The Wood Companies and Schiff Capital Group have proposed a seven-story apartment building at the corner of East Hubbard Avenue and Pearl Alley, adjacent to Italian Village Park. The concept was presented to the Italian Village Commission this week. Mark Wood, President of The Wood Companies, said he was pleased with the reaction of the commission and is looking forward to the project coming together.
“We think it is a wonderful opportunity with the positioning on the park,” said Wood. “Italian Village park has been lost historically and we think this project will do it justice and provide an attractive background to the park and highlight it. The back of the building is designed to have a lot of glass to provide a reflective quality back on the park.”
The proposal calls for 40 to 50 apartments, two stories of parking garage space, and one floor of potential office space with the idea of fully utilizing the parking garage by having a mix of office users and residents (who would be less likely to use the garage during the day). The parking will be partially sunken below grade, with two separate entrances providing access to each floor of the garage. Because of this, the building as proposed would only be about 70 feet tall; about five feet taller than The Hubbard, which is five stories and currently under construction at the corner of Hubbard and High Street.
The park side of the building would be fronted with residential town homes, which Wood says will mask the parking garage and provide a nice complement to the park.
Wood had nothing but praise for Jonathan Barnes, the architect for the project; “The site seems kind of unique as there’s no immediate neighbor on this parcel. It’s surrounded by alleys and streets on three sides and the park on the fourth side. We met with Jon and we liked his initial response and the way he progressed the design conversation. He’s a talented architect and does contemporary very well.”
The Wood Companies and Schiff Capital Group first acquired the property in a package with the four-story building at the corner of Buttles Avenue and High Street, which they plan on remodeling. Their goal with the seven story apartment building is to break ground by the end of this year.
More information about The Wood Companies can be found at www.woodcompanies.com. More information about Schiff Capital Group can be found at www.schiffcapital.com.
