Rendering by Brian Kent Jones Architects / Lupton Rausch.

The latest proposal revision from Kaufman Development for their “IBEW” Victorian Village project on Price Avenue has grown in height once again. When the mixed-use project was first announced in July 2016, it was envisioned with a maximum height of 10-stories. It was later redesigned and shortened to nine stories, which was actually approved by the Victorian Village Commission at their March 2017 meeting.

Typically, that approval means that the project is ready to move forward, but this one actually returned to the Commission in December 2017 with an updated architectural style. Kaufman Development CEO Brett Kaufman stated that the company made the changes “…so that we have something that really functions, and that we can build – that we can afford to build and get financed – and that works in the market.”

Next week, the Victorian Village Commission will review the project once again, which now calls for expanding the highest portion of the building to 14 stories, topping out at 180 feet. The Short North Civic Association published the new rendering of the project on their Facebook page yesterday, which expressed some concern:

“The proposal appears to provide adequate parking and preserves a good portion of the original IBEW buildings. However, the massing and height are substantial and will dramatically impact the residential portion of the neighborhood including several single family homes that abut the development.”

If constructed as planned, the mixed-use project would bring approximately 33,000 square feet of new office space, 210 for-rent apartment units, a nearly 400-space parking garage and between 5,000 to 8,000 square feet of retail space to the area bounded between Second Avenue and Price Avenue that is currently home to a surface parking lot and additional empty lot space. The building on Second Avenue that formerly housed the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local Union 683 would be preserved and incorporated into the design.

The monthly Victorian Village Commission meeting takes place on Thursday, April 12th.

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Renderings by Brian Kent Jones Architects / Lupton Rausch.