Design Review Board
Level 3: Construction of new building/structure
4-B-23-DT
Staff Recommendation
The Board should discuss the proposed building's overall height and scale in relation to the historic context. Pending Board discussion and approval of the building's height and scale, staff recommends the additional details return to the Board for further review: 1) final site plan, shown to meet City Engineering standards for access and parking, with additional details on pedestrian safety at the sidewalk; 2) revised roofline on the rooftop deck, reduced in height and visual impact to be compatible with surrounding context; 3) material samples for all proposed siding materials; 4) specific window details, including material specs and a section, with depth and detail to be compatible with the historic district; and 4) any signage to be installed on the building (can be submitted at a later date as needed).
Location 115 E. Jackson Ave.
OwnerXXI Project LLC
Applicant Request
New construction building on an approximately 64' wide by 16' long site on the north side of E. Jackson Avenue, west of N. Central Street. The site is only recently a vacant lot; an existing historic building was demolished in March/April 2023 to accommodate the proposed structure. The site is within the Southern Terminal and Warehouse Historic District.
The proposed building is a wood-frame on concrete podium structure, six stories tall, with an additional level of a roof deck. A parking deck is located on the rear. The building is proposed to be clad in "concrete skin" or concrete fiber façade panels, intended to imitate stone cladding, with panels of varying depth on the east (right side) elevation. The primary windows on the second through fifth stories are proposed to be aluminum or fiberglass, rectangular, six-light windows.
The building is accessible via three pedestrian entries fronting E. Jackson Ave, and one automobile entry on the leftmost bay of the façade. The access is proposed to be 17' wide and will extend to the rear of the building, where a parking deck is located on the rear, adjacent to the railroad.
The façade (south) is five bays in length. On the ground level, a gated entry to the parking deck occupies the first bay, followed by a bay of storefront windows, a bay containing a revolving door and a second pedestrian door within storefront windows, and two additional bays of storefront windows. The first three bays feature an upper level cantilevered over the recessed storefront, with the fourth bay recessing upwards five stories, and the final bay is flush with the overall building elevation. The fourth bay features recessed balconies on the third through fifth stories. The sixth story is recessed from the overall roofline and features full-length storefront windows and doors and an elevator shaft with a sloped roof on the right side. The rooftop deck features a prominent sloping roof on top of the 75' tall building.
The east elevation features concrete fiber panels of varying depths. The rear (north) elevation features four levels of windows that match the facade, along with the fifth-story full-height storefront windows, and the rooftop deck enclosed by horizontal guardrails. Four stories of windows are located on the left side (west) elevation.
Additional features include a row of lighting on the storefront overhang. Mechanical equipment will be located on the rear rooflines of the building.
Staff Comments
1. The property occupies a newly vacated lot in the Southern Terminal and Warehouse National Register Historic District, described as the "Warehouse District" in the guidelines. The Warehouse District is described as "composed of masonry buildings ranging in height from one to five stories, with varying street frontages, giving a physical manifestation of the warehousing character that developed in this section of Knoxville." Redevelopment of vacant lots "should recognize the masonry, storefront windows, and varying setbacks and ages of construction that make the area unique." The Historic Resources section of the guidelines applies.
2. The guidelines recommend to "maintain the setback of adjacent historic buildings." The overall façade is largely aligned with the adjacent buildings; the storefront entries are recessed below a cantilevered upper-story massing, one bay of balconies is recessed, and the rightmost bay is aligned with the adjacent building. Constructing a new building that spans the entire width of the property is also appropriate for the historic context; the surrounding commercial historic district is characterized by blocks of adjacent, connecting buildings. The building's overall placement on the lot meets the design guidelines.
3. The proposed entry to the parking deck on the left bay will create a new curb cut and automobile crossing point over a sidewalk characterized by heavy pedestrian traffic. Guidelines for the public realm encourage considering pedestrians first and automobiles last in downtown development. While alley access is not an option for this site, the applicant should provide details on how automobiles and pedestrians walking along Jackson Avenue will safely interact. The adjacent building at 111 E. Jackson Avenue projects further to the sidewalk than the driveway, creating additional sight distance challenges. Per City Engineering, the initially-proposed driveway is too narrow (20' minimum width) and too close to the adjacent property line at the ROW.
4. The six-story building (with an upper-level deck with a prominent roofline) will occupy the site of a recently-demolished one-story building. The adjacent structures are two stories and three stories tall. The guidelines recommend that the "height of lower stories should be similar to adjacent historic buildings." The building is significantly taller than the surrounding historic district. The Board should discuss the proposed height of the building in relation to the surrounding historic district.
5. The prominent roofline on the roof deck contributes additional visual impact to the overall height. The rooftop deck's roofline is disproportionately tall to the building's scale and does not relate to the historic context, and should be revised.
6. Pedestrian access to the building is provided via a primary revolving door centered on the façade, and two additional storefront doors. The façade at ground level will maintain a pedestrian-scaled environment comparable to the adjacent buildings, and create a "transparent rhythm of entrances and windows" to engage pedestrian interest and draw walk-in traffic on the ground level commercial spaces. The façade also incorporates recessed and multiple entries recommended in the Historic Resources section of the guidelines.
7. Per the Historic Resources section for storefronts, the ground level incorporates storefront fenestrations which resemble the "industrial loading dock or garage doors" prominent on Jackson Avenue. The recessed access point is comparable to historic garage entries on the block. Storefronts are also recommended to complement "the openness, bulkheads, and transoms of historic buildings." The storefronts will be almost entirely open, using full transparency instead of bulkhead or transom forms.
8. Guidelines for window design, both in the general guidelines and the Historic Resources section, emphasize a pattern of solids to voids comparable to the district. The Historic Resource section recommends windows of similar proportions to adjacent historic windows. Overall, the proposal avoids blank walls along all street-facing elevations and shows a great deal of transparency. The multi-light, rectangular windows have proportions comparable to nearby historic windows.
9. Guidelines also emphasize maintaining typical window width, height, and spacing to be compatible with the context. In the Warehouse District, historic buildings in comparable forms use multi-light, steel industrial windows with individual panes and substantial, defined muntins and rails. A specific window material is not included in the application packet. Some contemporary window materials utilize muntins and rails applied to the exterior, or decorative muntins within the window panes, which do not have the depth and detail of historic warehouse-style windows. Renderings also show the windows as flush with the overall building elevations, while the historic examples shown as precedent have windows and frames inset within the buildings for additional depth. The applicant should submit specific window details for the materials selected, including a section, to illustrate complexity and detail compatible with the district.
10. An easement or other agreement with the adjacent property owner may be required to install windows on the left (west) elevation.
11. The building is proposed to be clad in a concrete skin, using concrete fiber panels intended to imitate stone. The Board should discuss the appropriate of an imitation stone cladding in a district characterized predominately by brick masonry structures. The applicant should provide material samples for all proposed siding materials, to confirm the products can appropriately reflect the detail and complexity of stone and not resemble thin, contemporary fiber cement panels.
12. The Historic Resources section recommends using "ornamental stone, brick work, and trim appropriate to the style of the infill building;" the proposed infill is a contemporary interpretation of the context, incorporating warehouse-style windows with siding elements from higher style Knoxville examples. The design omits decorative trim, brick work, or ornament.
13. The mechanical equipment meets the design guidelines as it is located on rear elevation roofs, not visible from the primary elevation.
