Columbia City Council approves downtown student housing

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- The Columbia City Council has approved a Texas-based housing developer's proposal to build a downtown student apartment complex near the University of Missouri campus.

The council voted to accept a rezoning request and development agreement with American Campus Communities, the Columbia Daily Tribune story reported.

The company will build a 718-bed apartment complex north of the college campus that it aims to have ready for tenants by August 2017. It also plans to build a 546-space parking garage for its residents.

Some council members who voted against both the rezoning and development agreement request said Providence Road, which is near the University of Missouri, would likely see increased traffic.

The company will provide $300,000 to improve a sanitary sewer line underneath a road that it wants to build on as part of the development agreement.

Columbia's public works department has said it should finish its planned improvements in two years for downtown sanitary sewers.