Approval of the architectural and landscape design elements of the Brooklyn Riverside Retail project was deferred June 10 by the City Downtown Development Review Board. The project's designers and board members participated Monday in an informal workshop to clarify some of the board's design concerns.
The proposed 53,700-square-foot retail center is bounded by Riverside Avenue on the south, Magnolia Street on the north, Leila Street on the east and Jackson Street on the west.
The site plan comprises a grocery store, a freestanding pharmacy and restaurant and other retail tenants.
Atlanta-based Fuqua Development LP plans to develop the retail center north of the 220 Riverside project under construction.
Tim Miller, board chairman, said Monday's workshop was intended to assist the architects in seeking final approval of the landscape and structural design.
City Assistant General Counsel Jason Teal said no formal decisions on design elements could be rendered Monday.
"I don't want to inhibit the dialog, but you can't make any decisions today," Teal said.
The site plan approved by the board includes a parking lot between the grocery store tenant and Riverside Avenue. Board members said they wanted the landscape design to block as much of the view of the parking lot from Riverside Avenue as possible.
"We have an opportunity to step up the landscaping and make it as lush as we can. That would help relieve the pressure on the parking lot," said board member and landscape architect Chris Flagg.
"We like to have lush centers," said Greer Scoggins, director of construction for Fuqua Development.
Flagg suggested landscaping the site with crape myrtles and palm trees.
"Vegetation enhances the economic value of real estate," he said.
Another suggestion was to construct a low wall along Riverside Avenue to block the view of the parking lot. Board member Andy Sikes said blocking the view of the parking lot with a wall wouldn't change the fact there is a grocery store on the site.
"Riverside Avenue is not a tourist trap. When people go down that road one time, they'll know what's behind the wall," he said.
The design of the grocery store was described by architect Michael Brown, principal of Ponte Vedra Beach-based Wakefield Beasley & Associates, as "white and gray with accent colors to complement the tenant's brand."
He said the potential tenant requires outdoor dining and space outside the store for cooking demonstrations.
Scoggins said canopies and trellises also are requirements of the potential tenant. He said material and color samples would be submitted when the project returns to the board for final approval of the design.
After more than two hours of discussion of the design, board member Roland Udenze, an architect at The Haskell Co., said the designers had been given more direction on the landscaping and design elements of the project.
"This is what we needed," said Scoggins.
The board's next meeting is scheduled at 2 p.m. July 11 in the Lynwood Roberts Room at City Hall.
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