622 Pleasant St.

Description: New construction of a 27,500 SF three-story commercial building and demolition of existing warehouses.

Previous ARC Recommendations:

02/20/24: The ARC recommended conceptual approval of the massing with the details to be worked out at the ARC level.  Overall, the ARC agreed that the changes made were an improvement of the design, but that the changes should go further to integrate the building with the neighborhood.  The ARC requested 3D perspective views from St Thomas St towards Chippewa St and further detailing of the materials, balconies, and ADA ramp. The ARC recommended:

• Swapping the window sizes at the coffee shop and the ground floor residential unit, so that the commercial space is more open to the public.

• Adding more engagement to the street including a porch area for the ground floor residential and outdoor seating for the coffee shop. 

• The coffee shop should have more windows that face the landscaping.

12/19/23: The ARC voted to defer this application for additional review.  The ARC requested 3D perspective views from eye level to better understand the proposed massing within the context.  The ARC stated that the massing and program was overall too large for the context and made the following recommendations:

• The floor-to-ceiling heights should be lowered, especially at the ground floor.

• The massing should step back closer to the smaller residential buildings to create a buffer between the larger massing and the neighborhood.

• The coffee shop would better address the neighborhood and create an amenity if it were on the Chippewa and Pleasant street corners.

• While creating adequate parking is good for the neighborhood, currently the proposal does not engage with the neighborhood due to the amount of parking on the ground floor. Some of the parking should be eliminated for more opportunities to engage the neighborhood in the way of porches, balconies, entry doors, etc. This can also be achieved by bringing some of the units to the ground floor.

• The first floor also needs to mesh with the rest of the design more in materiality. This could be achieved by pushing and pulling the materials down to the ground floor at certain areas of the massing. This would also achieve in breaking up the horizontal banding.

• The main entrance is reading too commercial and should be brought down to a more pedestrian scale.

Context Photos:

Current Drawings:

Previous Drawings - 12/19/23:

Sanborn Maps:

Public Comments:

Street View: