A proposal to redevelop the former Ambassador Hotel at 420 Julia St. into apartments will be considered Thursday by the Downtown Development Review Board of the City Office of Economic Development.
The six-story building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and has been vacant for years.
The applicant, Birmingham, Ala.-based Arbour Valley Development, proposes remodeling the existing 80 units into 57 apartments and adding a club room and fitness area inside the structure and a clubhouse on the roof.
The proposal scheduled to be presented does not include streetscape design, the parking plan for the new units or the final design of the rooftop clubhouse, all of which must be submitted to the board and approved before final approval is granted for the project.
Also before final approval, the developer will have to obtain a deviation in the Downtown Overlay design requirements for the exclusion of an entrance on the Church Street side of the building and a complete parking and trash, loading and screening design for the surface parking lot adjacent to the proposed project.
In addition, the project must be approved by the Historic Preservation Commission before receiving final approval by the board.
Also being reviewed by the board at 2 p.m. Thursday at City Hall:
• A parking requirement deviation for a proposed 1,800-square-foot expansion at Burrito Gallery, at 21 E. Adams St.
Burrito Gallery is in the Riverfront District of the Downtown Overlay that allows a 50 percent reduction in the parking requirement.
The proposed addition will provide 73 new seats and four new employee spaces, requiring one parking space per four seats, or 18 spaces, and one space per every two employees, or two spaces, totaling 20 spaces.
The 20 spaces are reduced 50 percent in the Riverfront District, requiring a total of 10 spaces to meet code.
The applicant is requesting a deviation from the Off-Street Parking Overlay to reduce the required parking from the 10 spaces required to zero spaces to comply with code.
• Another request for extension of the approval period for the Southshore Marina and Riverwalk will be considered.
The board originally granted final approval for the project Feb. 28, 2008. In February 2009, staff granted a one-year extension for the proposed marina and Southbank Riverwalk enhancements near the Aetna Building.
Additional requests were approved in 2010 to extend approval to Feb. 28, 2011, again in February 2011 to extend to February 2012, and in February 2012 to extend to February 2013.
The applicant has not started development because of deteriorated market conditions and has requested to extend the final approval one year to Feb. 28, 2014.
The project is for a public marina docking facility of 128 vessels up to 70 feet in length.
The development also incorporates the first floor of the Aetna Building to include a fitness center, office, snack bar and retail operations.
The extension process requires the applicant to receive an approval from the board as a deviation from the code.
The applicant has indicated the approval of the fifth extension of approval will allow for the necessary time to evaluate market opportunities and determine the project's viability.
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