-family housing and housing constructed on steep grades.

MIXED-USE DEVELOPMENT PROPOSED ALONG U.S. 287

On September 20, 2007, Raufeisen Development, and Illinois-based firm, revealed conceptual plans for a $400-$500 million development that could involve up to 200-acres adjacent to the Exempla campus on U.S. 287 in southern Lafayette. The development, now dubbed "SoLa", will include the recently annexed 82-are parcel north of Exempla. The Preliminary plan will be reviewed by the Planning Commission in October and if the approval process remains on schedule, construction could begin as early as Spring 2008. The project, as proposed, would be anchored by a 104-room hotel and would include apartments, senior-living units, retail, restaurant and commercial buildings, and medical offices. Should the market support it, a second hotel could be constructed in the future. Once approved, SoLa could take up top three years to complete.