Dear Neighbor,
I am writing to invite you to attend a community meeting to review a REVISED proposal for a new residential and commercial development at 1557-61 W. Howard (currently the site of the old Wisdom Bridge Theater building and the former DevCorp North office building). The meeting will be held onWednesday, May 5th, 7:00 p.m., at the Willye White Park Fieldhouse, 1610 W. Howard.
The original proposal was presented to the community at a public meeting held on Monday, February 22nd. The height, floor plan and density of the original proposal remain the same, but I have asked the developers–Richard Aronson and Scott Sinar–to change the proposed facade based on community input and feedback I received.
The proposal calls for a seven-story building with 60 residential units and 15,000 to 30,000 square feet of commercial space on the first and second floors. The proposal also includes 60-75 parking spaces located within the building.
The first three floors of the proposed development contain parking and retail and office space. No commercial or office tenants have been identified, but the developers have indicated a desire to locate a live theater company at the site. The top four floors would consist of either condominiums or rental units depending on market conditions at the time of completion of the project.
The property currently is zoned B3-3. A zoning change to B3-5 would be required to allow for the proposed development.
To view the floor plan, which remains the same under the revised proposal, click on the attachment below:
A number of community members who were present at the meeting or sent me e-mails expressed opposition to the modernistic design of the original proposed facade. To view the original facade design, click on the attachment below:
Original Facade Design.pdf (1242 KB)
Based on the community’s input, I asked the developers to return to the drawing board and come up with a more traditional facade that was more in keeping with the surrounding architecture. The developers came up with two different versions of an art deco brink facade. To view the proposed revised facade designs, click on the attachments below:
Revised Facade Designs.pdf (672 KB)
I urge you to attend the meeting to provide your opinions of the revised proposal. If you are unable to attend, please feel free to reply to this e-mail with your thoughts and suggestions.
Sincerely,
Joe Moore