A public hearing on a proposed zoning change allowing for a new student housing complex in the Tech Terrace neighborhood has been postponed from Thursday to next month, organizers opposed to the development announced Wednesday.

Organizers in the Tech Terrace neighborhood, including the Tech Terrace-UNIT Neighborhood Association, are now asking supporters to attend the next city of Lubbock Planning & Zoning Commission meeting - tentatively set for Nov. 3 at Citizens Tower, 1208 14th St. in downtown Lubbock.

Those opposed to the project on 19th Street near Boston Avenue have, for more than a month, rallied to draw attention to the proposal, including hosting public meetings and attending a town hall meeting organized by Councilman Mark McBrayer, a resident of the neighborhood. At those meetings, neighbors have shared concerns ranging from the potential for increased traffic in the neighborhood to negative impact on property values.

The Planning & Zoning Commission had planned to consider the issue Thursday evening after initially reviewing the project in a meeting last month.

On Wednesday, city staff told neighborhood organizers the developer requested the item be postponed until next month's P&Z meeting to let the developer revise and re-file the plan, according to Don R. Richards, chairman of the association.

The UP Campus proposed project

Vote on proposed Tech Terrace student housing postponed after public hearing

‘UP Campus,” a Chicago-based student housing development company, is proposing to build a 740-bed, 550-vehicle multi-story student housing and commercial facility at the property on the edge of the neighborhood near the Texas Tech campus.

A representative for the developer spoke to the Avalanche-Journal for a story ahead of the Planning & Zoning meeting before the agenda item was pulled.

Stephen Bus, managing principal for UP Campus Properties, said the proposed student housing development would allow students to walk to campus and comes at a time when Texas Tech needs more beds as the student population trends up.

"I think it's ultimately clear that the buildings there are all well past their useful life," Bus said. "The key message is that Texas Tech has forty-, forty-one thousand students today, then in the next five to 10 years ... will be closer to 50,000."

Word that the agenda item for the proposed student housing project had been postponed again came after the A-J visited with Bus late last month.

Opposition from Tech Terrace residents

The Tech Terrace neighborhood association, at a recent membership meeting, voted unanimously to opposethe zoning change, according to a news release from association.

Billboards protesting the zoning change have gone up on 34th Street, and yard signs are posted throughout the neighborhood. Neighborhood organizers had also distributed multiple fliers to residents over the past several weeks, hoping to draw attendees to the meeting.

The Chicago-based development company proposes to demolish the current Godbold Cultural Center,2601 19th Street, and adjacent “Cafe J” restaurant, in order to construct the multi-story student housingfacility, and a six-tiered parking garage which would house 740-plus residents and upwards of 500 parking spaces.The Godbold Center occupies the same structure as the original Plains Hospital and Clinic, later knownas St. Mary of the Plains Hospital.

The facility later served as the “University City Club” prior to in recent years becoming the Godbold Cultural Center for art-related activities and gallery, according to Avalanche-Journal archives.

Save the Godbold efforts commence despite owner's opposition

In order to construct the student housing facility, the development company is requesting the zoning change, toinclude the property facing 19th Street as well as a large segment of property facing 20th Street.The Tech Terrace UNIT Neighborhood Association encompasses the square mile area immediatelysouth of the Texas Tech campus. Part of its name “UNIT” represents the bordering streets of theneighborhood (University, Nineteenth, Indiana, and Thirty-Fourth). The boundary of the neighborhoodincludes the specific Godbold property requested for the zoning change and the entirety of the proposedhousing complex.

(Reporter Mateo Rosiles contributed to this story)

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