Lincoln's first container house project has gotten the green light from the city's Urban Design Committee.
The committee voted unanimously Tuesday to grant a waiver of design standards for the proposed project at 28th and Vine streets.
Kris and Julie Sonderup, owners of Cycle Works and Moose's Tooth, want to build four duplexes, with eight units total, on a site just east of their business.
The duplexes will feature shipping containers incorporated along with traditional building materials such as steel, wood and glass into two-story duplex units that will feature a two-bedroom unit on the main floor and a one-bedroom unit on the top floor.
The Sonderups plan to own the duplexes and rent them out, with rents estimated at $800-$1,000 a month.
The duplexes feature roofs with much less pitch than the traditional homes in the nearby Hartley Neighborhood, which is why the project needed a waiver. The city's planning director could have approved the waiver himself, but it's typical for the Urban Design Committee to weigh in on new and unique projects.
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Kris Sonderup told the committee that he's "not trying to do anything weird," but he likes unique properties.
City planner Stacey Groshong-Hageman said she received a phone call from a man who did not give his name expressing opposition to the project, but two neighbors who attended Tuesday's meeting both said they did not have any problems with the look or location of the proposed duplexes.
Assuming no one appeals the waiver decision, the Sonderups would be able to start construction in two weeks.
Kris Sonderup said they plan to build one duplex at a time. The project will require the demolition of three homes on the block that the Sonderups already own.
In other business Tuesday, the Urban Design Committee approved facade changes to the Lincoln Sports Complex.
The changes were requested as part of a redevelopment agreement for the proposed 78,500-square-foot basketball and volleyball complex on West O Street.
The facility is expected to cost $11.7 million, including $1.3 million of tax-increment funding.