Two projects included in the renaissance of the Brooklyn neighborhood along Riverside Avenue were approved Thursday by the City Office of Economic Development's Downtown Development Review Board.
Given the green light was a retail complex anchored by a grocery store and pharmacy. The complex has space for restaurants and other retailers. Also approved was a 310-unit apartment development.
Both projects were the subject of workshops conducted by the board to assist the architects and engineers after the initial designs for the projects were rejected by the board.
The board approved the design for a 53,700-square-foot retail center on a parcel bordered by Riverside Avenue on the south, Magnolia Street on the north, Leila Street on the east and Jackson Street on the west.
Atlanta-based Fuqua Development LP is developing the retail center north of the 220 Riverside project that is under construction.
The design approved Thursday included a modified site plan to improve the customer access between the buildings, one of the elements that prompted the design workshop.
"The workshop helped," said board member Chris Flagg.
"There is much better attention to the internal pedestrian circulation," he said.
Spaces designated for public art also were added to the final design.
Architect Michael Brown, principal of Ponte Vedra Beach-based Wakefield Beasley & Associates, said the developer is talking to the local art community and will "engage public participation."
While the developers have declined to identify the pharmacy provider slated for the center, during his presentation Brown referred to the grocery store as The Fresh Market.
England, Thims & Miller Inc. President and CEO Hugh Mathews said the development is "an opportunity to bring 400,000 visitors Downtown each year." He said construction of the center is scheduled to begin in September.
"We're on a dead run to get this thing started," Mathews said.
Also approved was the 310-unit Brooklyn/Riverside residential development in a four-block area bordered by Park, Leila, Jackson and Magnolia streets adjacent to the retail center.
The project was first presented to the board in March 2012, when the board deferred action on the proposed design.
The board and the applicant, Lincoln Properties, held a public workshop to discuss the site plan and design and to invite public comment.
Atlanta-based Pope & Land Enterprises Inc., the initial developer of the project, has since designated Pollack Shores Real Estate Group LLC, as the developers and P&L's agent for board approval.
Pollack Shores presented a modified site plan in April and was granted conceptual approval for the design.
David Floyd, the landscape architect for the project, described the design as "crunchy, urban and edgy."
Flagg said he approved of the way the security fence around the apartment development will be screened by landscaping even though he has "a problem with creating a closed environment."
Board member Andy Sikes said in the more than eight years he has served on the board, "I think this is my favorite project."
Michael Blair, Pollack Shores managing director of development, said a ground breaking is planned for October and the first phase of the project should be complete within a year. The entire project will be complete, he said, in early 2015.
The board is next scheduled to meet at 2 p.m. Aug. 1 at City Hall.
(904) 356-2466