Clear Lake council to consider setting public hearing date on grant application to convert downtown space to apartments

CLEAR LAKE — The City Council in Clear Lake tonight will consider setting a public hearing for later this month on an application for a Community Development Block Grant that would be used to help convert upper floor space in a downtown building to apartments.

City Administrator Scott Flory in a memo to the council says the project includes the conversion of the upper floor of the Corner Drug building at 2 North 4th Street from retail and office space into three apartments. The first floor was recently gutted and renovated as retail space. The apartment layout would include two, two-bedroom apartments and one, one-bedroom apartment.

The potential grant to the city would be passed through to the developer, Jessica Wood, who owns several residential rental properties in Clear Lake, in reimbursement of a percentage of a cost that they incur. The assistance to the developer would be provided as a three-year forgivable loan in the amount of $500,000.

If the council approves, the city would hold two public hearings at their August 16th meeting. The first would focus on obtaining input into a Community Development and Housing Needs Assessment, while the second would focus on the grant application itself.

The council meets at 6 o’clock tonight at City Hall.