Title
Shops at 88 - Building Elevations
History
The Village Board approved the Shops at 88th retail development in April of 2006. The approved site plan included five buildings (4 one-story and 1 two-story) with a combined total of 40,000 square feet of retail on a 5.72 acre parcel. The Board also approved elevations for every building except for the small car wash building located along 88th Avenue. The approval motion included the condition that the petitioner submit the car wash elevations for an appearance review within 90 days. The approved site plan and elevations are attached for review.
The petitioner submitted car wash elevations for review on August 1, 2007. In addition, the petitioner requested approval of new designs for the other buildings as a new architect had been hired to complete the work. Because the changes were relatively minor, the Village Attorney recommended this project to go directly before the Village Board instead of starting at Plan Commission. At first glance, the two elevations do not appear to be drastically different in terms of structure, but it made sense to update the Board approved elevations to ensure that the correct elevations were on file. At this time, the petitioner has only submitted elevations for the retail buildings and car wash, not the two-story building.
Retail Buildings.
Both buildings have been designed in a style typical of many new multi-tenant shopping centers. Brick, split face block, glass and EIFS are the primary building materials for the proposed elevation. Brick, limestone, glass and EIFS were the primary building materials for the Board approved elevations. Pilasters, constructed of face brick with split face block accents break up the long façade. The split face block is generally considered a less attractive downgrade, therefore a different colored face brick is recommended in its place.
The building height, shown at 22’-4” to the top of parapet is about 3’ shorter than the Board approved elevations. Faux windows are shown on the façade above some of the store fronts. The Board approved plan also included these windows, but with awnings. The Board approved plan also included decorative medallions features in the EIFS above some of the store fronts. The east elevation of the proposed building shows a service door and a grey boxed area that appears to be some sort of utility meter. All utility features of this type should be covered with a solid screen or located on the interior of the building. Both the approved and proposed building elevations show windows on all four sides and varied roof lines. Per Aspect Architecture Design, all windows are transparent. The upper single windows have a wall behind them and will be backlit. There are also two scuppers on the south elevation that are shown just below the EIFS coping. Signage, which was originally proposed over the windows, has been relocated to the EIFS area of the building. Signage will be reviewed and approved separately by the Building Division.
Car Wash
The car wash is also proposed to be constructed of brick, split face block and EIFS. Again, the split face block should be replaced by a different color face brick. A varied roofline highlights the entry of the carwash on the east elevation. The car wash doors are shown as glass on the south and north elevation. The west elevation, which fronts onto 88th Avenue, has pilasters, upper windows, and materials in sync with the retail building. All sides of this building are important as each side faces either a public street, major parking lot drive aisle, or existing multi-family residential development. As its shown, the west elevation provides a fairly ‘blank’ façade. Due to the nature of the building as a car wash, it may not be feasible to add windows to this area. The approved site plan shows a 22’ setback between this façade and the property line and decorative landscaping should be used to soften this wall. Signage is not shown on this building and will be reviewed and approved separately by the building department.
This is now before the Village Board for consideration.
Recommended Action/Motion
I move to approve the building elevations for Shops at 88th, entitled ‘The Shops at 88: Retail A and B (North and West Elevations, Retail A and B (South and East Elevations), and Car Wash,’ prepared by Aspect Architecture Design dated as received October 11, 2007, subject to the following conditions:
1) That all building code related items are met including locating utility boxes/meters/conduits inside the building and/or screening of all utilities;
2) That parapet walls screen all rooftop equipment; and
3) That the split face block is replaced by a different color face brick.