SRA Minutes
February 21, 2007
Page 1 of 1
MINUTES OF THE BOARD MEETING
OF THE SALEM REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY
HELD ON WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2007
A regular meeting of the Salem Redevelopment Authority was (SRA) held in the third floor conference room at the City Hall Annex, 120 Washington Street, on Wednesday, February 21, 2007 at 5:30 p.m.
Roll Call
Chairman Michael Brennan called the meeting to order, and on roll call the following members were present: Michael Brennan, Michael Connelly, Robert Mitnik, and Russell Vickers. Also present were Lynn Duncan, Executive Director, Kirsten Kinzer, CDBG Planner and Andrea Bray, Clerk
Chairman Brennan calls the meeting to order
Approval of minutes: January 10, 2007 meeting
The members agreed to defer the approval of the minutes.
Executive Director’s Report
1. Retail Market Plan Update
Duncan advised the members that the Downtown Retail Market Plan is being conducted by Karl F. Seidman Consulting Services with ConsultEcon, whose goal is to develop an action plan for year-round retail. She states that the consultant team is working with Bridgewater State College on a telephone survey of residents in the market area. The market area was determined by talking with a focus group of downtown retailers about their customer base. She adds that the College is making about 4,000 phone calls, and that target dates of March 7, 2007 for a survey report and March 12, 2007 for a finding report have been set. Duncan states that the consultant will be talking with focus groups later in March and the consultant should have a draft report by mid-April.
2. Old Town Hall Reuse Update
Duncan reminds the members of the visioning session for the uses of Old Town Hall will be held next Tuesday night, February 27, 2007, at the Old Town Hall. She states that this session will be similar to what was done for the Old Salem Jail. She adds that the goal of the visioning session will be to determine the highest and best use of Old Town Hall and to find a way to use this historic site in a way that would facilitate the revitalization of the downtown area. Duncan states that once these objectives have been met the SRA will make a recommendation to the City Council. She clarifies the schedule for next Tuesday, stating that the doors open at 6:00pm for people to tour the building, and then the meeting starts at 6:30pm.
Redevelopment Project Review
1. Old Salem Jail Redevelopment: Request to amend the project timetable and discussion on the marketing plan for the redevelopment with Dennis Kanin and David Goldman, New Boston Ventures
Goldman states that his group is excited about this project, and they are finalizing the engineering and design plans, and will be closing the loan by May 15, 2007. He adds that his group is now moving forward from the design development piece of this project to the marketing and branding programs. He cites the following points:
· The name for the project will be “50 Saint Peter”.
· All of the buildings on the site will be different, and each will have its own character and style.
· They are working with a world-renown architect, Jim Alexander, and Boston’s #1 interior designer, Dennis Duffey.
Goldman then introduces Architect Jim Alexander to provide a summary of the design.
Alexander states that each building on the site will be named after an Architect that worked on the style of the structure. He summarizes each building as follows:
· The Jail, which houses the restaurant and 17 residential units, will be named after Gridley Bryant. The restaurant will be a 2-story space of about 3,200 square feet. Each of the residential units will contain about 1,100-1,200 square feet of space.
· The 3 units in the Jail Keeper’s House will be named after Samuel McIntyre. Each unit will have a separate entrance and garage.
· The Barn will be converted to a single residential unit with approximately 1,400 square feet of space. The large barn doors will remain on the structure.
Dennis Kanin explained that the new building will be named after the current working architect Jim Alexander who has worked on several well known projects including the Ellis Island Museum of Immigration and the Wang Center. There will be 8 town house-style duplex units containing about 1,100-1,400 square feet of living space. Each unit will have its own entrance, parking and balcony.
Kanin goes on to describe the marketing approach for the project by showing a video of the marketing program used for a recently completed project in Boston, “The Modern”.
Betsy Merry of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage speaks about the real estate role in the marketing of the project. She explains that the Coldwell Banker people have been working on a marketing plan for this project for about 1 ½ years. She adds that they are having a contest to encourage people to suggest a tag line for the development. Merry gives examples of some of the suggestion, which are:
· Luxury like this is criminal
· Captivatingly contemporary
· Doing time in style
· Arresting
· Solitary Confinement
· Interrogation Room
Russ Vickers arrives at 5:53 p.m.
Merry gives small candy boxes with ribbons embossed with “50 Saint Peter” to the members.
Merry speaks generally about real estate saying that January and February have been the best January and February in years.
Merry states that the price range for “50 Saint Peter” will range from approximately $300-600,000.
Duncan states that the SRA will need to take an action to amend the timeline in the Land Disposition Agreement to extend the closing date to a time on or before May 15, 2007.
Connelly asks which general contractor is working on the project. Goldman states that they are speaking with three general contractors now and should have a decision soon.
Brennan asks about the restaurant plans. Goldman states that they are working with Charlie Perkins on the design of the restaurant.
Connelly made a motion to change the LDA for the Old Salem Jail to close on or before May 15, 2007. Mitnik seconded the motion. All members are in favor. The motion passes 4-0.
Duncan asks about the expanded restaurant size.
Goldman states that the ceiling height is low so they will remove the ceiling and add the new floor above and add a mezzanine. He adds that this is not a change from what Duncan has previously seen.
Duncan asks about timing for final construction plans. Goldman states that the plans could be ready earlier than the anticipated date of April 15.
2. 275-281 Essex Street (CF Tompkins Building) Discussion of the Schematic Design plans for the proposed redevelopment
Attorney George Atkins who represents Jeff Holleran, the developer, introduces the other attendees at the meeting including, Paul Herrick, real estate broker with Keller Williams, Steve Tompkins, the current owner of the property, and Ted Richard, the real estate broker for Steve Tompkins.
Atkins describes the plans for the building, stating that it is a mixed-use structure and will contain 20 condominium units and 3 retail units. He says that the original structure was made of wood and was destroyed in the Salem fire, then rebuild in brick. Atkins states that the developer intends to restore the windows, and some of the brick work on the building so that it will look very similar to its earlier state. He adds that the building currently has no parking and that the zoning regulations will exempt a rehabilitated building from the standard parking requirements, if they have access to off-site parking within a certain distance.
Atkins speaks about the approval process saying that the developer is required to go before the Planning Board then back to the SRA with final design plans. He adds that the design process will also include the DRB, and that he is looking for suggestions from the SRA now.
Atkins describes the building as a four-story structure. He advises the members that Verizon has placed cell phone equipment on the roof of the building but did not get approval from the SRA. Mr. Tompkins will get that approval prior to the sale of the property.
The architect provides historic photos of the Tompkins building that he attained from the Peabody Essex museum, and states that the developer wishes to preserve the integrity of the building. He explains the plans for the work to be done, which include enlarging and regularizing the windows on one side of the building to provide light to the condo units. He describes the interior space for the condominiums as a 6-unit floor plan with 70% of the units having 2 bedrooms and 30% having 1 bedroom. He adds that the back corner units will have a bonus room, which could be deemed as live/work space. He states that each floor will have 4 two-bedroom units and 2 one-bedroom units, which range in size between 700 and 1,300 square feet.
Connelly asks why they haven’t planned to restore the façade of the ground floor. The architect states that they haven’t focused on the ground floor streetscape because they are taking the shell as it is currently seen and have chosen not to take it all the way back to post fire look.
Duncan encourages them to focus on renovation of the streetscape because it is so important.
Atkins states that the pricing for these units will be much less than what we have just seen so the renovation costs will be a consideration.
Connelly asks if they considered adding parking. The architect states that they looked into it but the logistics of the structural system would not allow it on-site.
Atkins states that this type of residential housing does not impact parking as much during business hours because the residents will likely only be parking there during the evening. He adds that the residents in these units will spur business of retail space in the area.
Duncan states that she wishes to see retail space on the first floor, not commercial/retail. She wants to see active, vibrant space. Atkins states that there is a wide range of uses allowed by the zoning ordinance in this area, and even though the developer wishes to attract retail space, he prefers not to have restrictions on the use of this first floor space.
Duncan suggests they bring the wireless facilities information to the DRB with these schematics to get approval on both issues.
Atkins states that he is not in direct contact with Verizon, but he will let them know they have a contractual obligation to obtain permits.
Duncan states that the SRA can move ahead with the schematic plan approval if the Verizon issue isn’t solved.
Duncan states that she is looking for a vote to send the schematic plans to the DRB for approval.
Mitnik made a motion to send the schematic design plans, including the wireless facilities plan, to the DRB for evaluation and approval. Vickers seconded the motion. All members are in favor. The motion passes 4-0.
Sign Review
3. 17 Front Street (J. Mode): Discussion and vote on a waiver of the SRA Sign Ordinance to allow vertical lettering and on the DRB recommendation of proposed signage
Duncan states that the DRB recommended approval of the sign with some conditions. She read the DRB recommendation:
At their meeting on January 24, 2007, the DRB recommended approval of the sign with the following conditions: the bracket of the hanging sign is modified to be lighter than what was proposed; the wall sign be moved to the area closer to the building edge and aligned so that the bottom of the sign aligns with the bottom of the stone lentil of the windows; and the mounting bolts for the wall mounted sign be concealed. These changes are reflected in the modified drawings.
Duncan adds that even though the SRA sign ordinance does not allow vertical lettering, the DRB has strongly recommended approval of the lettering in this case. Duncan says that she likes the three-dimensional aspect of this sign and would like to see more like this in Salem.
Connelly says that he has no problem with the vertical lettering.
Vickers made a motion to approve the DRB recommendation and to approve the waiver for the vertical lettering. Connelly seconded the motion. All members are in favor. The motion passes 4-0.
4. 265 Essex Street (Salem Chamber of Commerce): Discussion and vote on the Design Review Board recommendation of proposed signage
Duncan states that the DRB recommended approval of this design. She read the DRB recommendation:
At their meeting on January 24, 2007, the DRB recommended approval of the sign and the vinyl graphics as submitted.
Connelly made the motion to approve the DRB recommendation. Mitnik seconded the motion. All members vote in favor. The motion passes 4-0.
5. 272 Essex Street (Feed your Head Books): Discussion and vote on the Design Review Board recommendation of proposed signage.
Duncan states that the DRB has recommended approval of the sign with conditions. She read the DRB recommendation:
At their meeting on January 24, 2007, the DRB recommended approval of the proposed sign with the condition that the sign size be modified to have a 2’ 6” width and proportional length. The attached application reflects that modification.
Mitnik expresses concern about the anchoring system for the bracket and wishes to see them use a very strong anchoring system to bolt the bracket to the wall.
Vickers made a motion to approve the DRB recommendation subject to satisfactory anchoring of the bracket to the building. Connelly seconded the motion. All members vote in favor. The motion passes 4-0.
Adjournment
Connelly made a motion to adjourn. Vickers seconded the motion. All members vote in favor. The motion passes 4-0.
The meeting is adjourned at 6:35 p.m.
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