A new apartment building is under construction in Campustown, but it is not expected to be a high-rise like other area buildings.

Real Estate Services Group has recently begun construction on a new apartment building in the Campustown area.

The new structure is being built at 217 Welch Avenue, the location formerly occupied by McDonald’s.

Two loft-style apartment buildings were completed in Campustown this summer.

The real estate group built Chamberlain Lofts, 2519 Chamberlain St.

Legacy Tower, 119 Stanton Ave., was built by Ev Cochrane and Associates.

Dickson Jensen, spokesman for Real Estate Services Group, said the new apartment building will be four stories tall, with commercial spaces available on the ground floor and apartments on the upper floors.

The apartments will be one- and two-bedrooms, with four spaces available on each floor.

“It will be upper-end places.” Jensen said.

“The finishes are very nice and exterior is going to be brick. It’s going to be a very attractive building.”

Jensen also said the building’s ground-floor commercial space would be divided into two sections.

“One is almost leased to UPS,” Jensen said. “It’ll be a place where people can have things be mailed in and out.”

The other commercial space has not been leased.

Jensen said with work just beginning on the building’s foundation, he hopes to have the project completed sometime next November. In that time frame, he said, the Real Estate Service Group will be able to rent spaces by the spring semester of next year.

The building will also feature ground-level parking, something Jensen is not anticipating any problems with.

In the past, community members have had issues with Campustown parking.

Leigh Thiedeman, senior in technical communication and member of the University Impacted Area advisory board, said another apartment building was not exactly what she had in mind for Campustown.

She said although it does serve the purpose of giving students a place to live, she would have chosen something else.

“Ideally, personally, I would have hoped for a store or a restaurant,” Thiedeman said.

“I’d like something more student-friendly, a place where students can socialize.”

Jeff Benson, a city planner, said the building fit the standards under the new University Impacted Area, which hopes to preserve the face of Campustown.

The University Impacted Area is generally defined as the transitional area that wraps south of the main campus facilities of Iowa State, according to the City of Ames Planning and Housing Department Web site.

The University Impacted Area plans target various design standards, like height limits and the use of brick, windows and doors on the front of the buildings.

“The area is very influenced by the university,” Benson said. “It’s a factor when developing new projects.”

A temporary ban on demolition and construction was in effect until Jan. 1 in Campustown; however, it did not affect the construction of the new building, Benson said.

“That ban has expired,” he said. “But that building actually wasn’t in the demolition area.”

Benson said there are no other applicants wanting to begin construction in the Campustown area.