On Monday, the city’s Design Review Board will consider a proposal for a new Ace Hardware building on 10th Avenue South.

The current store sits at the corner of 10th Avenue South and 36th Street South. The building sits on three parcels to the south of the alley and the parking lot sits on five parcels to the north of the alley.

The property owner is proposing demolition of the existing building and the construction of a new 23,100 square foot building on the parcels to the north of the alley and the parking lot on the parcels to the south of the alley.

In this process, the parcels will be aggregated into a single parcel for a total project area of 73,341 square feet or 1.68 acres, according to the city staff report.

The entire project area is zoned C-2 General Commercial, so no zone changes are needed, but the Design Review Board will review the proposed project for conformance with building, landscape and lighting codes, among other design requirements.

The proposed building has been designed using tan, parchment and dark green shades of metal siding.

The south-facing side will include an A-frame storefront with medium-brown siding, stone wainscot accents and the proposed store signage in red, as well as an area for outside merchandise sales, according to the staff report. To the west of the proposed building, an outdoor greenhouse area is proposed and will screened by a security fence on the south elevation.

View of the current Ace Hardware store from 10th Avenue South. Photo courtesy city planning department.

The project as designed doesn’t meet the city requirement of at least 30 percent of the first floor façade facing a public street to consist of windows and doors.

The guideline affects the sides of the proposed store facing 9th Avenue South and 36th Street South. The applicant has indicated that guideline can’t be met due to the interior floor plan and the type of metal material used for the building.  Staff has recommended that those street facing sides of the building be improved with landscaping.

The proposed site plan includes two points of access. The first is the existing curb cut off 10th Avenue South and the second is the existing alley that can be accessed from 36th Street South. The existing curb on 10th Avenue South cannot be moved because of the current opening through the median, according to the staff report.

The proposed plan includes using the alley for the access drive in front of the new building and for through traffic. City code requires access drives be 25 feet wide and the curb cut on 36th Street South for the alley is proposed to be widened to meet the requirement. The proposed parking lot will be to the south of the alley with direct access from 10th Avenue South and the existing alley, alleviating some of the traffic on 9th Avenue South.

Reduced parking requirement approved for new Ace Hardware store on 10th Avenue South

Earlier this month, the city’s Board of Adjustment approved a variance to reduce the minimum number of parking spaces by 7-10 spaces, with the condition that a full stormwater plan be submitted to Public Works. A design waiver allowing for slightly narrower parking spaces has also been approved by the Director of Planning and Community Development Craig Raymond.