Council rezones 75-acre annexed site at 7900 Eastman Ave for multifamily residential

Midland City Council on March 23 rezoned a roughly 75-acre parcel at 7900 Eastman Avenue from its township Residential A designation to the city’s Residential B (RB) multiple-family residential zoning.

Planning staff said the property, annexed from Larkin Township last year, is mostly open farmed land with about 15 acres of woodland on the western edge. Staff described RB as a transitional district that allows attached and multiple-family housing and other civic uses. The planning commission unanimously recommended approval.

"The neighborhood mixed‑use future land use designation aligns with the proposed RB zoning," planning staff said, noting the master plan calls for increased housing production and a broader mix of housing types.

An applicant representative from Redwood USA, Emily Engelhart, said a purchase agreement exists for approximately 20 acres in the southeast portion of the parcel that could allow an additional phase of the existing Redwood development; she said the new phase would not directly connect to phase one because a drain and site layout separate the tracts.

Council discussed connections to Commerce Drive and the parcel’s future development potential before voting to adopt the rezoning ordinance.