Jason Orby, the City Council liaison to the Planning Commission, provided a brief update during the commission’s Jan. 2 meeting on downtown development and city-owned parcels.

Orby said the recently completed apartment building was more than 40% occupied as of late November and that occupancy had continued to grow since that report. He also said the building’s live-work units had not been leased to businesses within the developer’s initial timeframe; with that commitment lapsed the units are now being rented as residential units.

Commissioners asked about a city-owned parking parcel behind Sidewinders. Orby said there had been discussion on whether to convert the parcel to green space, but installing irrigation would be costly because the site lacks its own water meter; staff explored leasing water access from an adjacent building but that option did not proceed. He described the conversion as cost-prohibitive at this time. Commissioners also asked about an elevated lot farther down 7th Street; Orby said that parcel is privately owned and the city has not received recent expressions of interest from the owner.

No formal action was taken on these items; the council liaison said staff will continue to monitor occupancy and property interest.