Hyman eyes apartments for cigar factory remaining after fire
Developer Nat Hyman has a new apartment plan for a North 15th Street vacant industrial site where a massive fire last year destroyed the larger structure on the property.
Hyman approached the city planning commission on Tuesday with a plan to convert a three-story, 17,000-square-foot building into 16 apartments.
The century-old vacant building, on the 400 block of North 15th Street across from Wawa and Abe’s Cold Beer, is part of a former cigar factory between 15th and Franklin streets. A larger brick and timber warehouse in which Hyman had planned to develop 69 apartments was heavily damaged in an October 2018 fire. The city executed an emergency razing a few days later, which sparked a row between council and Hyman over demolition costs.
According to his initial plan, which secured a special use approval from the zoning hearing board in 2016, Hyman was going to renovate the smaller building into nine two-story townhouses and one larger apartment on the partial third floor.
The new adaptive reuse application calls for more units because of the additional parking available post-demolition.
Hyman said he envisions seven apartments on the first floor and eight apartments on the second floor, all roughly 800 square feet with rent priced around $900. A roughly 1,100square-foot apartment on the third floor would go for about $1,100, Hyman said.
The developer also proposed an approximately 15,000square-foot park with benches and trees in the area where the larger warehouse used to be. Hyman noted the scarcity of green space in the neighborhood, and said the park would be open to the public.
The planning commission recommended the city zoners approve Hyman’s application when it comes before them later this year, but with some qualifications based on a staff report by the city’s chief planner, David Kimmerly.
While commending Hyman for an “excellent reuse of vacant land and buildings in a urban setting,” Kimmerly requested the developer to reformat the site’s parking area, as well as to reopen bricked-up windows and install ones with gray or black metal grids.
Hyman was open to the parking changes and said he intended to reopen the windows. But took issue with the city telling him what kind of windows to install.
He also bristled at Kimmerly’s recommendation to hire a landscape architect to assist with the park design, and planning commissioners’ request that he include lighting and, possibly, fencing. While open to the public, Hyman isn’t dedicating the park to the city.
“I thought this was going to be received with fanfare and excitement and happiness,” he said. “Apparently, I was mistaken.”
Hyman hoped to start renovations within six months and complete the project within a year after that.
Morning Call reporter Andrew Wagaman can be reached at 610-820-6764 or awagaman@mcall.com