The Greensboro Zoning Commission approved a 120 unit multifamily complex in East Greensboro.

The rezoning fits right in with what has been a Greensboro City Council priority for years – to bring more growth to East Greensboro.

The Zoning Commission voted unanimously, with one recusal, to rezone 402 and 404 East Penry Road from Conditional District Residential Multifamily-12 to Planned Unit Development with a limit of 120 dwelling units and a building height not to exceed 50 feet.

Jerome Myers, representing the developer Technology Row LLC, said his company saw this as an opportunity to help revitalize the eastern part of Greensboro and that there was a real need for this type of housing in the area. He noted that this development would be a convenient location for people working at the Publix distribution center that is going to be built right down the road.

David Levy, the executive director of Affordable Housing Management, said they were the current owners of the property and their plans to build affordable housing on the site had not worked out. He said there was a huge need for “workforce housing” in the area and fully supported the plan.

Myers said they planned to build townhomes on the front of the six-acre property and three story apartments on the rear portion. He said they planned to build modern looking structures and showed the commission some renderings but said the plans were not finalized yet.

Zoning Commission Chairman Gene Lester opened the meeting by welcoming former Guilford County Commissioner Ray Trapp as a new member of the Zoning Commission. It’s Trapp second time around on the Zoning Commission. He served from 2007 until 2012, when he was elected to the Guilford County Board of Commissioners. Trapp resigned from the Board of Commissioners to become the director of external affairs for NC A&T State University.

It was Lester’s last meeting on the Zoning Commission and he thanked the City Council for giving him the opportunity and said he had enjoyed seeing Greensboro grow.

The commission elected Adam Marshall as chairman and Hugh Holston as vice chairman.