What’s that 6-story building under construction in Sumner? Here’s what we know
Construction is underway on Sumner’s first six-story development at 1228 Fryar Ave.
Carmen Palmer, the communications director for the City of Sumner, told The News Tribune that the Riverfront Apartments will be a mixed-use development with 128 apartment units and retail space on the bottom.
“We need more housing, every city (in the state) has been asked to bring in more housing, so we took a number of steps that did that,” Palmer said. “It’s housing that’s needed, it’s a kind of housing that we don’t currently have a lot of, which is multi-family.”
According to the City of Sumner’s website, design review started in April 2020 and construction recently started. Palmer said the housing will be a mix of one-bedroom, two-bedroom and three-bedroom apartments:
- 71 one-bedroom, one-bathroom units
- 56 two-bedroom, two-bathroom units
- 1 three-bedroom, two-bathroom unit
There will be 164 parking stalls, landscaping, outdoor seating and sidewalks.
When asked what the rent of the apartments could look like, Palmer said the apartments are expected to be “market rate.” Zillow lists the average rent in Sumner as $2,129.
The retail space on the bottom of the Riverfront Apartments is going to be 1,515 square feet, the city’s website said.
“The commercial space is relatively small, and the city hasn’t heard of anyone looking into building the space out for a specific use yet,” Palmer said in a follow-up email to The News Tribune.
Palmer also said there isn’t an estimate yet on when construction on the development will wrap up. The contractor on the project is Rush Commercial Construction and the developer is the Dobler Management Company.
“This is one of the many projects for housing in the permit pipeline bringing in 800 new units into Sumner,” Palmer said. “That is a lot of new people.”
“We did try to balance the need for this additional housing with Sumner small-town charm,” Palmer said.
