The building at 212 S. Main St. (with green shutters), once home to an auto dealership and the town library, would be demolished for a multi-story office and retail building. Town Hall is at left, and Wade Agency is at right. (David Boraks photo)

Updated Tuesday, July 21, 2009, 10:20 a.m.

Could there be another multi-story building on the way downtown? A pair of public meetings over the next two weeks will start the ball rolling on a multi-story office and retail development to be called Mooney’s Corner. It’s on South Main Street, next to Town Hall.

Property owner/developer Artisan Builders will ask the Design Review Board on Wednesday for approval tear down their existing building at 212 S. Main St. And they’ll hold a public planning workshop July 30 to seek citizen input on the site plan and building design. Town planners say it could be up to 4 stories.

If built, Mooney’s Corner would add another new element to the changing streetscape at the south end of Main Street downtown. The proposal comes as construction continues across South Main Street on Stowe’s Corner, a 3 1/2 story mixed-use building by Harris LLC and developer David Stewart.

PROJECT REVIVED

The two planning meetings will mark the revival of a project originally begun in 2004. At one time the building was an auto dealership, then home to the Davidson public library branch, and later to offices. Artisan Builders, a builder of high-end custom homes, bought the building in 2003 and moved its offices there.

In 2004, Artisan proposed and won town approval for a 3-story mixed-use building on the site, but never built it. The owners said rising construction costs made the project too expensive.

Since then, Artisan has revised its plans, deciding to push for a slightly larger building. To do that, it needed to enlarge its lot, by acquiring two slivers of land – one from Town Hall to the south and another from Knox Properties behind the existing building.

In January 2008, Artisan asked if the town would consider selling a sliver of Town Hall property adjoining the 212 S. Main St. site, so it could expand the footprint of a new building. After listening to Artisan’s pitch, the Town Board gave the town staff the go ahead to work out a deal with Artisan.

The deal with the town closed in May, when Artisan paid the town $134,400 for a small piece of Town Hall land, town officials said Tuesday. Artisan also closed recently with Knox Properties, paying $37,000 for the second small parcel, according to a person familiar with the transaction.

The slightly larger parcel gives Artisan a bit more room for a building that would house a retail shop or restaurant on the ground floor and offices on the upper floors.

Wednesday’s Design Review Board meeting, at 7 p.m. at Town Hall,  will consider Artisan’s request for a “certificate of appropriateness” to demolish the exiting brick building. The building is within the downtown historic district.

The builder would still have to come back to the DRB later for approval of a building design.

JULY 30 WORKSHOP

On Thursday, July 30, the developer and planners will host an all-day design workshop for the project, at Town Hall. (Download a copy of the meeting notice below.)

The day begins at 9 a.m. with a visit to the site, at 212 S. Main St. next to Town Hall. at 9:30, the town planning staff and developer will make presentations about the plans. Artisan has hired the Lawrence Group of Davidson to help with site plans and building design.

From 10:30 to noon, the developer, town planners and Lawrence Group planners will answer questions and listen to comments from the public. Those comments will be incorporated during a design workshop from 1 to 5 p.m. At 7 p.m., they’ll have a “pin-up session,” showing drawings that emerged from the workshop.

Lawrence Group and Artisan have not given specifics about what they’re planning. More details could emerge at the July 30th workshop.

Town planner Parviz Moosavi said Monday the project would not require Town Board approval if it’s 4 stories or less. Since it’s in the “Village Center” planning area, it’s covered by town  Planning Ordinance Section 9.0, which says “Workplace, Storefront and Civic type buildings” may be 2 to 4 stories.  (That means it also must be at least two stories.)

More information about the July 30 meeting is available by calling the town planning department, 704-892-7592.

DOCUMENTS

July 2009 letter to neighbors announcing the July 30 workshop. (PDF, requires free Adobe Reader software)