The Newman Development Group’s Downtown housing project, slated to sit between Washington Street and the Chenango River flood wall, has been scaled back and postponed despite growing demand.

According to Ken Kamlet, director of legal affairs at the Newman Development Group, the project, tentatively titled Binghamton College Suites, is planned to be built on a brownfield, or contaminated land that needs to be cleaned up.

“NYSEG [New York State Electric and Gas] … will be spending upwards of $7 million to remediate the affected areas to the full satisfaction of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and the New York State Department of Health (DOH),” Kamlet said.

Kamlet explained that the project was originally planned to be eight stories and accommodate 600 to 800 students, but needed to be scaled back because of parking issues.

“We decided that a scaled-down four-story building (with some 380-some odd beds) would be a better fit for the site,” said Kamlet. “This allowed us to better deal with several site-related issues, such as parking, traffic, pedestrian access and storm water management.”

No exact address for the complex has been established yet, but it is set to be built directly south of the University Downtown Center.

A recent feasibility study, titled “Economic & Fiscal Impact Report,” conducted by Camoin Associates, an economic and community development planner with offices based in Manhattan and Saratoga Springs, indicated that there would not be a shortage of students renting apartments at the complex.

The report further indicated that the housing project would translate to economic gains for the city, generating $463,898 in taxable revenue, increased foot traffic and consumer spending.

Although building on the site has not started, the Newman Development Group is projecting a fall 2011 move-in date for students.

“We expect to rent at the new project, similar to the University Plaza project, on a first-come, first-served basis,” Kamlet said. “While wait-listed students at University Plaza will not automatically be given preference over other students at the new project, we will make sure those students are notified as soon as applications are being accepted for the new project.”

The Newman Development group also constructed University Plaza in the spring of 2005 and opened it in August of the same year.

Mayor Matt Ryan welcomed the downsizing of the project, though he noted that it had not yet received all the necessary city approval.

“I think everybody’s happy that it is going to be considerably smaller,” he said. “It would have overshadowed the entire area … We explored with the Department of Transportation ways of expanding the parking footprint; I think when they saw how hard [it was] … one of the things they realized [is] they had to subsidize it by themselves.”

According to Kamlet, both Broome County Transit and the BU Off Campus College Transport will serve the site and Ryan agreed, saying that this housing unit will bring more people to the Downtown area and increase the support of local vendors.

The city expects to see a number of new businesses created because of student demand.

“I’m working [with] some commercial realtors so we can talk to retailers that want to put in some of the smaller grocery stores [and] markets,” said Merry Harris, director of economic development for the city of Binghamton. “I’d love to know the kinds of shops and businesses that students would like to see Downtown. We have tried to do some outreaches, especially with students.”