A new six-story residential building proposal was given its first review by the Downtown Commission this morning. The project was presented by developer Robert Meyers and architect John Behal with an updated design from their original submission, which removed the yellow color from the facade.
Behal walked the Commission through the plans for 350 East Broad Street, detailing that they expect to host between 55 and 65 apartment units in the building, with ground floor covered parking that would prevent the building from hosting any type of ground floor retail component.
“If you can go higher here, you should go higher,” stated Commissioner Mike Brown. “And we’re always fighting for retail on Broad Street.”
Behal said that they plan to screen the Grant Avenue side of the ground floor with some form of decorative iron work to conceal the parking structure.
“Maybe bringing an element of CCAD to this corner would be a better idea,” added Commissioner Kyle Katz. “Create an outdoor gallery could be another solution there.”
Other concerns from the commission included the garage entry/exit on Grant Avenue that would add to traffic congestion on a busy intersection, although given the site’s location, there were no solutions to resolve that issue.
The developers are expected to return to the Downtown Commission in the future for further design review, demolition approval and construction approval.