AMHERST — Citing the high costs for steel, which may go up even more due to uncertainty around tariffs, an Amherst developer is scaling back a mixed-use development at the corner of Amity Street and University Drive on the edge of the UMass campus.

The latest preliminary plans for redevelopment of the 5.3-acre site, coming before the Planning Board for review in January, shows a single, V-shaped five-story building with 77 units and 224 beds, and 12,200 square feet of commercial space, rather than a previous iteration with two four-story buildings with 85 units and 259 beds, and 11,000 square feet of commercial space.

Thomas Reidy, an attorney with Bacon Wilson PC, said UDrive Amity LLC, whose principal is Amherst developer Barry Roberts, needs to redo the plans for the project because of the cost of steel.

“They came back so high that it makes the project as previously designed financially infeasible,” Reidy said.

Previously, the plans included using a “podium-build” technique to put some of the parking below the building. Reidy said the developer also looked into whether the buildings could rise to six stories, but that would also be cost-prohibitive to use steel, rather than wood.

The new plans would eliminate the southerly building and some parking, with 166 surface spaces, down from 186 parking spaces in the original plans.

Reidy said the latest floor plans from Kuhn Riddle Architects also shows the building extending further south along the road.

The development would replace the former Rafters Sports Bar & Restaurant building at 422 Amity St. and the 25-35 University Drive building whose main occupant is an Encharter Insurance offices.

Planning Board member Johanna Neumann wondered if the revised plans could have the building extend farther along University Drive, eliminating some of the surface parking.

But Reidy said the project needs the parking due to the commercial uses, and for circulation for fire engines.

The Conservation Commission is still reviewing the plans, with its hearing to reopen in February to issue an order of conditions. The Planning Board will resume the hearing Jan. 22, but will likely make a decision after the commission’s hearing.

Reidy said the former Rafters building, most recently used as a Pleasantrees marijuana dispensary, would be taken down in the spring, with site work to begin in summer 2025, and by early fall the building’s foundation would be in place. Construction would be completed by August 2026, so both residential and commercial tenants could move in.

What is unknown, Reidy said, is if the building will be phased in such a way that the 25-35 University Drive building could remain standing until the new space is ready.

Roundabout in works

Meanwhile, Town Council recently approved plans for a roundabout that would replace the signalized intersection of Amity Street and University Drive. The town was recently awarded $1.94 million from the MassWorks Infrastructure Program, with support from the University of Massachusetts, to pursue the roundabout.

Department of Public Works Superintendent Guilford Mooring said the roundabout is part of an accumulation of work and studies ongoing since 2003. The goal is to slow traffic down and pedestrians will have the ability to push a flashing light and cross when it is safe.

“This will be a much safer and much more usable intersection,” Mooring said.