 DDRC members staff and guests multiple staff members are present to make sure that the meeting runs smoothly and all applicants and citizens are able to communicate with the Commission at the appropriate time Miss Branham here Mr. Broom here Mr. Dinkins here Mr. Greenberg Miss Jacob here Mr. McGuire Mr. Salibi here and Mr. Wolf has not made it but we have quorum in order to avoid ex parte communications DDRC members are under strict instructions not to discuss cases under consideration with the public or with each other outside of the public forum the meeting typically starts with staff calling the case giving a summary of the project and then calling on the applicant to present if they wish decisions are typically made in one evening decisions may be appealed within 30 days to a court of competent jurisdiction those will be administered individually as we hear either from applicants or from live speakers applicants with requests before the DDRC are allotted a presentation time of 10 minutes this time should include but is not limited is not limited to an overview of the project case history and any pertinent meetings held regarding the request this time also includes all persons presenting information on behalf of the applicants such as attorneys engineers and architects this time limit does not include any questions asked by the DDRC or staff regarding request members of the general public are given the opportunity to address their concerns and intervals of two minutes applicants may have five minutes to respond staff as a timer and will make presenters aware of when the time has expired are there any changes to the agenda we have one case that was withdrawn 431 to 433 Wacama Avenue or request for design approval for exterior changes in the Wales Garden architectural conservation district the DDRC uses the consent agenda to approve noncontroversial or routine matters by a single motion and vote if a member of the DDRC or the general public wants to discuss an item on the consent agenda that item is removed from the agenda and considered during the meeting the DDRC then improves the remaining consent agenda items will staff please read the consent agenda certainly our consent agenda is 2310 to 2312 Sumter Street request for preliminary certification for the Bailey bill in the Cottontown Bellevue architectural conservation district 1619 Sumter Street request for preliminary certification for the Bailey bill for a national register structure 2924 Kershaw Street request for a certificate of design approval or in addition in the Melrose Heights Oakland architectural conservation district 800 803 829 Richland Street the venues at Arsenal Hill which is a request for a certificate of design approval for site improvements in new construction or an individual landmark in the governor's mansion protection area and the last is 2701 Clark Street a request for design approval for new construction in the Earlwood Protection Area a is there anyone from the DDRC that would like any item removed from the consent agenda is there anyone from the public that would like to have an item removed from the consent agenda do I have a motion and a second to set the consent agenda as presented here and also the September minutes second second Miss Jaco yes Mr. Bram yes Miss Sims Brannum yes Mr. Dinkins yes Mr. Greenberg yes Mr. McGuire yes Mr. Suleyby yes motion passes and we move to the regular agenda first case this is 1315 Woodrow Street it's a request for a certificate of design approval for exterior changes specifically window replacement in the Melrose Heights Oakland architectural conservation district this is a circa 1940s one-story Brickmanier house it features a cross gable roof enclosed front porch and original three over one wood windows the applicant is requesting wholesale replacement of the original windows with three over one five rex windows with exterior montains windows on the front and sides are considered visible from the right of way and require review for any proposed changes the principles for windows state windows are a significant character defining feature of any structure they are like a piece of good furniture original windows were constructed so that individual components could be repaired instead of requiring an entire new unit if one piece breaks or rots staff has evaluated the visible windows and has found no areas of deterioration that are not repairable staff has found no examples in this or other architectural conservation districts where wholesale replacement of original windows was approved guidelines state when technically and economically feasible repair of deteriorated or damaged windows shall be preferred over replacement repair of the windows is both technically and economically feasible quote for repair was considerably cheaper than the quote for wholesale window replacement quote for full restoration includes full window restoration which would make all original windows fully operable again and I've included giving you each a copy of the quote for repair and the quote for the replacement windows to show you those items that would be included for each staff recommendation staff finds that the request for wholesale window replacement of 1315 Woodrow Street is not in keeping with sections five two of the Melrose Heights Oak Lawn architectural conservation district design guidelines and recommends a denial of this request and I have a couple just to show you the windows themselves they have screens in front of them and you can see there is some paint build up which is typical for windows of this age and I believe the applicant is here to speak and I live at 1315 Woodrow Street and do you swear to tell the truth in this proceeding I'm 63 years old and next week I'll be 64 I want to replace the existing windows in my home with new windows of the same design the appearance of my house will remain the same the new windows have three vertical panes on the top and one large pane on the bottom just like the ones that are there now the new windows will be double paint and more energy efficient they will be easier for me to open and close and easier to clean I am not trying to change the way my house looks I like the way it looks that is why the new windows will be the same style and size as the old windows according to the estimate I received from Stacy Richie the repair and restoration of the existing windows could not begin until January of 2023 and would take 12 to 14 months while the windows were being worked on in the space each window occupied would be filled with plywood there would be no additional energy efficiency from double pane glass and cleaning especially outside would be very difficult I hope you will approve the replacement of the windows in my home and when the lady who did the estimate for the restoration she only looked at two windows and she looked at one that I'm not planning on replacing and one that I asked her to look at but I really don't think her estimate because some of the windows are in very poor repair excuse me was very thorough her examination was not thorough so let me just make sure we have to make sure we whoever speaking at the time let me let me ask them that right there with the applicant does any commissioner have any questions of the applicant before we move on have you considered potentially replacing the ones that just aren't visible from the street five windows across the back of my house were replaced two in a guest bedroom two in my bedroom and one in the master bathroom and those photos Rachel took she and Amy came out to look at them and see what the windows looked like installed the staff do you feel like all the rest are visible from the street that was my feeling when we went out there the only thing that's really hiding them is that a little bit of like plants which we can't really use as they're not visible and just to to be clear the the window replacements that the company makes would be appropriate for windows that were beyond repair their the quality of them is is what we would look for for a replacement window when that is applicable toward skyline mr. Dickens anything else you good i'm i'm good so just so i'm clear how many are we talking about replacing now 13 13 additional ones yes in addition to the five that were replaced already there were 18 to start with two of the windows are lead into the enclosed porch so they wouldn't be replaced the windows on the sides like to clean from outside you would need a large ladder especially on the left side of the home when you're looking at it from the street that side you'd probably need a 12 or 15 foot ladder to clean the windows and the house on that side is much closer to my home than the house on the other side where my driveway is so how many so how many are in this complete disrepair that you're speaking of that perhaps our staff didn't see two two are very bad one was unless you really looked it was filled with epoxy filled with caulk and then metal was wrapped around it i didn't know it when i bought the house but then it was all painted to look like the original window and that's a window either in the dining room or the kitchen it's on the driveway side and that um that's supposed to be the worst window then in the front bedroom there's a window that has a large chunk that you can see is missing from the inside and if you go outside on the other side there's a large chunk that you can see is missing from the outside and um Stacy Richie said she would be repairing that window with epoxy that was the only window that she examined that was one that i would replace and that's allowable is that correct staff if it's beyond well are you saying it's beyond repair and that she would recommend replacement she said she would fix it with epoxy and that's not really original materials either is what i'm saying she said she could fix it with epoxy the first one that's a common repair first so it is right and just for my own clarification but none of these windows have already been these are all still all original windows right now okay the one she's talking about the 13 remaining windows yes i mean original as in what's there to the house yes okay right okay we've got cost estimates of a replacing or a wholesale replacement and then repair of the existing windows have you looked at replacing the 13 windows visible from the right of way with windows of similar material or that be cost prohibitive is that an option with staff yeah that would be very much more expensive probably 50 percent more and it's not something we would advise anyway because older windows of this age have wood that is so dense because the trees were allowed to mature for such a time that it's insect and moisture resistant and i've had window manufacturers tell me in the last three years that any windows they sell even wood windows made of mahogany are not of the quality that wood windows are of this age that helps at all they're more prone to rot these days yes they're not replacing the window frame or the window sills except for that one that's already like rotted they're only replacing the moving part of the window the the upper and the lower moving parts of the window nothing else sashes sashes oh okay yeah so i know that you mentioned that um one of the downsides to not be able to replace them wholesale is the long time it was going to take if i can i mean i think you said it would take longer 12 months or something both the 14 months was her estimate yes but that would only do like one or two at a time i was gonna say i hope that means that that she would only do a few at a time that have plywood up for that period of time but i just wanted to clarify that it wasn't like we were gonna cardboard we weren't gonna plywood up every window in your house no i don't i don't think that's what she intended i think it was like one or two it would be phased yeah i guess the question for staff and for the owner and looking at the house from the front and i can't find any record but have there any been any modifications to the front it kind of looked like it was enclosed or yeah the the front porch was enclosed a while back so there are windows there now but are those included in these 13 which windows okay i think he's asking if there was a change to the original windows when that was done it looks like right the only approach is enclosed but it was like that when i bought it i bought the house in march of 2019 and it was just the way it is so these are not included in the 13 the wrong the front but they are newer i mean windows the enclosure is is newer yes there are two windows on the porch like she said that are original windows but she wouldn't she's not asking to replace those no those are not those aren't to the outside did you have someone else that you wanted to present some information all right if the individual could come up and state your name and do you swear to tell the truth in this proceeding my name is Logan Heinzley representative of renewal by Anderson and i state to tell my race yeah make sure you speak in the microphone normally tell me i'm too loud so i think that we've had the basic information to answer the question about the the windows on the front of the home those are door panels those door panels are about seven or eight years old that are not original to the home the windows in question are the old wood windows um stated previously the windows in the home are becoming it they're in different states of disrepair so the window in the driveway side that um i had my timer set too i'll have a a total of 10 minutes of oh so have we passed that with all the banter okay all right did you want to show us something yeah why don't you just show it real quick yeah that the ladies i personally live in my parents home was built in 1800 very simple thing one scope what you see is all of that stuff this is where that is let me check in now i look i gave that because i felt like we had discussion and it went into their time so yeah you're okay you're correct all right i was just making sure all right good good any commissioner have any questions at this point thank you we will now hear comments from the public commissioners i'm martha fowler i serve on the executive committee for the melrose neighborhood association and josh shelton asked me to read a letter from him he is the president of our neighborhood association after i read his i would like to speak myself okay great and you stated your name so do you just swear to tell the truth in this proceeding i did thank you very much from josh shelton i'm writing in regard to the 1315 woodrow street our neighborhood association does not support the removal change of the windows we find that the request for these exterior changes violates the melrose heights oak lawn architectural conservation districts design guidelines our neighborhood desires that the windows be repaired and restored so that it's in keeping with our guidelines and fits in with the unique character of our neighborhood which is listed on the national register of historic places the historic melrose neighborhood association requests that you would reject this submission and have the applicants work with the city preservation staff to create a window restoration plan that is in keeping with our guidelines josh was shelton president historic melrose neighborhood association and he gives his phone number if you want to call him now i would like to speak for myself i i live in one of the historic houses my house is about 110 years old it was built in 18 in 1917 i have absolutely beautiful windows and i maintain them because that's what you have to do when you have an old piece of property that's of quality when you walk into my front rooms my living room in my dining room the sun that comes through those wavy glass windows is like crystal it's beautiful when you change the character of home by taking away that quality you can't put it back once it's gone it's gone um i do a lot of historic preservation i'm responsible for for some of the properties that are on the 1600 block of main street which is the gem of our city for historic preservation pay attention to what you keep hold on to things and and value them um i just can't speak highly enough for the things that we have in melrose and and our historic properties that we take care of once they're gone they're gone um i have to ma'am i just want to say i'm going to make sure are we staff good okay may i say yeah although i suppose that miss fowler might have another minutes since she wrote read for mr shelter no right for two different and i apologize i just want to make sure when i took your dings over there but well i want to i want to speak because i'm not i'm not chatting y'all but for the last several years this commission has allowed some changes that went completely opposite our guidelines um this commission and i'm not saying y'all because most of y'all weren't on this commission they have allowed vinyl siding they have painted brick houses now we want to change windows each time you do that you take away a facet in our community that you can't build back we have had wonderful situations where people have taken advantage of the baili bill which this city has has embraced that has changed properties from the value of a hundred and eighty thousand dollars to six hundred and fifty thousand dollars in a six month period when you take those facets away they're gone for good if you paint a red brick house that has beautiful granite and and gold brick detail and you paint it white it's gone for good you can't get it back and that's the character of melrose and i just beseech you to pay attention to the guidelines that we not only voted we wrote we voted for and we voted to uphold them just three years ago and since then COVID has happened and things have happened and we've not been able to come in and speak it floored me when i was sitting at home in a meeting and the drc approved vinyl siding really vinyl siding you know i don't get it but please value our community because our our community is really special and if you don't know melrose it's really a cool neighborhood and we we have so many great things that happen and we ask you to please help us uphold what we wrote we got funded we appealed and we want to keep well thank you thank you i appreciate that thank you staff but i'll just have when the time is up why don't you just say something since i know i notice we don't have the lights like we did last time so that threw me off a little bit too all right sorry public comments my official timekeeper over there please please state your name my name is john shear i'm the director of preservation for historic columbia everything i say will be the truth i'm also a property owner in melrose oakland architectural conservation district a district that was established by that community and is upholded by that community has been appealed by that community with the coordination of efforts with the ddrc over the past several years i bought that property in 2007 and since that time performed a tremendous amount of work on that property up to and including new construction that involved very high quality replacement windows i shouldn't say replacement windows but new construction windows on an attic that was turned into three rooms since that time one of those windows has failed and that company is no longer in business but all of the original windows that i personally rehabilitated that i restored in situ without having to take them out all of those are fine and they cost me a lot less than any of the new construction not knocking the new construction windows with the exception of the fact that there are things that can be done to retain the historic fabric in these buildings without having to to spend a tremendous amount of money quite frankly the guidelines are there we know what they are people who buy into the neighborhood know what they are yes there are examples and there are instances in which materials have failed but they can be replaced historic windows are a lot easier to to fix than complete wholesale replacement as far as the energy efficiency there's not enough time in my life to actually see any kind of energy efficiency realized in window replacement if i want energy efficiency i will work on insulation in the attic and so forth or interior storms if you want to go that route thumbs up thank you any other comments from the public just please state your name and do you swear to tell the truth Hugh Jacobs i'm Barry ellens next door neighbor and i've i've been a member i've been in did you swear to tell the truth pardon i swear okay thank you um i've been a melrose is the best neighborhood in columbia and i i voted for the historical preservation district back when we did and i have no problems with any of that at all but like martha said a block away a brick house just got painted a month ago well you can see that and i have i personally i have no problem with that but i do know we're in a historical district and apparently i thought that that was not allowed now you can ride down melrose or woodrow street and you can obviously see that house painted but one side of mary ellens house you can't see it all where the windows would be and up from the street really and then there's the other side um they they divided her lot into two when she bought that house and they built a house which i'm glad to have behind hers but when they applied for changes on the architecture styling of their house they were given a waiver because they weren't really considered in the mail they were on the edge of the melrose neighborhood so i'm going well does that mean that we're on the edge of the melrose neighborhood because it's mary ellens backyard where this house was built on melrose street so i'm just saying i don't i have no problem with any of the things that the historical designation does and keeps us from doing our houses but i just think it needs to be applied equally so that's all i'm saying i'm not going to replace my windows probably but mary ellens a great neighbor and i'm just here for that and i love melrose and i'm all for the historical preservation part of melrose and there are a lot of people that have done wonderful things from melrose i'm sure you never want to so thank you sir that that was two minutes okay all right thank you any other members from the public because a couple uh i had a couple clarifications from staff so this house property is in the melrose district just verify it okay and what is visible so when staff went out there my assessment was that both sides were visible and i'm happy to look at it the one window is really not repairable and rotten i'm i'm happy to look at that again but i just didn't notice anything when i was out there the last time that would require yeah full replacement well i mean i've seen presentations that miss richie has done in her work so i have confidence that she knows what she's recommending um okay does the applicant has an opportunity if you have any responses you want to any response to what you've heard here from the public any questions follow up from commissioners any questions staff everybody's good sure you please so i i'd just like to make a statement that first of all i think anderson windows are exceptional windows this is not a reflection on the on the um ability for anderson to produce a great window so thank you for the show and tell there that we had for a minute but uh i think several people mentioned let's stick with the guidelines and make sure we don't let this happen again and make everybody do the same thing that came from both sides so our job here is to indeed do that and and uphold can't speak for the other decisions that have been made over the years that that may change some things in the neighborhood but um i just wanted to tell you that i appreciate you as a as a member of that community but we also um are here to to uphold the guidelines all right if there are no other questions or comments i'll open up before for a motion i'll make a motion we're ready um miss parker i do sympathize with you and i understand where you're coming from however i don't recollect any time we're in a architect architectural conservation district we have allowed replacement of visible exterior windows uh they're very important to the character of the neighborhood and to the conservation district and i i really uh wish you the best of luck but i'm moved to um deny the request for certificate design approval for exterior changes at 1315 woodrow street based on it not in keeping with section five point two of the mirror's heights and oak growth oak long architectural conservation district design guidelines i have a second second miss jaco yes mr brume yeah miss sims brannum yes mr dinkins yes mr greenberg mr maguire yes mr salibi yes and mr wolf yes the motion passes thank you um next case uh but is this the one yes he's stepping out okay we have one commissioner needs to recuse okay this is 1525 bull street or the beaver lee apartments it's a request for a certificate of design approval for exterior changes including a rooftop addition this building is in an individual landmark um and this property received the bailey bill in may 2021 which still applies generally the generally the intent for the structure is to retain the historic character of the building and to restore missing or altered components to more historically correct versions um this includes the um replacement windows these are not original windows on the building um which will be replaced with windows to match the characteristics of the original windows staff's only outstanding concern with the scope involves the rooftop addition ddrc approvals for rooftop bars well rooftop bars and additions in the past have been based upon their placement on the roof requiring that they are not visible or very minimally visible from the public right of ways when rooftop additions are too visible they can affect the character of the building by concentrating focus on architecture distinct from the historic building or by changing the perceived massing of the building the proposed rooftop addition is a rectangular structure roughly centered within the mass of the building the rooftop addition was originally proposed to be clad in a hardy hardy panel siting which is not historically found on the building the applicant has um made some changes to the proposal with more glass which staff has recommended which they'll talk about in a moment um also there is a building that's proposed to the north however we can only consider the current condition for the site um as proposed development is never really certain um but regardless of that the rooftop addition would be highly visible when viewed up bull street near the corner of hampton looking north which is this view here and you can see the um kind of skeleton of what the footprint would be for that addition do the overall visibility staff recommends the design be modified to lessen the visual impact staff recommends using more glass than solid wall on the addition so that the addition may better blend with its background uh likewise the use of glass will utilize a material that is already part of the historic building but still allow for design that's different differentiated from the historic building as specified in the standards staff's recommendations uh staff finds up the project generally complies with section 17-2.5 g6 b-2 and section 17-2.5 y of the city ordinance and recommends granting a certificate of design approval for exterior changes with the following conditions the rooftop addition design be modified to minimize its appearance and incorporate more glass with materials compatible with the historic structure and final design approval review and approval defer to staff staff to review and approve configuration materials of all proposed new windows in the front door if it cannot be repaired any future signage and fence or wall proposals be deferred to staff and all other details deferred to staff um and as i said the applicant is here and did um send some revised drawings that show renderings of of the addition with more glass um staff has not seen the actual drawings yet so i can't say but this project is also a tax credit project which means their design also has to go through state historic preservation office which they have not received comments on so that's another reason staff is asking to defer that final decision to staff to work with the the applicant because we won't really know what it needs to be finally until the SHPO returns comments um so that's part of the the issue procedurally though we can move forward yes yeah your your decision is independent but if you you know defer the final independent but yet dependent i mean these are always but if you defer the final decision to me um i can work with them and then if there's some issue we can bring it back to you okay that makes sense he has the fanciest microphone so can we pass a non-modified acceptance of the rooftop addition the initial submission you can if you believe it meets the guidelines yeah right is the applicant present or do y'all want to hear the applicant and then maybe we can ask the question yeah i was i was gonna say if we don't have drawings i'd love to hear from the applicant what what he's proposing i mean we can all just debate amongst ourselves i'm sure my name is andrew rogerson representing garden design group on this project and you swear to tell the truth i'm just proceeding i do just make sure you speak in the microphone okay i can hear you okay i'll try to uh where these are so we did as rachel mentioned um sent modified drawings that altered the rooftop addition from hardy plank clad to aluminum storefront and glass to limit the impact of those views that you've seen um so these elevations on the screen reflect that altered materiality um and we added a couple of views from those same vantage points the bottom right here from bull and taylor enlarging that viewpoint um which and as rachel mentioned this shows the proposed future construction on that corner which may or may not happen but um is something that we're um considering and then the view from bull and hampton as well with that future construction beyond um and you can see that viewpoint there with the glass facade um and as rachel mentioned we're we're still working through this with with staff as well as going through the part two process with the state historic preservation office and so we're happy to work with them on any modifications that may be required based on those comments so you didn't have any concerns with any of the recommendations that staff provided we did not okay oh and i will point out um just the the roof plan um we did locate that that rooftop addition as far back as we could and from each parapet in in either direction so so what you see here is the minimum footprint to access that rooftop so i have one quick question so are you it's kind of hard to see in these very small images here but you're it's all going to be glass it will okay that's right yep well thank you for doing that and sure i think that that helped solve a lot of them that's right but i was going to ask too that the hardy plank that you are putting on the rear elevation is that proposed to be white and are you keeping that hardy plank back there that will be a neutral tone so the framing on the rear which let me see if i can find an elevation of that um so here you can see the before on the left and after on the right um these were sleeping porches originally um and they were closed in over time and so there are some wood aspects to that enclosure that were then duplicating with hardy plank it wasn't an original material but over time it's kind of adapted um and so we're just replacing it with being kind but a neutral color as opposed to white that was that was the thing that was throwing me off about that roof roof you know was the even though the windows are clearly going back to their original white look but i was a little worried about the white stark white panel that's right yeah appreciate you working with us on that absolutely i want to get one thing clear about the rooftop do you have HVAC on top of the roof or how does that how does that work mechanical wise we will have some mechanical on the roof as well and these are intended to be private roof decks for the third floor apartment so they they're the only ones that will have access to that and so they will have a view of some rooftop mechanical but we'll place that again recessed from the parapet so to be minimally visible from the street they'll see it obviously from the rooftop deck are their rooftop units there now they're not they're on the ground now i believe mr is any other questions thank you staff any new comments with everything we're good you want to open i mean the only thing i would say is i really haven't had the time yet to study the the drawing so i i can't make a recommendation based on these modified ones he did he did a very good job getting these to us but uh it was you know last night so staff thinks it's definitely an improvement it kind of disappears a bit more which is which is what we are recommending you want me to open it then to the public we'll now hear any comments from the public anybody here want to speak there's no other commentary i will open it up then for a motion in a second i move madam chair to approve the request for certificate of design approval for 1525 bull street for exterior changes that since it generally complies with section 17- 2.5 and well g 6p-2 and section 17- 2.5 the city ordinance ordinance with the following conditions that the rooftop addition design be modified to minimize its appearance and incorporate more glass and materials compatible with the historic structure with final design review and approval deferred to staff that staff review and approve the configuration materials of all proposed new windows and the front door if it cannot be repaired any future signage and fence slash wall proposals be deferred to staff and all other details deferred to staff miss jaco yes mr broom yes miss sims brannum yes mr dinkins no mr greenberg mr maguire yes mr salibi yes mr wolf oh sorry it's reduced the motion passes so the next case is 1200 main street just a moment and let us get so this property um also known as number one main is as y'all all know situated at the corner of main injure bay streets directly across from the state house um it was designed and constructed in 1912 to 1913 and was built to house a very young union bank at that point in time with speculative office space on the upper floors it's got a very small footprint but a powerful presence and it was one of the first of three early skyscrapers in the city so as originally constructed the building was steel and reinforced concrete cloud and terracotta some very elaborate terracotta panels with a lot of detail and one over one wood windows but early alterations changed that terracotta cladding and in the 60s glass panels covered over those in an attempt to update the building and so it changed it from a very um elaborate beautiful historic structure to a much more sleek modern structure in the 60s so changed its character significantly the current owners have you probably have noticed they removed a lot of the glass panels already in a start to restore the historic character of the building and to bring back the original terracotta detailing and presence of the building so um they've very carefully gone through different iterations of um color for terracotta panels for anything that has to be repaired all of the headers on the um panels were removed when the glass panels came on so uh or the headers for the windows so those all have to be replaced and here at the bottom picture um on the screen we have the sample panel pointed to in red that seems like a very close match with correct dimensions color etc it took a lot of work um for the owners to get there but they stuck with it um they're also removing replacement windows that came in and were smaller in size and they're going back with correctly sized windows with a one over one configuration and coming back to um the originally sized openings of the window they're also proposing um a rooftop bar um and they've constructed a frame on the top of the building uh to demonstrate heights distance from the edge of the building etc so um and also I shouldn't forget there's an adjoining property at 1202 that they also own and the lobby from 1200 is going to open into the building the first floor of 1202 um so they can expand into that space and the stair tower for the hotel um will be built over the top of 1202 and coming into 1200 main up along the um as you face the building's entrance on main street it'll be to the left of the building over 1202 and the back five bays which normally we would not um well let me back up this is going to take away several bays of windows along that side but staff found this uh permissible and approvable because this is more of a utility side of the building um the building has a very small footprint that's built to the lot lines and there's no good place to put a stair tower except really where they've located it um and the building footprint again itself is so small but I think putting the stair tower or circulation inside the building would um appropriate a good deal of their square footage inside so going back to the rooftop bar um that is largely the outstanding issue we have a lot of details that we've recommended to be deferred to staff in terms of terracotta detailing final detailing of windows um and doors which they're going back with an original configuration on street facing doors um but the rooftop bar is the piece of the of the puzzle um that we're still really working on so I will leave it there and um pregato the architect is here and he'll give you a little more detail on the on the building and the intentions but staff's recommendation is for approval with details and design of the rooftop bar to come back to to staff if y'all are comfortable with that hey I'm Craig I'll tell the architect for the project do you sort of tell the truth in this proceeding I do so as Amy was describing um there's three basic pieces of the puzzle that we're doing for this building one is a restoration of the exterior back to pretty much the way it was originally in 1913 uh the terracotta the windows just generally the color and shape of the exterior of the building and that's being worked on now if you go by you'll see some scaffolding they're doing repairs as they go fortunately uh some of the a lot of the terracotta is is still in good shape when the people in the 60s uh covered the building they actually chipped off and broke off a whole bunch of the terracotta it's it was it was it's heartbreaking when you go and see it we thought that that should be a crime from now on if you want to consider that and the ddrc but they have they've taken off almost all the glass panels now all the terracotta has been exposed and a lot of it is in good shape thankfully and they're repairing it as they go so that's pretty pretty easy to understand and then also the replacement of all the windows are going back to a historic design that they were originally the the windows looking at this view the windows on this far right side and the windows on the back side facing north are existing and they're just going to restore those they're they're the original windows but but main street and jervais street they're all going to be brand new windows mimicking the historic windows that were there originally the stair tower is also another the second of the three components which is a required there's we have to have the stair tower it's a stair that's an elevator there's a lobby between the stair and the elevator of eight feet by eight feet as small as we could get it and then there's a linen chute room behind the elevator the the stair tower serves a few a number of purposes one of which is the stairway there is only one stairway inside the building as it exists now so if you're on the 10th floor 11th floor you can only go down one stair to get out and it's a skinny little stair so we're building a new stair that's wider and built to code the all they also already have two elevators in the building that are existing but again they're tiny four or five feet by four feet they're restoring those and they are going to be operable but we're adding a whole another elevator in the stair tower that'll be a stretcher big enough for a stretcher to fit in for for code reasons so the stair is required for code the elevators required for code and and additionally the stair tower itself is all built out of concrete and it's attached to this building to actually bring this building up to current structural codes for earthquakes for seismic design the building does not meet current codes and the stair tower will make will stabilize it it's got deep foundations underneath it if if if you could go see what they're doing it's really quite remarkable they cut a hole in the floor of the adjacent building 1202 built down to cut broke everything out went down to the red clay dug that down four or five feet and i'm talking you know the size of a stair tower from that wall almost to that wall and they're putting in helical piers down deep into the ground a hundred of them to set the stair tower on top of and then once that stair tower is constructed the the old building is kind of connected to it such that it it's stabilized so it's really a huge undertaking which you can't hardly see that because the the front of 1202 looks like it pretty much always has so you don't you would have no idea what's going on behind that facade so that's the the second of the three components that we're here for today and then the third is the rooftop bar if you had an opportunity to go up there the very first time i went up there and everybody that's gone up there since when you get up onto the roof which of course is a roof right now there's nothing there except there isn't a there is an elevator machine room but when you stand looking at the state house you'll see the best view of the state house that you've ever seen in your entire lives because it's it's up high but it's still not so high that you're looking down on the state house you're still looking pretty much at it and there's no there's no glass in your way so you're looking you're looking right over the edge of the roof at the building i've taken pictures up there every time i've gone up there the buildings across main the large buildings all have a view of the state house but you're looking through glass from the roof of this building you you have no glass to look through you're looking straight as beautiful so the owners want to capture that that space and make it useful and make it a place that every one of you would would would love to hang out in i know i would and go have a cocktail and go hang out if you drink so the view is is really stunning what we've done with that rooftop bar is we've not we've not tried to capture the whole roof with a structure we've set the the walls of that structure back from the jervay street side i don't remember the exact number but it's approximately seven or eight feet uh on on sort of the right side uh the wall curves around so that it is going away from the front as it approaches main street when it gets to main street it's about eight feet off of that side as well but from the front left tippy top corner to the to the curved wall it's 20 feet so so that wall gets moved back substantially from the main corner of the building which is that main in jervay and that outdoor area will be outdoor terrace so people can stand out there it's at a table or have a drink and talk and be standing there looking directly at the state house now there will be a glass barrier right now there's nothing obviously you can just look at it but there will be a glass barrier so that people can't fall off but they can still see through and that barrier will be at least six feet tall so it's it's about this high off the off the floor but that's completely glass and will be of course see through as much as glass is depending on how the glare is behind that the walls of the bar will be built with a finish of stucco with a smooth finish which will mimic the painted terracotta finish that's on the exterior of the building which is basically a smooth finish the staff has recommended we look at maybe making it a little more open a little more transparent with more glass we're not opposed to that at all that just makes the patrons on the inside of the bar be able to have a better view looking out again the there's there's the there's an indoor component of the out of the rooftop bar where there is a bar and a little storage area and a cooler perhaps for for drinks and food and a little small gathering area on the right side looking at this picture over here and then there's the outdoor component that is a terrace on the outside i don't remember where which direction to go okay from right here it if you look up there i is that orange is that the flag okay so you can you can see that there is a little bit of that structure sticking up but in my opinion my opinion when that structure is built and finished in stucco white whatever color the building is it's going to be the same color and with some more glass to make it transparent i i don't think you'd even notice it i don't think you'd even see it so it's going to be very minimal visibly so the as much as i respect all the recommendation staff is made i i hesitate to try to push the bar back even further because we have pushed it back quite a bit when you look at the rounded edge coming away from that corner so and and by the way the the owners have been very transparent with the city with the staff from the very beginning of this renovation they've asked them to come over and look at things all the time look at the windows look at the terracotta come on inside take a walk around we've invited Todd Byers and his staff the building official he consulted him from the very beginning about what to do to bring the building up to code and what kind of things he might require might not the building will be fully sprinkled fire alarm you know all of all of the components that are required by the code to make it a safe building and and i don't think it's made much mention of but the hotel by the way is going to be called moxie it's a it's a marriott brand uh very interesting rooms they're they're smaller very compact than much more compact than most hotel rooms so it's got kind of a cool vibe to it so the rooftop bar is a very important component that goes along with this sort of cool vibe that this whole hotel has there is a bar on the first floor as well and and there's plans to be as a bar down in the basement so there's lots of there's going to be lots of destinations within the building and it's a it's going to be a great change to this building that will give this building a new life for the next hopefully a hundred years so if you have any questions of of me any questions um the bar itself the structure on top of the roof how high is that going to be um from the finished floor top of the roof top of the to the top of the roof it's about rooftop bar yes sir it's about 10 and a half feet the the the root the the floor of the rooftop bar is set a little below the parapet so uh the parapet wall will actually only be about six inches higher than the floor because we have to we have just for various reasons we had to raise that floor you have to get drainage underneath it and we retain it into the existing elevator machine rooms up there but the rooftop bar roof will be approximately 10 and a half feet off that floor interestingly there's an existing elevator machine room up there um let's see and that existing elevator machine room is taller way taller than our than our new uh here you can see no that's not it yeah there's a there's a the stair tower on this side on the left picture that stair tower is about is taller than where our rooftop bar will be and um uh i don't know where the drawing is but with the exterior elevations yeah so anyway my point being is that there is an existing structure on that roof that's the elevator machine room go go one more let's see yeah okay so at the top right you see there's there's there's three levels sort of there's the top of the rooftop bar then right in the middle to the right there's a higher structure that's the elevator machine room and in the back is the stair tower that is on it's on the exact opposite side of the building so it won't be as visible as this drawing shows because this doesn't show any perspective but so our rooftop bar level roof level is lower than the existing structure that's on the roof now at the elevator machine room by a few feet four feet i think maybe approximate ten and a half feet to answer your question specifically did you say the bar sits seven feet that in this picture on that right corner it's a i sent Amy the numbers and i've already forgotten what they were but i think it was like seven feet nine inches so it's somewhere around seven to eight feet and then around on the main street side it's set off a main street about seven or eight feet as well we're thinking stucco in order to give it a smooth paintable surface that mimics the the rest of the material down below we there's not any real architectural adornment or features for that rooftop bar we have a little bit of a of a horizontal roof line right at the roof but there's not intended to be any adornment on that we want it to to sort of disappear sort of blend in and go away the terracotta and windows of the existing structure are what's going to draw your eye you're not going to you're not going to even notice the rooftop bar until you go oh cool there's a rooftop bar up there let's go but other than that it should be relatively unnoticeable if i was standing at the state house looking for that picture on the right there there is there's already some glass panels in in our plan and staff is suggesting we consider more glass panels uh you know at the side facing the state house and i'm i'm we're we're all we're good with that we're fine with that right now there are a number of glass panels there now and there's a so there's a there's right now the plan is to have an outdoor portion of the bar that is sort of an indoor outdoor so it's right in line with the exterior wall and they have these flip up garage doors that the garage door instead of rolling up it kind of folds up and then you can sit at the bar and they can roll these up and talk to people inside and see people outside but of course in bad weather you can shut the doors so we have five or six of those garage doors in the plan as well as a storefront glass panel over here a storefront glass panel here another one over here so there's not a whole lot more glass panel we could add but we could add more I have another question um off the roof now we're down near the basement where the wig was yes sir the the plan is to leave that stairway the entrance to wig will remain pretty much exactly like it is now so it's going to stay it's going to stay not the wig won't stay but the a a place to go have a drink or a little snack similar to the wig uh will be there are you going to do anything because i was walking up and down that sidewalk and i noticed the roof panel the metal panel had collapsed a little bit by people walking on top of it they probably have over time uh we haven't actually discussed that i'm sure that they won't want after this beautiful restoration i'm sure they won't want a bunch of damaged metal panels on there so i'm sure that there would be some restoration of that there aren't any change plans to change that because it is water tight and we'd like to leave it that way we are going to renovate the sidewalk i think that's going to be something that the city is working together with the owners on uh on gerbae street at that between the gerbae street curb and our building it's an ugly sidewalk it's in bad shape and very unattractive and we'd hope we hope to renovate that sidewalk as well yes there's a sort of a fence there to keep people from falling over into the stairwell that that's planned to stay the same as it is yes yeah that really won't change that entrance won't really make you won't see any real changes and it's still needed for us to have exiting not just to enter but also to get out in emergency we need it so it's it's got to stay commissioners any other questions i have just a comment actually i just want to applaud the the owner and and you for restoring this beautiful landmark to downtown columbia again it's just going to be so fabulous to have it back to its original beauty and i really appreciate the attention to making it come coming back the way it should be so i really appreciate it um i agree that the first of all we we don't have enough rooftop bars in columbia south carolina so i think that and having the view of the state house is is going to be fabulous um i'm not as concerned about how far back it needs to be the more we keep pushing it back the more it's going to be smaller and not something that we can enjoy in inclement weather and things like that so i think if you're willing to open it up a little bit more with a little bit more glass perhaps below those windows that are going to be operable maybe there's fixed glass or something just to make it a little more transparent i think then that would kind of alleviate it but i love that you're going to be matching the material as closely as possible at least in coloration and it'll look a lot better than what is typically was there to begin with with uh that was higher um so i'm not as inclined to to have you continue to minimize it as i am to minimize its uh solidness i guess yes ma'am well thank you for that by the way thank you on behalf of the owners for your compliment i'm going to give all the credit to them they rick betel who changed the palmetto building into their chariton took this on and i thought he was crazy when he decided to do it and he started tearing into it and breaking things apart to see what was there and he he had such an excitement for it he got me excited about it and uh he's really doing a great job with it so uh thank you for that compliment any other commissioners well we will have to open up to public comment and then we'll continue any other questions for the applicant i think we're good no other than i i echo echo what mary best said i think it's you've done a wonderful job and i'm sure you'll continue to do so i think it's an asset to columbia and commend your efforts in the honor thank you yeah again from what it was just recently with all those glass panels on it and they tore up the terracotta to to trying to return it back to its original it's gonna be really something else and by the way we've been working directly with the with all the agencies involved in this from the federal level state level city level and even county level to make sure they're all happy with what we're doing with the addition of the stair tower the addition of the rooftop and the restoration on the outside they're all involved and they're all giving us you know guidance and telling us what we should and shouldn't do so again it's been a transparent process the whole time yeah and i'll just add to that thank you craig that since we're working with the state of start preservation office on tax credits we anticipate that we'll all be working together on the rooftop bar you know they had some comments on that as well so but it's been it's been a great process and i do too applaud the owners they've tried to involve me every step of the way and get feedback and they're really doing a wonderful job with it so is the final approval the baili bill come before us or not i don't think so uh this is preliminary i mean yeah it's the final final is us is staff yeah y'all y'all get the whole ball rolling and we finish it out all right thank you thank you now um we'll hear if there's any comments from the public with that i'll turn it back to the commissioners i'll open up the floor for a motion in the second now i want you to have a microphone yeah i was gonna make a motion but actually without the fourth bullet regarding the rooftop bar um to avoid any further minimization of the visibility okay so why don't you work out read your entire motion how you want to word it sure if we need to have comment on it we will do that all right uh so i make a motion uh to grant uh preliminary certification for the baili bill with the following conditions details of windows front doors any canopies to be worked on with staff shop drawings of the profiles repair and installation methods of terracotta panels to come all uh to come to staff review and approval details of terracotta design in arched openings at mezzanine level to be approved by staff the project meeting or exceeding the 20 investment threshold requirements for qualified rehabilitation expenses for the baili bill all work meeting the standards for work as outlined in section 17-2.5 all other details including signage defer to staff will you please just state the address of the property in your motion too uh yeah at 1200 slash 1202 Main Street okay i think the order now would be i'd probably take a second before we're doing an amendment so pretty much okay so let me i'll open up for a second anybody want a second i'll second that all right then i'm going to offer an amendment um i think we still need to keep in there staff to work with applicants and revised approach to the rooftop bar because we still don't know what that is yet um but i think the staff has heard the commissioners thoughts of things we would like to see accomplished on that so i'm comfortable with just saying staff to work with applicants on revised approach to rooftop bar to staffs um deferring that staff that would be my amendment and i would second that and just not limit them to a size but still keep that uh recommendation okay so we had a motion we had a second we amended it we had a second to the amendment we did have a second to the amendment we did so it includes that force goals and as it's written did i get the protocol right congratulations about that one all right so with that i'll turn it over miss jaco yes mr brim yes the sims brannum mr dinkins yes mr greenberg yes mr maguire yes mr salibi yes and mr wolf yes motion passes all right go to the other business is there any other business we have one item under other business we promise we won't keep you long but we actually have everyone here today so we would like to do a group picture motion to adjourn nice try all right um then i'll ask for a motion to adjourn motion to adjourn but stay all right meeting adjourned thank you