Joe V. Williams said he is planning to construct a 20,000-square-foot office/retail building on property his family has owned on S. Broad Street since the 1880s.
However, Ann Weeks said the Broad Street Redevelopment Group opposes the rezoning.
She said it involves closure of a section of Cowart Street where houses were to be built under the Broad Street Redevelopment Plan.
Ms. Weeks said a Southside Garden residential community is penciled in at the rear of the Williams property.
But she acknowledged the residential development could not take place as long as the owner wanted another use.
Mr. Williams said he had been studying a use for the property for years and finally settled on the office/retail.
He said he has two unidentified tenants lined up already.
The planning commission recommended approval of the road closure with the provision that Mr. Williams later get the proper zoning - C-2.