SUMMARY: Proposed new 5-story residential construction. The building is proposed for a rectangular site at the intersection of W. Vine Ave. and Locust St., currently featuring the Carpenter's Union Building and a surface parking lot. The building is L shaped, extending the full length of the parcels along W. Vine Ave and Locust Street, and features a surface parking lot recessed behind the building.

SITE LAYOUT AND ACCESS: The parking lot is accessible via a 22' wide drive extending north off Cafego Place. Mechanical and service fixtures, including access to a trash room, are also located on this elevation. The primary pedestrian access point to the building is located to the rear of the building, in the north, as a storefront entry system located on the south elevation of the massing fronting W. Vine Ave. There are no ground-level entries or amenities fronting W. Vine Ave or Locust St.

DESIGN ELEMENTS [Revised for May DRB submission]: The flat-roof building features first and second stories clad in brick veneer. The third through fifth stories are clad in painted cement board, arranged in alternating bands of horizontal shiplap and vertical panels. On the elevations facing the parking lot, a section of the building features just one story of brick veneer cladding. Units feature paired double-hung windows and full-light sliding doors, which provide access to balconies on the second through fifth stories. A large red metal panel accent encloses interior bays on the north and south elevations and extends above the roofline.

1. The building is proposed for a parcel currently containing a c.1940 building (to be demolished) and surface parking. The site is surrounded by multi-family construction, including contemporary townhouse style units to the north and a tall multi-family building to the west, with a historic brick masonry church further to the east. The blocks feature a limited amount of pedestrian activity, as it is somewhat disconnected from Jackson Ave by topography and the rest of downtown by Summit Hill Drive.

2. The property was previously zoned DK-G, but rezoned by the applicant in DK-B in 2022. The DK-B subdistrict permits buildings with residential uses on the ground floor.

3. The application includes approximately 18 spaces on a new surface parking lot, accessed from Cafego Place. Overall, the access point meets the design guidelines as it creates only one curb cut on the sidewalk (where there are currently multiple) and will not create additional safety issues for pedestrians. The parking lot meets the guidelines as it's located to the rear of the building. The final site plan should meet City Engineering standards.

4. Guidelines encourage maintaining a pedestrian-scaled environment from block to block, and avoiding blank walls along street-facing elevations. The application avoids blank walls via a series of double-hung and fixed windows on the Vine elevation, with windows and sliding glass doors along the Locust St elevation. The guidelines also recommend dividing buildings into "modules" similar in scale to traditional downtown buildings with a recognizable base, middle, and top. The design includes details typical to contemporary multi-family buildings, using vertical bands to break up the massing along a brick foundation base and a parapet-topped roofline. The revised design incorporates additional masonry to define a base.

5. The project does not include any public uses on the first story. Many guidelines encourage incorporating first-floor uses that engage pedestrians and draw walk-in traffic. Other fully residential buildings approved by the Board recently include 701 E. Hill Avenue (8-F-22-DT), which noted that the building was proposed for a largely residential area which didn't contain other commercial or retail spaces. At 121 Union Ave (7-C-23-DT), the multi-family building included a retail use at the corner and engaged the street via a series of townhouse-style stoops and entries.

Guidelines recommend creating a "consistent rhythm of entrances and windows" along the ground-level elevations. The Vine Avenue elevation has a consistent rhythm of windows but only one door accessing the sidewalk, which is a secondary single-light door. There are no entrances on the Locust Street elevation. The primary building entrance is located on the rear of the building by the parking lot. The Board should discuss the proposed ground-level design and engagement with the street within the neighborhood context.

6. Guidelines recommend the use of building materials that "relate to the scale, durability, color, and texture of the predominate building materials in the area." The surrounding area is characterized by the use of brick masonry, from the c.1970s and 1980s multi-family buildings to the north and west, to the contemporary townhouses to the northwest, to the Fraternal Order of the Eagles Building and the historic church nearby. Fiber cement siding panels do not demonstrate the same durability or detail as historic masonry. The revised proposal includes two levels of brick masonry on the primary elevations, incorporating additional masonry in response to the guidelines and previous staff recommendations. The Board should discuss the proposed materials.

7. The proposal meets the guidelines for residential buildings, with residential accesses "elevated so that pedestrians cannot look directly into the residence from street level."

8. All mechanical and service utilities indicated on the plans meet the guidelines as located on secondary elevations; any not shown should receive screening as necessary. Lighting should meet City standards for exterior lighting.

9. The signs depicted on the elevation drawings do not contain sufficient information for Board review at this time; a separate signage application should be submitted to the DRB for further review.