Rountree Neighborhood Association board members and members of the Neighborhood Plan steering committee recently heard an update about development plans for the northwest corner of Cherry and Pickwick from the new owners and their architect. The owners are Keith and Kim Chaffin. You may know them as the owners of Hogan Land Title Company. The architect is Dake-Wells Architecture. We were given a walkthrough of a general site plan from Andrew Wells.
As you probably know, there is currently an administrative delay on all re-zonings and lot combinations within the boundaries of the RNA UCD while we draw up a new neighborhood plan and also get input about the Cherry and National corridors from a consultant hired by the city. This delay expires in September. The Chaffins have been working with Dake-Wells for the past several months on a design they believe will fit within the new paradigms being drawn up, and that the neighborhood will support. They have initiated a Planned Development, and in order to move forward they would need a letter of support from the RNA. (We have done this once before, for the expansion of the Domino’s Pizza building at 538 S. National.)
Ever since the RNA requested this delay more than three years ago, and especially since it was granted last year, our board has stressed that we are not against development, only that we wanted to have a set of guiding principles that all stakeholders could feel good about. It was our hope that any developers who wanted to move forward under existing zoning would at least hear our thoughts and plug into the Neighborhood Plan process to “skate to where the puck is going.” There were about a dozen board and steering committee members present to hear the Chaffin’s initial ideas, and we were in agreement that we believe they are skating to where the puck is headed.
That said, there are certainly plans for big changes in this area. We want to tell you what we know in order to gauge whether there would be enough support to issue them a waiver letter. Below is a rundown of what we know so far. The only visual drawn up so far is a site plan showing the footprints of proposed and existing buildings. It is very important to note that these plans could change somewhat as the project moves forward.
The site in question contains the current Josh Mitchell Gallery space on the corner, the old “Spanish Mission” brick building and three houses directly west of that. It also contains two rental homes behind the Spanish Mission.
The proposed plan includes:
- Preserving and restoring the Spanish Mission building into a mixed-use space with a business, possibly a restaurant, below and apartment space above. This was its original use; it was a pharmacy for decades.
- Preserving the small building on the corner. This, too, could be a restaurant space, or another type of business.
- Demolishing all five of the existing houses. The yellow house nearest to the Spanish Mission will be demolished very soon as it is a hazard.
- A new building on Cherry west of the Spanish Mission, with the same lot line up close to the sidewalk. Though it is one building, it will be “split” into two sections on the second and third stories, which will help break down the bulk and scale to be more similar to the Spanish Mission building and the old Turner (chiropractic) building across the street. The lower level would be for retail space, while the two upper levels would be apartments. The rooftop space above the first floor could be used as a rooftop terrace for tenants on the upper floors. You will notice that the outlines of the two upper spaces mimic the footprint of the Mission building.
- A new three-story building directly behind the Mission and corner building. First floor would be an office ideal for something like a graphic design or digital marketing shop, while the upper two floors would be upscale apartments. A single-story covered garage on the south side would serve tenants.
- A kind of pocket park in the center of the lot, accessible via a landscaped walkway between the Mission building and new building on Cherry. The Chaffins say this space is intended to be semi-public, not a private yard.
- A parking lot off the alley in the northwest corner of the lot, and head-in parking all along the alley. They are also looking at angled parking on Pickwick, though there are some considerations to work through with the City about that. Parallel parking on Cherry would be moved from the south to the north side of the street. Overall, there would be 44 parking spaces located on site, and 19 spaces located on street.
- Lots of accommodation for bikes and bike racks.
- Removal of all existing trees, and new ones planted. The Chaffins have consulted with Noel Boyer and All About Trees on this project. They said they looked at ways to save existing trees before making the call to remove them; however, Noel suggested that lightning had already damaged the most desirable ones, and the remaining trees were not of good quality, either. He suggested they be removed during construction. They said they want to replant with larger young trees where possible.
While no designs or concepts for the new buildings were presented, we were told that Dake-Wells and the Chaffins want to explore contemporary designs that compliment, but do not mimic, the Spanish Mission building. They also said they do not intend to make the building artificially high with parapet walls that effectively add another story to the height (as often seen on other new buildings in center city). The Chaffins are travelers who are taking notes and photos in other cities around the country of designs they like in order to guide Dake-Wells.