A developer plans to change tack on a project in North Suffolk by building residences instead of offices, according to applications city of Suffolk planners are considering.

Two applications lodged with the city would rezone a Bridge Road site dubbed Bennett’s Creek Commons from Office-Institutional to Neighborhood Commercial District, as well as permit a 144-unit multi-family garden apartment complex.

“There is a rezoning (application) because they are proposing to rezone most of the parcel,” said Shanda Davenport, the city’s principal planner.

If the subject site is not rezoned, she said, the apartments proposed in the accompanying conditional use permit application would not be permissible.

Originally, Davenport said, the entire site was approved for flex offices. “It’s different than a multi-story office building,” she added. “(It’s) typically single-story, with individual tenants. They built one building, and the portion that building is on, they are proposing to remain at the (current) zoning.”

Davenport said a site plan was approved for flex offices and multi-story offices. The address is 3345 Bridge Road — when driving west, to the left, just before the Bennett’s Creek Bridge.

“According to their application, they are seeking the rezoning because of market conditions,” Davenport said. “Obviously, they haven’t had tenants showing up.”

The 144 garden apartments would join a growing number of apartments in North Suffolk. Garden apartments are essentially defined as a two- or three-story multi-family dwellings with eight to 10 dwellings in each building.

Davenport said her department was still formulating its recommendations on the twin applications, which are scheduled for consideration by the Suffolk Planning Commission on March 18. The commission meets at city hall, 441 Market St., at 2 p.m.

Providing the two applications were approved, before the project moved further ahead, Davenport said, a site plan offering further details would be required.

“This is just the first step,” she said.