The Altoona Planning Commission Tuesday approved a land development plan for Phase IV of developer Jeff Long’s Grande Palazzo senior housing complex.

The five-story, 45,000-square foot structure across Seventh Avenue from the initial Grande Palazzo development will have commercial space on the first floor and 32 apartments on the upper floors.

The commission granted several waivers of land development requirements, all of which had been granted for a townhouse development on the site proposed a few years ago by the Durbin family, then scotched due to COVID-related supply chain issues and inflation.

Long’s rectangular building will be located against 26th Street and the alley between Seventh and Sixth avenues, with two rows of parking between Seventh Avenue and the building — and a separate parking lot across the alley, also abutting 26th Street.

A drive-thru will accommodate the proposed drug store on the narrow end of the building, opposite 26th Street.

Long previously obtained a variance from the city Zoning Hearing Board that allows him to construct the building as high as 75 feet — although the actual height will be 60 feet, according to Long’s engineer John Sepp of Penn Terra.

Lot mergers will consolidate the site into a 0.62-acre parcel.

The city’s parking regulations call for between 50 and 100 off-street spaces for such a project, and the developer will provide 76, Sepp said.

One waiver will allow workers to locate the entrance on 26th Street for the parking lot in front of the building 31 feet from the intersection with Seventh Avenue, because complying with the required 100-foot distance wouldn’t be practical.

Another waiver will allow workers to omit a street tree so that an electrical box can be placed on the spot the tree would have occupied.

Yet another waiver will allow for 18-foot parking spaces, rather than the required 19-footers.

And another will allow for a narrower band of landscaping along the front of the building closest to Seventh Avenue, to ensure enough room for parking.

Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.