By Roland Murphy for AZBEX (BEXCLUSIVE)
Owner Berry Holdings is planning a mixed-use development with 200 multifamily units and a 150-room hotel on South 13th Street between Washington and Jefferson streets in Phoenix.
The Eastlake Park Mixed-use proposal also calls for ground floor restaurant and retail in each of the two buildings, as well as an attached six-level parking garage on the west side of the property.
Both buildings are planned for eight levels. Building 1 would have a footprint of 25.9KSF and a total area of 181.6KSF. Building 2 is planned with a 15.4KSF footprint and 108.1KSF total area.
The owner has requested a rezoning from commercial with an interim transit-oriented overlay and multifamily/residential infill district with an interim transit-oriented overlay to Walkable Urban Code with a historic preservation overlay for the Greenlee-Hammond House/Virgil J. Berry Real Estate & Insurance Agency at 1321 E. Washington St.
The staff report for the requests notes, “The site is within 400 feet of the 12th Street / Washington Street / Jefferson Street light rail stations and is within the Eastlake-Garfield Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) Policy Plan area.”
The report says most of the site has been identified for redevelopment under the current land use plan and that “the master plan land use map identifies the portion west of 13th Street as mixed-use residential (office, residential, retail) and the portion east of 13th Street as single-family residential because of the smaller developable lots.”
The current proposal, however, plans to demolish the site’s buildings except for the one saved under the historic overlay and assemble the properties for mid-rise development similar to the rest of the development in the surrounding area of Washington and Jefferson. Given that the planned site is a block from a light rail station, staff found the additional density appropriate for the location.
Building 1 will be west of 13th Street with 10KSF of ground floor retail and 200 apartments, with frontage on 13th, Washington and Jefferson. Building 2 will be east of 13th and feature a 150-room hotel with 3KSF of ground floor retail and frontage on 13th and Washington streets.
The building to be preserved is of particular prominence both in terms of its architecture and its place in Phoenix’s African American history. The property was designed by architect C. Louis Kelley, who designed some of the city’s top residences in the 1920s. The home was built for Dr. Nello Birtpath Greenlee, an African American surgeon who was restricted in his housing choices due to segregation. The home was later purchased by musician and civic affairs leader Wade H. Hammond and eventually by local businessman Virgil “Jackie” Berry, who used it as an office for his Virgil J. Berry Real Estate and Insurance Agency.
In reviewing the proposal and requests, planning staff found they are consistent with the General Plan land use designation and the Eastlake-Garfield TOD Policy Plan vision for the site, will develop an underutilized site with acceptable mixed-use offerings, offer enhanced walkability and bicycle amenities and simultaneously meet the requirements for the historic preservation overlay.
The Phoenix Central Village Planning Committee reviewed the requests this week, and the Historic Preservation Commission will discuss them Nov. 20. The Planning Commission will hold a hearing Dec. 7.
Berry Holdings is the owner, and the project design firm is Ayers Saint Gross.
