Sinatra & Company Real Estate was named as preferred developer for two parcels on the South Aud Block, adjacent to the Explore & More Children’s Museum in August 2018 and is now prepared to move forward with refined plans. Sinatra’s “Heritage Point” would include two, six-story buildings and include 103,000 square feet of space. They would be built on Parcels A2.2 and A2.3 below, east of the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Children’s Museum. The project includes an Expo Market Hall with approximately 7,000 sq. ft. of space and 6,000 sq. ft. of additional retail space. Fifty-four apartments and office space are planned for the buildings’ upper floors.

More on the design from ECHDC:

The proposed buildings will be constructed to the parcel lot lines, creating uniquely-shaped buildings. Building 1 would have projecting bays on the north and south elevation to provide depth to a continuous elevation. Each building will be six stories in height, which includes a mansard roof level and also a basement level. The basement will be continuous below both buildings, providing both occupant and service access between the two buildings. The north side of the buildings will provide direct access to the towpath level.

The building exteriors will have a stone veneer base that will run continuous from the towpath level to the second floor window sills, terminating at a stone banding. The stone will be gray to match the granite stone utilized for the recreated canal walls. At Building 1, the stone will continue between the second floor windows to align with a second horizontal banding, helping to differentiate the buildings. The exterior of the upper floors of the buildings will be a brick masonry veneer. The brick veneer would be set back in select locations to provide some depth to the elevation.

At the sixth floor, there will be a mansard roof with dormers. The mansard roof will include a gray standing seam roof. Each apartment unit would have an accessible balcony, which would include a black metal assembly projecting 42 inches from the exterior.

As mentioned above, the exterior building materials would be predominantly stone and brick masonry. The stone will also be used for the window sills and caps at the parapet terminations. The windows be aluminum-clad wood windows. The balconies will be black metal. The roof will be a gray standing seam metal roof.

Carmina Wood Morris is project architect. The Planning Board will review the project on Monday.