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A city committee gave the go-ahead to a new apartment building in the Bassett Street area Monday that some see as an asset to the neighborhood and others view as an assault to the architecture and fluidity of the community.

The 40-unit Lake Park Apartment building to be constructed where two apartment buildings currently stand on 451 W. Wilson and 315 S. Bassett streets will be geared toward a professional, “intergenerational market,” said developer Lance McGrath.

McGrath, of McGrath Associates Inc., said he hopes to break ground this summer to be ready to open by summer 2009.

The building, made mostly of brown brick, will all be one or two bedroom units and contain an underground parking garage

Many Bassett neighborhood residents at the meeting raised concerns with the increased traffic the building would bring to the neighborhood, including Jan Sweet, who has been particularly outspoken about this topic.

“We don’t want any more automobiles coming into the area,” he said, adding the skyrocketing price of oil. “I’m shocked at the lack of inquisitiveness on the committees.”

Nancy Fey, chair of the plan commission, referred Sweet to share his opinions with the Sustainable Design and Energy Committee.

Others spoke against the new apartment building because of mass and design being out of character with the surrounding buildings, like the Dowling apartments located next door.

“If you look at [The Lake Park apartment design], it does look like a steam ship in a bathtub compared to the rest of the neighborhood,” said Bonnie Hagan, a Madison resident.

Jonathan Cooper, of the Bassett Neighborhood Committee, said the apartments fill a rental void in the neighborhood.

“One thing that is really lacking in the downtown housing market is something for folks who want to live downtown but either can’t afford it or aren’t necessarily going to be here for the length of time to buy an existing house or condo,” Cooper said. 

Cooper said a major concern for him was the trend of student population moving toward campus and away from neighborhoods farther away from campus.

“Who fills that student void?” Cooper asked.

McGrath echoed Cooper’s observations of student populations flocking toward campus with many new high-rise apartments opening over the summer. 

“There’s definitely people who have counted on renting homes there (off-campus neighborhoods) to students who might have a hard time finding renters,” McGrath said.

Cooper said the new development would not have any direct impact on students because they will not be able to afford the efficiencies — which McGrath said would go for $1.30 per square foot — and there is a long way before price is determined, but the building is a “real good addition to the downtown housing stock.”

Cooper acknowledged that the building is very large and not perfect but said it was an asset to redevelopment in the Bassett neighborhood.

According to a letter from McGrath Associates Inc., the four residential levels would be 41,362 square feet.

Rosemary Lee, an outspoken and longtime resident of the Basset neighborhood, said the Lake Park Apartments are an “outstanding example of tasteful urban infill.”

Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, said supporting this building was a “tough one,” but ultimately approved of the building saying, “This is, I think, the best we are going to get.”