What has been vacant commercial space on the first floor of The Registry at 103 Old Morgantown Road might become residential space.

The apartment business is asking the City-County Planning Commission of Warren County to alter its development plan so that the commercial space can become residential if needed.

The first floor has remained largely unused since the off-campus student housing complex opened in 2005. It has been used occasionally for such things as a haunted house and meeting space.

The development is asking to have a maximum of 166 residential units, up from the 142 it has now.

“Our company recognizes that Western is doing an excellent job in outreach and is growing faster than every other state school,” said Registry general manager Kyle Burkett, citing the need for the expansion.

WKU once again had an overflow situation with its housing this fall.

Burkett said the commercial space would become residential lofts with the living space at the front with the glass doors, two bedrooms at the rear and a sleeping loft above for out-of-town guests and parents.

“It will be a little bit of an upgraded unit from the others,” he said.

Those residences would have the full amenities that come with the rest of the apartments, including washers and dryers, Internet, cable and other services.

The lease price has not yet been determined.

“We will look at our occupancy and the rest of the market to determine that,” Burkett said.

He expects pre-leasing to begin in the spring with occupancy in fall 2011. The Registry is currently 86 percent occupied and setting occupancy and revenue records for the company, he said.

The Registry also has begun construction on a recreation area adjacent to the apartments. Two houses were torn down to make way for a pool, deck and cabanas, two sand volleyball courts and a barbecue area. Burkett said that project should be completed in late spring.

The Registry, which offers roommate matching, currently rents two-bedroom apartments for $525 a month per student, while the four-bedroom units are $395 for each student.

The planning commission also is being asked to approve zoning for a new residential development near South Warren Middle and High School.

Joe Daniel Developments and Danwell Properties wants to rezone 126 acres of four tracts of land at 8401 Nashville Road and 2905 Rich Pond Rockfield Road from agriculture to mostly residential. Twelve acres would become zoned for highway business if approved.

The developers are proposing phased construction of up to 260 single-family homes on the property.

Daniel said he wants the staff report and paperwork he filed with the planning commission to speak for itself.

That report said there are hopes for as much as 100,000 square feet of commercial space that would front Nashville Road. That space would be divided from the residential space by landscape and hardscape buffers.

“This is a pretty neat plan and he wants to make it a nice residential neighborhood,” said Steve Hunter, executive director of the planning commission.

Hunter said Daniel has agreed to some substantial improvements to Nashville Road to accommodate the new development. It would have a signalized intersection with one of the new school entrances.

“These are major things that he has committed to doing,” Hunter said, pointing to a traffic study that says there would be 190 feet added to an existing northbound turn lane and new signal and marking improvements that the developer would pay for.

With those improvements, the service level of the road won’t change significantly based on traffic numbers reviewed earlier in the school year.

Hunter said there was a cemetery found on the property that currently includes a field, storage and a small store with gas pumps. That cemetery will be mapped, fenced off and maintained by the developer under the guidance of the county’s cemetery board.

The houses would have to be at least 1,800 square feet, exclusive of the garage, and be at least 75 percent brick or stone or a combination of that. The first phase of construction, which would include most of the houses, is expected to be complete in 2016.

The staff report also notes that there is an IGA planned for another piece of property 700 feet to the north of this development, on Ky. 242. The second phase of Daniel’s development would include an entrance onto Ky. 242.

Hunter said there have been neighborhood meetings held with nearby property owners and his office has received no calls on the matter.

While the planning commission staff no longer recommends or objects to approval, the staff evaluated the plan for compliance with 29 policies. Only one was “generally not” in compliance, according to the report.