Download as PDF

Design Review Board

Level 3: Construction of new building/structure

3-C-19-DT

This case has been appealed

Staff Recommendation
APPROVE Certificate 3-C-19-DT subject to the following conditions:

1) All glass overhead doors on a street facing elevation shall have clear glass, with exception for the utility door on the south side of the Locust Street elevation that is proposed with frosted glass panels.
2) All vehicular access points and design of entries are subject to approval by the City of Knoxville Department of Engineering. Changes to the design of the entries may require board approval if DDRB staff determines the changes to be significant and beyond what staff is authorized to approve administratively.
3) Obtaining all necessary approvals from the Tennessee Department of Transportation, City of Knoxville Department of Engineering and/or City Council for elements of the development that project into the public right-of-way, including but not limited to planters that are permanently affixed to the ground.
4) All signs must obtain approval from the Downtown Design Review Board as a separate application.
5) The streetscape improvements on public right-of-way must be brought back to the board when the streetscape design is finalized. The board shall provide a recommendation to the City administration regarding those improvements at that time.Case File
Location
624 W Church Ave
Applicant Request
This proposal is located on the former parking lot for the State Supreme Court building and is bounded by Henley Street, Church Avenue, and Locust Street. The building is 8-story tall and includes 230 apartment units with an interior courtyard. There is a two story structured parking garage below the building, with the lowest level being at the Henley Street elevation and the second level being below the Locust Street elevation. There are two garage entries, both from Church Avenue, and each entry is independent of each other (no vehicular circulation between floors). The parking garage is only for the residents of the building and will be equipped with high-speed doors and proximity card readers to minimize queuing time.

Most non-residential/amenity functions of the building will be located on the ground floor with commercial style storefronts. The Henley Street frontage will have the primary residential entrance (lobby) and leasing office, co-working space with public function, exterior patio, and fitness/exercise rooms. The Church Avenue frontage will have a bicycle lounge at mid-block and a series of lightboxes to display art along the sidewalk. The Church Avenue / Locust Street corner of the building contains the residential mailroom, a wrapping room, and the secondary residential entrance.

On the Locust Street frontage there will be three townhouse-style units with direct access to the sidewalk via stoops. The door will be recessed and there will be a painted steel canopy. The townhouse units are raised above the sidewalk, set back from the street with planters along the sidewalk edge, and have large street-facing windows.

On the south elevation (facing the State Supreme Court building) there is a brick enclosure near the sidewalk that screens the electrical transformers for the building.

Building materials (see page 14):
1) Black brick - Primary material for all ground floor facades adjacent to sidewalks. Used near the building corners on the south elevation, facing Supreme Court building. Primary material for second level of Church Avenue façade.

2) Phenolic panels with wood look - Secondary material for all ground floor facades adjacent to sidewalk. Accent material on the canopy that Henley Street canopies.

3) Hardie reveal system - Primary material on second level of Henley Street façade. Secondary material on Church Street façade. Accent material on all levels and balcony trim.

4) Aluminum storefront - Ground floor windows on all ground floor openings and second level at the primary residential entrance at the Henley Street and Church Avenue corner of the building.

5) Aluminum windows and sliding doors - Upper level openings.

6) Overhead doors - On the Locust Street elevation, segment utility door with frosted glass panels at the trash room on the south (left) side of the elevation. On the Church Street elevation, overhead door at the cycling center / maker space, located to the west (right) of the second level parking garage entry. The overhead door will façade the street.

7) Painted metal louvers - Large louvers are proposed on the ground floor (sidewalk elevation) along the Church Avenue elevation.

8) Lighting - Accent lighting will be provided on the upper levels to illuminate the façade of the building. Accent lighting will be integrated into the wrap around canopy at the Henley Street and Church Avenue corner of the building. This will illuminate the phenolic panel on the end of the canopy. Additional lighting will be provided at the entrances.

Site Plan: The building will be set back a minimum of 5 feet, as required by the C-2 zone district. The applicant is not requesting a waiver from the building setback as part of this approval. The only portions of the project that project into the setback are the stoops and planters on Locust Street, and the planter and patio on Henley Street. The balconies and canopies will not extend beyond the property line.

Streetscape: All adjacent streets are intended to have regularly spaced tree planters at the back of the curb, decorative street lights, and concrete sidewalks. Most of these improvements will be on the public right-of-way and requires further coordination with City and TDOT staff to determine the final design.
Staff Comments
This proposal is a significant development for this portion of downtown and will impact pedestrian and vehicular traffic around this block. Church Avenue is a major entry point for vehicles coming from the interstate since it is the first intersection available to turn into the downtown. There are two south bound turn lanes on Henley Street that turn into two lanes on Church Avenue. The first level parking garage entrance (closest to Henley Street) could cause in issue if cars are turning into the garage and create a queue that backs up into Henley Street. The design and location of the parking garage entries have not been approved by the City of Knoxville Department of Engineering. The Traffic Impact Study submitted by the development team states that accesses will function as right-in and right-out only, however, the design of the exit does not reinforce this movement. The design may have to be modified to channelize the movement of cars which could impact the size of the parking garage openings and create more conflict points between vehicles and pedestrians.

The guidelines recommend dividing larger buildings into 'modules' that are similar in scale to traditional downtown buildings. This area of downtown does not contain many blocks with buildings on narrow lots that naturally have vertical changes in building design and materials along a frontage. Most blocks in this area contain one or two large buildings with common design and materials along a frontage. The applicant proposes the use of balconies, material color change, and breaks in the cornice at the parapet to break up the long, flat nature of the façade without the use of wall articulations (segments of wall that project or recess). Ideally there would be some wall articulation on the upper levels, such as recessing the portions of the upper façade shown as dark gray stucco.

The planter on the Henley Street frontage near the residential lobby is shown projecting into the public right-of-way. This will either need to be reduced in size so it is entirely on-site or obtain the necessary approvals, which may include the Tennessee Department of Transportation, City of Knoxville Department of Engineering, and/or City Council.

Applicable Sections of the Guidelines:
Section 1.A.1. (PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLIST SAFETY)
Section 1.A.3. (PARKING FACILITIES)
Section 1.A.4. (DOWNTOWN BEAUTIFICATION)
Section 1.B.1 (BUILDING MASS, SCALE AND FORM)
Section 1.B.2. (BUILDING LOCATION)
Section 1.B.3. (BUILDING MATERIALS)
Section 1.B.4. (ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER)
Section 1.B.5. (GROUND FLOOR DOORS AND WINDOWS)
Section 1.B.6. (RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS)
Section 1.B.7. (MECHANICAL EQUIPMENT AND SERVICE UTILITIES)
Section 2.A. THE BOULEVARD DISTRICT
1. YARDS/SETBACKS
2. BUILDING CONSIDERATIONS
Applicant

Church & Henley Partners, LLC

Planning Staff
Mike Reynolds
Phone: 865-215-3827
Email: mike.reynolds@knoxplanning.org
Submit CommentsView Comments

Case History