By Eric Curl
Sept. 29, 2022 update – The Historic Preservation Commission delayed consideration of the proposal to a future meeting.
Sept. 28, 2022 – Staff remains opposed to a proposal to build a three and four story multi-family complex at 1825 Montgomery St., ahead of the plan’s return to the Historic Preservation Commission on Wednesday.
The overall scale of the complex, which covers an entire city block, is not visually compatible to the surrounding structures, according to the staff report.
The project includes a two‐phase redevelopment of the block bound by Montgomery Street, Kline Street, West 35th Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. The first phase includes the new construction of two new four‐story multifamily buildings that will front MLK, Montgomery and Kline Streets. The second phase includes six new three‐story townhomes with roof access.
All existing buildings on the current site are non‐contributing metal buildings and will be demolished. The demolition was approved by the commission at the July meeting, with the condition the construction project is approved first.
The commission previously postponed consideration of the new buildings’ height and mass at their meeting in July, so the buildings could be redesigned and reoriented to address and emphasize MLK with a minimum of 70 percent building frontage along the street. The commission did not include staff’s conditions at the time to reduce the height of the buildings.
Staff’s recommendations to reduce the size and mass of the buildings remains unchanged since the July meeting. Furthermore, staff does not believe it was the intent of the HPC to dismiss those recommendations, particularly those that are specific design standards required by ordinance, according to the staff report.
The proposal comes more than a year since the Savannah Zoning Board of Appeals granted in August 2021 three variances for the site, including an increase in height from three stories (45-foot limit) to four stories (55-foot limit). In addition the zoning board increased the maximum distance for remote parking from 300 to 460 feet and reduced parking requirements by 20 spaces.
However, commission staff says in the latest report that correct procedure was not followed to obtain the height variance; therefore, the petition has to be reviewed as a variance request rather than as if the variance was already granted.
At the zoning board meetings, Attorney Robert McCorkle, who was representing the petitioner behind the project, compared the project to 4-story apartment complex being built three blocks north on Montgomery, according to the meeting minutes. The same architect, Andy Lynch, designed both projects and both would benefit the area in need of people and development, McCorkle said.
The other apartment complex, located in the adjacent Victorian District, benefited from a text amendment to the zoning ordinance allowing for four stories and a 55-foot height. However, that amendment was not re-applied to the Streetcar District, where the proposed project is located, following the adoption of a new city zoning ordinance in 2019. City staff attempted to correct the omission at the Savannah City Council meeting on July 2021, but the mayor and alderman chose not to re-adopt amendment.
The current owner, Massachusetts-based 1825 Montgomery, LLC, purchased the site for $975,000 in December 2020.
The Historic Preservation Commission meeting is at 3 p.m. at 112 E. State St. The meetings are in person but the public can also access the meeting virtually by registering via the registration page. The full agenda is now available to view.
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