New apartments and new businesses could rise in an auto row era-styled building at the corner of E Pike and Belmont if a plan before the East Design Review Board is approved.

The existing building, home to Kaladi Brothers Coffee, Gay City and a small parking lot, would be torn down, though developer Hunters Capital and architects Meng Strazza plan to maintain the existing façade along both streets. In its place would rise a 9-story, preservation bonus-boosted building with 92 residential units atop 7,500 square feet of commercial space. The building would have 53 parking spaces for cars and 89 for bikes. There will also be 750 square feet of office space.

Gay City, meanwhile, has lined up a new Pike/Pine home it plans to open this winter.

The new building would be adjacent to Hunters Capital’s Dunn Motor Building, which opened in 2016, after engaging in a similar façade preservation. CHS reported on the early plans from developer Hunters Capital and longtime property owner Chip Ragen to redevelop the corner in 2020. The Capitol Hill-based developer is also moving forward with plans for another auto row-inspired mixed-use project on 15th Ave E at the site of a former service station.

The E Pike Rowland Motors Building was built in 1910 and occupied a place in the heart of what was Capitol Hill’s auto row. It’s been re-purposed a few times over the past 111 years, and some of the work has been unkind to the original façade. In a draft design review document published in July, the developer stated their plans to restore its character.

517 E Pike St

Land Use Application to allow a 9-story, 92-unit apartment building with retail. Parking for 53 vehicles proposed. Existing building to be demolished. Early Design Guidance conducted under 3037022-EG

After the first two preserved stories, the building will recess inward, away from the street. The developer hopes this will allow them to revitalize the building’s character, while still maintaining the pedestrian-friendly scale of the existing building. The recessed area will provide room for some outdoor space for residents in the form of an elevated patio.

Under the city’s Mandatory Housing Affordability program, the developer will not be including affordable units onsite and will instead pay a fee based on residential square footage to support creating low income units elsewhere in the city.

Plans call for three commercial spaces. Each will have Pike street access, while the corner space will also have access from Belmont. Residents will enter the building from Belmont. Cars will also enter along Belmont to access the underground parking. The single office unit will also open onto Belmont.

While the new building will be stepped in behind the existing preserved façade, what is now a parking lot will not be. Part of the building which fronts on Belmont will be flush with the preserved façade, and continue straight up from there.

The developer plans to use contrasting colors on the parking lot section and the rebuilt section – white for the rebuilt façade, and black on the former parking area. A vertical bronze stripe will separate the two sections. The back, former parking lot section, will also use some accent bands and large windows to break up the mass.

The landscape plan calls for different treatments on each street. Along Pike, there will be some benches, which the plan calls “seat cubes” and trees. Along Belmont, street parking will be removed to make way for more trees, and more seat cubes.

During an early design guidance meeting, the board seemed generally supportive of much of the plan. They asked for more information about how the building’s southwest corner would look from the outside. The developers responded that it would carry around the look of the black section with the accent bands and windows.

The board had been concerned that slope on Belmont may present access issues for the apartment entrance. The developer responded that adding another access point on Pike would be too much of a break in the commercial spaces along that street.

The board had also been concerned about the amount of different things happening on the Belmont side. The developer plans to have access to one of the commercial spaces, the office space, trash, and the driveway to the parking garage on that street. In addition the board was concerned that parking access might conflict with other uses at other properties along the street.

The developer responded that the more frequently used pedestrian spaces will be closer to Pike Street, the office will act as a transition, and the garage will be set at the far corner of the building. Further, the garage entrance does not conflict with anything across the street.

The proposal is set to come before the East Design Review Board at 5 PM on Wednesday September 29th. Meetings continue to be held online. To watch the meeting, or sign up to comment, visit the city’s website.

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