41 replies to this topic

[orulz]

Hey, caught this interesting item in the agenda for today's TRC (Technical Review Committee) agenda:

Quote

1. Level II site plan review for the project identified as The Pioneer Building,  located at 190 Broadway
Street for a proposed mixed-used project consisting of 9,900 square feet of commercial space and 22
residential units. The owner is Boulevard Development Group, LLC and the contact is Kevin Kerr. PINs
9649.14-32-2671, 3774, 3720, 4710, 3687, and 3654.
Planner coordinating review – Alan Glines

This is very interesting and encouraging for the oft-ignored and underutilized Broadway Street corridor north of I-240 (Let's call the area "Broadway North.") This has to be new construction since there's nothing on the block right now that could possibly fit 9000 square feet of retail plus 22 residential units. The lot at 190 Broadway is currently the site of Asheville Recker & Towing Service, consisting mostly of a gravel storage lot / junkyard.

Before now, the only plan I'd heard of on Broadway North was Asheville Gateway, three 5-story buildings at 217, 227, and 237 Broadway. The Gateway project appears to be dead in the water, or at least stalled.

The developer for both the Pioneer Building and Asheville Gateway complex is Boulevard Development Group, LLC.

Based on the configuration of the lot, the number of units, and the retail square footage, I'd expect to see something similar in scale to Gateway - a four or five story building with parking partially underneath the building and partially in a surface lot wrapping the building to the rear and side. I'd rather have no parking on the side, but oh well. At the very least I hope there is no curb cut on Broadway.

That's all I know about this project, anybody else heard something about it?

[CapeFearRiver10]

The city is getting more urban by the minute.

[orulz]

Saw this article about development on Broadway in the Citizen-Times on Friday.

It says that the contract for construction of this building, at the corner of Broadway & Bordeau, has gone out to bid. I assume that means financing is secured and the building is a go? This building will be 4 stories tall.


The article also mentions the fate of Asheville Gateway. The project didn't get off the ground, and the land is now in the hands of the same company responsible for 190 Broadway. The building they plan at Broadway & Elizabeth (237 Broadway,) called the "second phase" by the C-T, is making its way through site plan review today:

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LEVEL III

1. Level III site plan for the project identified as Broadway Mixed-Use - Phase II, located at 237 Broadway Street. The development will include residential, office, retail uses, and a restaurant. The owner is Boulevard Development Group, LLC and the contact is Kevin Kerr. The properties are identified in the Buncombe County tax records as PINs 9649.14-32-0626, 9649.14-22-8963, 9806, & 9767.
Planner coordinating review – Kim Hamel

[jr7777]

The Citizen-Times had an article on the stalled growth of Broadway. They talk about how it's not pedestrian friendly and how cars zoom at 55-60 mph, despite the speed limit being 35. The DOT widened this road in 1997, hoping for it to be a downtown link to the future I-26 and relieve other downtown links such as Merrimon.

There are suggestions to narrow the south part of broadway from 4 lanes to 2 and have on-street parking. However, there is concern over it because they are not sure what traffic will be like in the area will be once the I-26 connector is complete. What do you think should be done to the Broadway corridor?

[orulz]

You're right... the city ceded control of Broadway to the state with the idea that it would be an entry corridor to downtown from I-26. (I think it was 1993, not 1997, though.) NCDOT purchased and condemned land along the old alignment to widen the street, leaving almost nothing standing between Chestnut and Weaver. However, if the I-26 connector project ends up building a new bridge over the French Broad for Patton Avenue, that will become the main access from I-26 to downtown, so the Broadway widening will be pretty much pointless.

The city should take Broadway back, convert the outside lanes to on-street parking, drop the speed limit to 25, and widen the sidewalks from a 3- or 4-foot section to an 8- or 10-foot section with bulb-outs at intersections. Forget the grassy "verge" between the sidewalk and the street; the parking spaces will be a sufficient barrier between pedestrians and traffic. The city could also put in stoplights at Starnes and Elizabeth to break things up into blocks.

North of five points, not sure how urban we can make it since the Reed Creek precludes double-loaded development. A few more signalized intersections would at least help with pedestrian friendliness. At the moment, there's nowhere for a pedestrian to cross between Chestnut and WT Weaver. The four-lane, median-divided parkway character is fine, as is the 35mph speed limit.

The Reed Creek Greenway will help with the pedestrian-friendliness between WT Weaver and Chestnut as well. I've also seen maps showing an "extension opportunity" for the greenway as far south as Starnes. That would be even better.

The big question is... how does the city pay for this? Property taxes? TIF? Hmm...

[orulz]

There's an article in the Citizen-Times about the "Pioneer Building" and "three other, similar buildings set to be built on Broadway between Elizabeth and Starnes." The Pioneer Building will be 6 stories tall. Says they plan to begin construction in the spring. That probably means they don't have funding yet, and that construction is contingent on selling enough units, so this one isn't 100% yet, but if it does happen, it'll be a much-needed shot in the arm for the corridor.

Not so sure I agree with the architectural style:

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The building has a steeply pitched roof and shingles on the outside of upper floors, reminiscent of a single-family home but on a much larger structure. Other parts will be clad in brick or pebbledash.

But as long as this is an urban design (don't see how it couldn't be) I'm fine with that.

[hauntedheadnc]

I'd have to see renderings before I could really comment on the style, but it looks like they're planning that same kind of thing for the new hotel in Biltmore Village and the renderings for that look wonderful.  

Do you supposed they're going for that boarding-house-turned-apartment-building look, like you find in so many city neighborhoods?  That would be pretty cool in and of itself.  A little taste of Montford on North Broadway, and all.

Regardless, I like the project.  It's very needed, and good for the city.  I just hope it's beautiful, too.

[orulz]

Looks like for 237 Broadway, Boulevard Development Group has opted to modify the original developer's plans rather than starting from scratch.

A few of the notable improvements are:
- The surface parking between buildings 1 & 2 has been removed, and replaced with a courtyard
- The connection between the buildings that was necessary to "screen" the parking is also gone and the buildings will appear unconnected from Broadway
- The off-street segment of Reed Creek greenway through this property will be constructed as a part of this project.

The plan is under review by city council today. The full document is here.

Here is a site plan and an elevation:

[Nindec]

I can't get that link to work, and the images aren't showing up.  Is the problem on my end?

[orulz]

Nindec, on Dec 12 2006, 06:04 PM, said:

I can't get that link to work, and the images aren't showing up.  Is the problem on my end?

Nope the problem is on my end. My web host (friend's server actually) is on the fritz.
In the meantime, here are the renderings/siteplan:

[hauntedheadnc]

Looks okay, although the architectural style for some reason makes me think of the Southwest.

[Nindec]

Looks like the next two buildings in this project are going up for approval today.  Four stories each, they'll have a combined 44 residential units, 18,000 sq ft retail, and 15,000 sq ft office.  

The article also says the Pioneer building already began construction -- has anyone been in that neck of the woods recently?  If so, that's awesome news, since they set spring of 2007 as a starting time.  It would be nice to see something moving ahead of their announced schedule.

This is very exciting.  But I realized today this means they'll probably be tearing down my favorite building on this corridor -- you can see it in the background, across the street in the picture from this older article.  The little two story building with a balcony over the store front? Achitecturally not all that exciting, but it just makes me feel like I'm in a neighborhood.  You don't see too many balconies oriented to the sidewalk like that.  Ah, well.  I bet its in a dismal state of repair.

[orulz]

Nindec, on Jan 8 2007, 12:46 PM, said:

But I realized today this means they'll probably be tearing down my favorite building on this corridor -- you can see it in the background, across the street in the picture from this older article.  The little two story building with a balcony over the store front? Achitecturally not all that exciting, but it just makes me feel like I'm in a neighborhood.  You don't see too many balconies oriented to the sidewalk like that.  Ah, well.  I bet its in a dismal state of repair.

Nope - That building stays. I definitely agree, it's very cool. Its address is 201 Broadway, it's called the Broadway Market Building, and it's actually listed on the national register of historic places. It sits on the only parcel on this side of Broadway between Starnes and Elizabeth not owned by Boulevard Development Company.  Its status on the National Register means it's elegible for some federal tax credits, and they might be able to convince the city to designate it as a landmark for property tax benefits as well.

Boulevard has written this lot out of their plan, the lot is very small which limits what else could possibly be built there, and the potential for tax credits would be lost with demolition or any significant modification, so I definitely expect this building to stay.

Read the document from the council agenda for more info. It probably won't be up there for more than a few days, so check it out.

[orulz]

orulz, on Jan 8 2007, 01:24 PM, said:

Nope - That building stays. I definitely agree, it's very cool. Its address is 201 Broadway, it's called the Broadway Market Building, and it's actually listed on the national register of historic places. It sits on the only parcel on this side of Broadway between Starnes and Elizabeth not owned by Boulevard Development Company.  Its status on the National Register means it's elegible for some federal tax credits, and they might be able to convince the city to designate it as a landmark for property tax benefits as well.

Boulevard has written this lot out of their plan, the lot is very small which limits what else could possibly be built there, and the potential for tax credits would be lost with demolition or any significant modification, so I definitely expect this building to stay.

Read the document from the council agenda for more info. It probably won't be up there for more than a few days, so check it out.

There are actually a few other buildings similar to this along Riverside Drive near the Silverline plant in Woodfin, if you ever feel like checking them out. That area really feels like the neighborhood that time forgot.

[Nindec]

orulz, on Jan 8 2007, 04:24 PM, said:

Nope - That building stays. I definitely agree, it's very cool. Its address is 201 Broadway, it's called the Broadway Market Building, and it's actually listed on the national register of historic places. It sits on the only parcel on this side of Broadway between Starnes and Elizabeth not owned by Boulevard Development Company.  Its status on the National Register means it's elegible for some federal tax credits, and they might be able to convince the city to designate it as a landmark for property tax benefits as well.

Boulevard has written this lot out of their plan, the lot is very small which limits what else could possibly be built there, and the potential for tax credits would be lost with demolition or any significant modification, so I definitely expect this building to stay.

orulz, you've just made my day.  In my book, having even one older building in a block does wonders for making it seem more 'real'.  Hopefully, all the surrounding development will encourage someone to renovate it soon.  

So do we know anything about the mysterious 4th building mentioned in the November article?  If they own everything but the Broadway Market Building on this block, could it be going just south of it to fill out the whole block?  With Broadway Market being saved, I guess you could call it 'aroundfill.'

[orulz]

Nindec, on Jan 8 2007, 06:14 PM, said:

So do we know anything about the mysterious 4th building mentioned in the November article?  If they own everything but the Broadway Market Building on this block, could it be going just south of it to fill out the whole block?  With Broadway Market being saved, I guess you could call it 'aroundfill.'

That's exactly the plan. Back when this project was being done by another developer (2005 and before) they had plans for another building, simlar size and similar in architectural style, to the ones being built just north of the Broadway Market Building. Boulevard seems to have borrowed the previous developer's plans (with some major improvements) for buildings 2 & 3, so it's likely they'll do something similar for building 4 as well. The scale is just fine, but I'd personally prefer it if building 4 were a different architectural style, rather than the sort of southwestern motif of buildings 2 & 3. Get some variety going on.

Anyway, I'd really like to see Broadway fill up with 2-6 story urban low-rises all the way from 240 to Five Points, and assuming Boulevard follows through with all their projects, they are doing a great job of making this come to pass.

[orulz]

Just wanted to add a rendering of the Pioneer Building at 190 Broadway.

This rendering is of the Broadway St. elevation, with the sidewalk-facing retail. The building will take up about half of the block, and stretch all the way along Bordeau to Marcellus.

I've seen a number of references in the C-T and on the city's web page stating that this building is already under construction; is this true? Somebody with a camera mind swinging by here and taking a photo?

[AsheVid]

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I've seen a number of references in the C-T and on the city's web page stating that this building is already under construction; is this true? Somebody with a camera mind swinging by here and taking a photo?

I haven't seen a ton of action there, but I drive by pretty frequently - I should be driving by tonight if it's not too dark I'll shoot a picture. Thank goodness for daylight savings!

Edited by AsheVid, 15 March 2007 - 01:30 PM.

[orulz]

Thanks, AsheVid. To confirm, the one I'm curious about is on the east side of Broadway, right here, not the one on the west side further up the block. (Though, actually, if there's construction there too I'd like to know about it as well )

[AsheVid]

Well, drat. I'm not sure I got the right spot. I pulled over onto Starnes and shot back towards the groovy looking old market w/ the upper floor balcony. I didn't see any active construction anywhere, although it is entirely possible that I missed something happening on the other side of the street while I was shooting on the western side. I did notice that the lot next door to the market was totally surrounded by the orange fencing, as you will see in my shot, but the existing building is still standing and the site was pretty deserted.
I'll check out the other side of the street the next time I am up that way. I live close to downtown so I drive Broadway quite a bit.
On a slightly related note, the Reid's Creek Greenway runs through there and it has really had a facelift recently. There's some nice bike paths and landscaping and new signs, and I noticed a new multiunit building going in a little further north that looked nice.
Here's a link to the photo, I'm not sure how to embed it in the message:
Broadway site?