The Binghamton City Planning Commission has approved a site-plan that calls for the construction of a Downtown student housing complex of 119 apartments.

The five-to-one vote, with one abstention, took place March 1. The vote allows the Newman Development Group, LLC, the company behind University Plaza Apartments, to continue acquiring the necessary building and demolition permits for the proposed College Suites of Binghamton.

If all permits are attained, the suites, which which would house 392 students in fully furnished apartments, would be built on Washington Street adjacent to the Binghamton University Downtown Center.

According to Robert Pompi, a BU professor in the physics department who sits on the planning commission, the commission spent four months reviewing the College Suites building plans.

“We made sure the Newman Group’s plans met all of New York state’s and the city of Binghamton’s building codes,” he said. “Every single part needed to comply with the New York state building codes. We looked at factors like energy footprints, heating, parking and its respects to the archaeological culture of the area.”

Three public hearings were held for the community to voice their opinions, where, according to Pompi, the commission listened to concerns and tried to find a balance.

At the public hearing on Feb. 1, Ellie Farfaglia, president of the Landlords Association of Broome County, spoke of her fears that the housing complex would hurt the housing market because the number of students who rent would decrease.

The planning commission’s objective was to examine the plan from a strictly legal perspective.

“We cannot reject their plan assuming we don’t like parts of it,” Pompi said. “We basically made sure that everything in the plan complied with the law.”

Newman Development needs to continue with the archaeological research on the site. Research was halted after the inspected land froze. The suites are to be built on top of brownfield, or contaminated land that needs to be cleaned up.

New York State Electric and Gas (NYSEG) will spend $7 million to clean the site until it’s satisfactory to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and the New York State Department of Health.

Pompi said that the land has minor contamination due to soil erosion and the buildings that still occupy the area.

The Newman Group hopes to start building this June and is confident that they will.

Jeffrey Smetana, vice president of student housing development at Newman Development Group, said that the project will take 12 months to complete, which puts the finish date at June 2011.

“There is one building left that will be demolished, hopefully in May,” Smetana said. “That will be the last.”

According to Smetana, the College Suites development is being financed privately and is not financially affiliated with the University.