Overland Property Group is seeking city approval to increase the number of apartments and maintain reduced parking requirements for the Lee Lofts redevelopment in downtown Salina.
The developer has filed two related requests with the Salina Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA). The first asks to expand the total number of residential units in the project from 135 to 140. The second seeks to keep the existing 70 off-street parking stalls, even though city code would normally require 110 spaces for a 140-unit development in the downtown commercial district.
The 1.47-acre property at 254 N. Santa Fe Avenue is part of the historic H.D. Lee complex, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Increasing the unit count would raise the project’s residential density from 92 to 96 units per acre, which exceeds the standard limit in the C-4 district and therefore requires a new variance.
City staff noted that the request does not involve exterior alterations to the buildings, which remain under local and state preservation oversight. The expansion would complete the final phase of the Lee Lofts redevelopment, a major adaptive reuse project that has added downtown housing and revitalized several century-old warehouse buildings.
Parking for the project was previously approved in 2022 at 70 total stalls—34 percent below the required number at that time—on the condition that an off-site parking lot at 245 N. Santa Fe be completed and designated for residents. The new request maintains that same parking total despite the increase in units, amounting to a 36 percent variance from the city’s current requirement.
According to planning staff, the Board of Zoning Appeals will evaluate both requests based on criteria such as public impact, surrounding land use, and whether the variances are consistent with the intent of the zoning code.
The BZA is scheduled to review the Lee Lofts applications during its meeting on Wednesday, November 20, at 4 p.m. in the City-County Building.
