10 replies to this topic

[AndyN]

In 2005, I bought a vacant lot on the courthouse steps for back taxes. It was part of the old Rosedale Streetcar Pavilion which eventually became Gruenwald's Pavilion. I was planning to build a house to replace the one that burned down. A few years later, I bought the house next door which was built in 1910 using some of the wood from the old pavilion. After my mom passed, my family has been divesting our property on Eagle Mountain Lake. The tax value on the vacant lot has grown substantially and I decided to put a rental house on it so it was at least paying the tax burden. I had a house designed that reflects the style of the houses in the neighborhood.

 

 

When the pavilion closed, the property was developed as rental properties. After Mr. Gruenwald passed, his wife and son started selling the houses off by metes and bounds descriptions, never having a proper subdivision plat. The city is requiring me to submit a plat before I can get a building permit. I am going to offer to include my neighbors who are also unplatted. It will be a low cost thing for me because I am a registered professional land surveyor and already paid for an exhaustive survey of the block to determine my boundaries. One of the matching houses at 1105 Pavillion was demolished because of substandard conditions and the owner has declared the intent to rebuild. They will also need a plat to get the building permit.

 

There is development pressure on the neighborhood and we are located in the Downtown Design District. The townhome(?) development at 1101 Poindexter seems to foreshadow the future of the neighborhood as land values go up along with demand for new housing in proximity to downtown and Panther Island. I am beginning to think that a better use of the property would be Townhomes or Manor House. And if I do that, I would probably demolish my existing house at 1017 Pavillion to have more space. Perhaps use the 1928 streetcar as a poolhouse? The two lots are just over 217 feet deep and 97 feet wide at the front and 91 at the back.

 

 

So my idea for this post is to have a charrette to put the forum's collective knowledge together to see what might be possible. I can go up to three stories and probably 4 to 6 units. I am thinking to include 2 smaller units thatt would serve as an affordable option. 

 

I will share some ideas over the coming days and look forward to feedback.

 

[AndyN]

I'm inspired by this townhome design by www.architecturaldesigns.com 

I did see a comment on the Poindexter project that the city prefers that the long edge of the building parallel to the street. I'd like to put in an access drive along the east property line and the length of the building perpendicular to Pavillion Street. I'd also like to get Pavillion Street renamed to the correct spelling, pavilion.

 

[AndyN]

Call me a dreamer, but wouldn't it be cool to have a small pub, cafe or coffeeshop on the end of the building facing Pavillion Street?

 

[Stadtplan]

AndyN, this souds like a very exciting project.  My brain is kind of shot for the evening, but one inspiration I had was referencing the design of the Bowie House Townhomes "The Seven."  This might be too urban feeling but gains a bit more height for sure in a less than traditional form.

 

(From Austin55's drone footage)

 

From this site: https://coatshomes.c...ouse-town-homes

[Stadtplan]

AndyN, I also have an appreciation for these townhomes at Watercourse Dr.  I like how they placed the garages and parking behind leaving the front very welcoming and attractive:

 

https://maps.app.goo...JsvegoyLTQ2gsa6

 

[Crestline]

Cool, yes! Build some missing middle housing here!

 

 I'd also like to get Pavillion Street renamed to the correct spelling, pavilion.

 

To do this right, I think you'd need to rename both Pavillion Street and Pavillion Court. Collectively it looks like these two changes would affect a dozen active mailing addresses, so you ought to figure out how your neighbors would feel before pursuing this with the city. 

 

Call me a dreamer, but wouldn't it be cool to have a small pub, cafe or coffeeshop on the end of the building facing Pavillion Street?

 

Yes, but it'd be even cooler to have one with Samuels frontage to capture drive-by traffic. Burying it this deeply on Pavillion Street away from Samuels seems risky to me. Do none of the new apartments nearby have a little ground floor commercial space for this purpose?

[Stadtplan]

 Perhaps use the 1928 streetcar as a poolhouse? 

 

How about for Forum meet-ups?

[AndyN]

Nitixope, I do like those townhomes on Watercourse Drive. I couldn't believe they are getting away with about 16' of paving for access to the rear-entry garages, which includes a 4' private sidewalk. But, then I saw the one-way sign at the exit and that makes sense. My problem is that I would have to put in a drive that can handle two-way traffic and that really eats up my lot width. Still playing with it in a sandbox drawing.

 

Crestline, I can wish this tract faced Samuels but I can only develop the property I have. If I could throw in a small neighborhood retail space, that would be an accomplishment nobody else has achieved on Samuels Avenue yet.

 

And, the streetcar is unrestored with no seats so it wouldn't be much of a forum meetup place at this time.

[Austin55]

Andy, really cool that you come to the forum and ask for input from the group. There's some great ideas and excited to see what you can bring to fruition.

[AndyN]

I've been playing with different layouts and the only way I can deal with access is to turn the drive into a one-way and try to buy additional property from the neighbors to loop it back to the street. Having a driveway wide enough to accommodate 2-way traffic just eats up too much width. I've got another idea to flips the units 90 degrees and stagger the fronts, hiding parking in the back with three-point turn-around driveways but not sure if I can squeeze in the commercial space I wanted. 

 

 

So the front doors would be on the lower right corner of the buildings with an ample sidewalk and landscape areas leading to the street. Trying to hide the garage access behind/left of the buildings. Not sure if my dimensions are realistic at this point, just trying to get the general concept drawn out.

[Stadtplan]

AndyN....I saw this PDC for a (14) townhome project was filed over by Stalcup and Berry.

 

Proposed Value: $1,700,000

SQFT: 7,000

Site Acreage: 0.24

Zoning: MU-1

Proposed Use: multi-family