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Developer re-pitches Exit 30 tower plan
The developer of a proposed 100-foot, seven-story retail and commercial tower off Exit 30 told the Town Board at its monthly work session Tuesday night the building (image at right) would provide a top-floor public “hospitality space” overlooking the lake where local organizations and businesses could host public events. But some Town Board members still sounded skeptical about allowing the building, which would be 25 feet above what is allowed on the site.
That’s pretty much the same message developer and architect Rick Mack, of RDM Architecture in Davidson, got from board members during an Oct. 9 public hearing on the project, which is called Meeting Place. Board members at that meeting asked Mr. Mack to come back with an argument justifying the added height.
Mr. Mack plans to continue seeking approval for the plan, saying hopes to put it to a Town Board vote before the current board term ends. Eight active candidates, including two incumbents, are running for the five board seats in the Nov. 6 election. The new board would be seated in December and have its first full agenda, including new business, in January.
The glass-and-brick tower is proposed for land on Davidson Gateway Drive behind the Davidson Clinic. It includes a seven-story cylindrical glass tower, a third-floor rooftop garden and 180 parking spaces, many in an underground garage. Mr. Mack has said he also plans to seek “green building” status for the building, which would make it the first of its kind in north Mecklenburg.
SIX STORIES OK
Under current zoning on the site, Mr. Mack could build a 75-foot, six-story office/retail building. He wants the extra height to obtain a better view of the lake, which he says will help him land at least two key tenants – a sports marketing firm and the headquarters of a logistics company that would move from California. He did not name the tenants, but said their commitments are based on the plan for a rooftop terrace where they could entertain clients.
Mr. Mack said the building, with its rooftop hospitality suite, would be “a unique addition to the town.”
He said the extra height would give “the town of Davidson a unique opportunity to host events, NASCAR related events, Town Board events, Rotary (Club) events. To top this building off with a creative space … offers the town something that we don’t have.”
Kris Krider, the town planning director, suggested that if Town Board members were willing to consider the height variance, that it they try to obtain a written pledge from Mr. Mack to keep the rooftop space publicly accessible. He has said the space would likely be managed by an unnamed restaurant that will occupy the ground floor.
Board member Cary Johnston said she likes the building’s design, but wondered how the board then would be able to say no to another developer who offered a plan for a 120-foot building. Mr. Mack noted the town has already permitted buildings nearby that exceed the 75-foot limit in the ordinance.
Board member Bruce McMillen said he doesn’t “see the incremental benefit” of a 100-foot building. When Mr. Mack noted that the board last spring approved a conditional rezoning request for the nearby Pinnacle, a six-story, 78-foot condominium tower, Mr. McMillen said he opposed that rezoning, too. Mr. McMillen was the only one of the five board members to vote against The Pinnacle project.
APPROVAL IN NOVEMBER?
Some board members said they like the look of the brick and glass structure, but felt unable to judge whether the aesthetics outweigh the size issue. They wondered if the Design Review Board could offer an opinion.
Tuesday’s discussion ended with an agreement that Mr. Mack will present his preliminary plans to the Design Review Board at its Nov. 14 meeting.
Mr. Mack also hopes to present his plans to the Planning Board on Nov. 26 and could seek final approval for the conditional rezoning at the Town Board work session on Nov. 27. The board typically does not take votes at work sessions, but members said they would consider suspending the rules to allow a vote.
Mr. Mack said afterward he has spent considerable time explaining the project to the current Town Board and would like to seek its approval before a new board takes office in December.
Filed under: Davidson town board, Planning & Development
I certainly hope the Town Commissioners use good sense and do not permit a variance for Mr. Mack’s project. He says he needs the variance to attract two tenants. If those two don’t lease space in a 75-foot building, someone else will. He says they want a lake view. What do we say to the next developer who is farther from the lake and wants to build a 125-foot building so his prospective tenants will have a lake view.
The building-boom at Exit 30 is beginning to really get extreme. Thank goodness that the nine acres behind Davidson Day School will become a park. And we all should be thankful there is a 200-foot-wide Duke Power easement right through the center of the Northeast Quadrant, or we would have even more buildings in the development.
The money-hungry developers don’t give a hoot about the small-town feel of Davidson or anything else about it except putting as big a building as they can get away with on vacant property and then moving on to the next small-town to ruin it.
It seems Planning Staff should be able to cut off some of these proposals sooner. Once they get our town “all built” will they move on too?
I hope the present Town Commissioners don’t approve Mr. Mack’s mausoleum and turn it into a monument to the Town Board. What a terrible legacy that would be. We will all remember who was a member of the Town Board that approved it!
I attended the last Davidson Town Board meeting when Mr. Mack gave the presentation trying to get a variance to 100 ft. Why does Davidson want to even consider it? If tenants want a view they should go to a large city into a skyscraper, not come to a small town and change it. Six stories at 75 ft is enough. Let’s stay with that. I agree with Cary Johnston and Mr. Sloan: Once you start giving in on the height limits, the next developer wants more!