Feb. 18—Some possible ideas for Undertaking Pascalis, the downtown Aiken revitalization task, observed the light-weight of day in front of the Layout Review Board.
The developers of the challenge requested to satisfy with the board in order to retain them in the loop, and the to start with of these conferences was held throughout a function session Thursday night.
A contingent of representatives from several events concerned have been in attendance to talk about a structural evaluation report carried out on Hotel Aiken, as very well as respond to inquiries from board customers about all aspects of the undertaking.
The DRB would be greatly included with any endeavor relating to the resort, as it is tasked with preserving and elevating the city’s historic attributes. The board beforehand toured Lodge Aiken in January to get a perception of the building’s ailment in preparing for improvement.
A representative from Taylor and Viola Structural Engineers, out of Charlotte, North Carolina, frequented the lodge Jan. 4 to “assess the problem of the existing composition and examine the developing for future occupancy,” according to a memo in agenda notes.
The evaluation notes that two styles of structural deficiencies were being identified in the making.
The initially form is structural factors that are in “commonly poor affliction.” The report suggests that “these features have either degraded in excess of time, have been modified excessively or have experienced h2o or other environmental hurt.”
Examples detailed involve cracking in mortar joints, excessively modified wall framing and water-destroyed roof framing.
The second style is present structural elements that are in reasonable problem, but are “sized inappropriately to meet current structure benchmarks.”
A single example offered is “that the two present ground joists and current 2×4 interior bearing walls are inadequate, no matter of condition, for the existing configuration and intended use.”
Over-all, the investigation concludes that “a lot of the creating can be preserved if wanted, but it really should be anticipated that preservation measure would be substantial in mother nature.”
“The difficulties (lifted in the report) about the structural integrity of the constructing are incredibly main troubles, specially when we look at the viability of renovating, what we would get and how a great deal revenue it would value to get there,” claimed Jay Ham, senior vice president of development for Raines Enhancement, which is the project’s lead developer.
Immediately after discussing the report, the session morphed into an all round search at Undertaking Pascalis, with a conceptual master system being presented. This program confirmed proposed destinations and layout of the lodge, apartments, parking composition and conference center.
“The assumed method is, from (right here), we would provide in 1 or two vertical parts in the first go-spherical and then we would provide in a third or a fourth,” mentioned Brandon Graham, vice president of improvement for Raines. “We would introduce these as we go and of course get feedback as required.”
Below this master strategy, there would be between 100 to 107 multifamily units in the flats, although the lodge would have around 100 keys.
The conference center would be somewhere around 30,000 square ft, with banquet seating for 300 and lecture seating for 600. The very first ground of the conference middle could accommodate close to 3,000 square toes of retail.
The parking construction would be 5.5 stages with 74 areas for each degree, major to approximately 400 spaces.
A person of the even bigger undertakings proven in the grasp approach entails Newberry Road. The avenue at present has two sides that are every single a person way.
The vision is that the side closest to the Alley would be torn up and the proposed apartments and conference center would jut out additional than the present avenue would let. Therefore, Newberry Street would be minimized to a person side. Whether or not that would be just one-way or two-methods is but to be resolved.
The existing sidewalks along the road have a 10-foot width, while the new kinds would be all over 22-24 toes, stated Stephen Overcash, controlling principal of ODA Architecture, the lead grasp architect.
“We recognize the worth of the venture, that it is a generational challenge,” Graham stated. “So, whilst we might be pushed time-wise for thanks diligence and all these other items, we’re going to absolutely do our finest and give each individual effort and hard work.”
The Layout Critique Board’s upcoming standard assembly will take put March 1.
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