468 Saint Joseph St.

District: Warehouse District - Full Control

Owner: 468 St. Joseph LLC

HDLC Staff: Dennis Murphy

Rating: Contributing

Applicant: Seth Hawley

Permit #: 23-28847-HDLC

HDLC Design Guidelines: 

Section 11, page 21 of the Guidelines for Commercial Buildings states that HVAC equipment is a necessity of modern life.  However, the design and location of this equipment can have a significant negative impact on the historic integrity of a building or area.  In many cases, such as this one, buildings are constructed near property lines and the opportunity to locate equipment in rear or side yards is not viable.  In these situations equipment should be made as unobtrusive as possible.  Commission review and approval is required for applications to install mechanical equipment in locations that are considered to be visually prominent.

• Staff Recommendation: At the discretion of the Commission. If approved, Staff recommends the applicant explore relocating the units serving the ground-floor level to a less visible location, such as the exterior rear yard. 

Staff Recommendations: 

The applicant is requesting to install 16 new roof-mounted HVAC condenser units on simple metal platforms at the riverside slope of the existing roof as part of the overall renovation and restoration of the historic building. The applicant previously requested locating these units on the rear dependency roof, which was not recommended for approval based on the highly visibility of this area. Additionally, there is only very limited exterior space available in the rear/side yard, which likely could not accommodate all of the proposed units due to additional required setbacks and limits on the total length of conduit lines. 

Both proposed options involve installing two differently sized units on metal platforms above the roof surface, with an additional safety railing along the Constance Street side parapet. Option (1) proposes all HVAC units to be installed on platforms, while Option (2) includes 70 SF of roof demolition (approximately 9% of the primary roof structure) to allow the larger rear units to be recessed slightly into the roof depth. While this would reduce the overall visibility of the larger rear units, both options will result in portions of new mechanical equipment being visible above the existing roof ridge line.  It does not appear the units will be visible at the front elevation from Magazine Street due to the existing brick façade cornice. However, they will likely be highly visible from St. Joseph Street in both options.

While the proposed location for these units may have high visibility from certain vantage points, the primary view along Magazine Street will be maintained. Additionally, the limited availability of exterior space on the site makes it difficult to relocate most of these units to a less visible place. Based on these factors, Staff has no recommendation, and leaves the decision at the discretion of the Commission. However, if the Commission does vote to recommend approval of the request, Staff recommends the applicant explore the feasibility of relocating the units which serve the first floor level to the exterior yard area to help reduce the overall visibility of the new equipment.