View All News

October 2025 DRC Recap: 27-Story Mixed-Use Student Tower Proposed at Spring + 8th Streets

10/15/25

The Midtown Development Review Committee (DRC) reviewed a single case at its October meeting. The current Cheetah Lounge property was presented as a redevelopment site for a student high-rise with ground floor retail. Read more details about the proposal:

887 Spring Street

The team presented a new 27-story student focused building along Spring St. south of 8th St. Approximately 19,600 SF of the north portion of the site will be reserved for a future development phase.

The current project features 532 units including 1,407 bedrooms in the tower with 6,527 SF of retail uses at grade. The building shields a 2 ½ level, 119-space parking deck from view of Spring St. It’s accessible via an ingress-only driveway along Spring St. and a two-way driveway along 8th St., which also accesses back-of-house services. Bicycle parking is provided across three rooms accessible on the ground floor.

The DRC appreciated the overall architectural design. Committee feedback related to 8th St. frontage including power lines, street trees, fencing, and the north facing façade along with increasing bike parking capacity.

DRC Recommendations:

1. Bury the existing power lines along 8th St. concurrent to this phase of development. This improves aesthetics and allows consistent Southern Sugar Maple trees at 30’ spacing as required by code.
2. Remove the proposed fencing along 8th St. and Spring St. which is prohibited by code. Instead, provide a simple grass lawn area. If security is deemed necessary, provide a periphery low evergreen hedge (as an alternative to fencing) and exterior lighting attached on the north façade -- unless there is imminent phase II development.
3. Provide increased visual interest along the west portion of the north facing façade. Suggestions included extending the Spring St. façade treatment 10’-15’ along the north façade in combination with sizable art -- unless there is imminent phase II development.
4. Increase the capacity of bike storage. Midtown Alliance’s recent studies indicate the demand for student housing is 35%-45% of the bedroom count. This would yield a minimum of 492 bike spaces. Also, differentiate the bike room nearest Spring St. to be dedicated to heavy e-bikes/wider tire bikes.

Next Steps:

The committee expects to receive updated info for electronic review to confirm that these comments will be addressed.