Madison’s Urban Design Commission met Wednesday night to review plans for three new student-oriented apartment buildings located on campus.

The first apartment building is slated to be built on the corner of Bassett and Dayton Streets and was approved unanimously. The apartment will comprise five stories and an underground parking garage.

Randy Bruce, an architect from Knothe & Bruce Architects, designed all three of the proposed apartments. He said the apartment proposed for the Bassett-Dayton neighborhood would have an indoor commons area and an outdoor courtyard, which would provide the opportunity for social functions and interaction.

The second proposed apartment building would siton a small lot between University Avenue and West Johnson Street on Frances Street. Bruce said the proposed apartment would be 12 stories and each unit would have a balcony.

Residents would have access to eight moped stalls and four bicycle stalls outside, along with room to store 96 bicycles in the basement.

Heather Stouder, city planner, said around 100 residents would live in the building and it would have the highest density in Madison. Because of major concerns that the site and the interior of the building would be inadequate to support this high density, the commission declined to initially approve the plans.

The third proposed apartment building would be eight stories, located on Henry Street in the historical district of Langdon. Bruce said the architecture of the proposed building would be compatible with the neighborhood, but the project drew criticism from members of the Langdon neighborhood at the meeting.

“We’ve made the design much more cohesive,” Bruce said. “It has more consistent architecture that is more compatible with the neighborhood.”

Stephanie Siders, board member of the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority, said the sorority was concerned about the increased traffic and safety issues accompanied by the density mass of the proposed building.

“We’re concerned about the dilution of the unique character of our neighborhood,” Siders said.

Colin Bowden, vice president of the State-Langdon Neighborhood Association, also voiced his concern about the impact the proposed building would have on the neighborhood. He complained the neighborhood had been left out of the decision making process.

Bowden said Alder Bridget Maniaci, District 2, received money from the apartment developers, the Howden brothers, and ended neighborhood meetings before people were done asking questions and discussing the plans.

“We didn’t have enough input, we didn’t have a discussion, they just shut off,” he said. “It’s a conflict of interest.”

Maniaci said it is the proper process for the alder to hold the meeting and act as an intermediary. She said the meeting held on Monday at the Pyle Center was productive and attended by around 70 community members.

At the end of the night, Pyle Center staff told her they needed to go, so she broke up the meeting, Maniaci said.

She said the Howdens have donated to many city races, but this issue is a separate one unrelated to the proposal at hand. 

“This project has a lot of potential to serve the block in a better capacity,” she said. “There is still a lot of work to be done on the design.”

The Landmarks Commission will review the proposed building project on Langdon when it meets on Nov. 26.