The $62.5 million commercial and residential project planned for the White Mill building has been approved for a special-use permit.
Danville City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to give the go-ahead for the project.
The development is a joint project by The Alexander Company and the Danville Industrial Development Authority, under 424 Memorial Drive LLC.
“This is so exciting,” Danville Mayor Alonzo Jones said just before council’s vote.
Details of the venture were announced last month at the Danville Family YMCA.
Dave Vos, development project manager with Alexander, said last month that construction should begin the fourth quarter of this year, and completion is projected by summer 2023, around the same time as the Caesars Virginia casino resort project at the former Dan River Inc. site in Schoolfield.
There will be 110,000 square feet of commercial space, 150 apartment units (with an additional 100 units in the future) and 219 interior parking spaces.
The plans also include restoration of the covered bridge that spans the Dan River from the north side of the White Mill to the former Long Mill site.
The bridge will be for pedestrians and will connect the north and south sides of the Riverwalk Trail.
The project also includes plans to use the canal on the south side of the building as a whitewater feature and to provide about 1.12 acres fronting the Dan River for an extension of the Riverwalk Trail.
Alexander Company will oversee construction of the residential portion of the project, and the IDA will be in charge of the commercial part.
Site Collaborative, an architectural firm in Raleigh, N.C., designing a planned nearby riverfront park, will perform the site design for the project.
The apartments will come in 1-, 2- or 3-bedroom units for rent, Vos said, with 1-bedroom units renting for between $840 and $980 a month, and the 2- and 3-bedroom apartments will rent for $1,000 to $1,200 and $1,170 to $1,490, respectively, Vos said last month.
Vos said that 25% of the apartments would be set aside to make housing available for individuals and families earning between $30,000 and $50,000 a year.
As for the commercial part of the development, possible businesses locating there could include a job-training office, restaurants and e-commerce production studios, Vos told the Register & Bee last month.