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Planning Commission treats hotel plan with caution
(by Mitch Schneider - April 30, 2008)
As it works its way through Clayton’s planning process, a proposed mixed-use project by developer RJ York for the corner of Central and Maryland avenues has hit a snag, with neighbors continuing to express mixed feelings about the project.
About three dozen people attended the April 21 Clayton Planning Commission meeting, which included a review of the project and the opportunity for possible approval of a site plan.
York is proposing a two-building project consisting of a 23-story hotel/condo tower on the southwest corner of the intersection, which would replace an existing office building, and a parking garage and retail space on the northwest corner of the intersection, which would replace several surface parking lots.
During the meeting, several members of the Planning Commission expressed optimism about the project, but still noted the need to examine it thoroughly and to understand the impact it could have on the city. By the end of the meeting, the commission had decided to table any decisions in order to hold further discussions with the developer.
“This is the most crucial site in the city, where the residential meets business like this,” said Steve Lichtenfeld, 3rd Ward alderman and Planning Commission member. “No other site comes close, and we need to move slowly because of that and because of the precedent that it could set.”
Robert Kramer, an partner in RJ York, expressed frustration at the time taken to get to the present point in discussions with the city.
“We have been working on this project for approximately a year and a half,” said Kramer, who also said that the firm has recently held discussions with three hotel chains about the project. “The hotels would like to move quickly. We see this [project] as removing a building that is underused and in poor condition and replacing it with something that is beneficial to everyone.”
However, as at a previous meeting in March, the project raised concerns from city residents about several issues, including building size, traffic and lighting.
The proposed tower would back to Graybar Electric headquarters, and Matthew Geekie, deputy general counsel for the company, said the garage’s design would affect his company’s building. “The glow that would come from the garage strikes me as something from the set of Close Encounters of the Third Kind. This will have an immediate, negative impact on our property.”
That negative impact is something that has already taken place, Geekie said, noting that Graybar has been trying to lease one floor of its building and has talked to several potential tenants, but at least one of them has backed out after being told about the York project.
Architect Tyler Stephens of Core10 Architecture, who is working with York on the project, said the design has already been amended with this in mind. A wall on the northern edge of the garage would be raised by several feet in order to cut down on the amount of light that would be shining toward an existing condominium complex on Central Avenue.
Several residents who live north of the project in Old Town Clayton told the commission that they currently have problems with litter and with a lack of parking near their homes that is caused by non-residents traveling into the city’s central business district. The proposed development would only exacerbate those problems, they said.
Acting City Manager Lenore Toser-Aldaz said that the city already imposes time limits for parking in many residential areas and said that the city could look into expanding those limits.
Despite the concerns, the project is drawing positive reviews from some, including Tom Stern, president of Solon Gershman, a real estate firm that manages and handles leases for the existing office building, as well as several others in Clayton.
He said the new building would be “architecturally significant,” and the developers have shown a willingness to rethink issues such as lighting. It would benefit the city as a whole, he said. “When we try to lease properties throughout Clayton, we hear about the lack of parking in Clayton” and this will address that issue, he added.
Commission Chairman Harold Sanger said, “Personally, I don’t have much of a problem with the hotel, but the garage is something that is not fully defined.
“My take is, if you make the hotel shorter, fewer parking spaces may be needed, and then the garage could be moved further away from the residents,” he said.
Commission member Scott Wilson echoed Lichtenfeld’s comments about the significance of the project, stating, “This is the first neighborhood to be impacted [in this manner by a development], but it won’t be the last. I think Clayton would love this, but we need to make it right for the residents.”
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