Look for the two-story building that formerly housed Hill City Pizza and Dream Hair Studios in North Chattanooga to grow to four stories, with a penthouse on top.
In its final meeting - ever - Thursday night, the North Shore Design Review Committee by a 3-2 vote approved the reconstruction of the building at 14 Frazier Ave. into a four-story development with two floors of retail on the bottom and two dwelling floors up top.
But on the other end of Frazier Avenue, a proposed four-story condominium development between Tampa and Baker streets got shot down by the now-defunct committee after angry neighbors showed up and said they didn't get sufficient notice of plans to build the hillside-hugging condos they argued would overwhelm the neighborhood's historic bungalows.
The third time was the charm for Ashish Chaudhari, who owns a number of Chattanooga-area Kanku's gas stations, to redevelop the building near Frazier and Market Street, which he bought in 2014 for $1.03 million. The North Shore Design Review Committee turned his plans down once, and so did the city under its new form-based code.
The latest plan, which was approved, sets the penthouse 10 feet back from the building's sides, has brick fronting that attempts to match the 1926 building's existing brick and has a more modern looking back of the building, which Gardner compared to the condominiums right on the other side of the Market Street bridge nearby.
"We're trying to be a good neighbor here," the developer's architect, Claudio Costa, said.
The latest plan didn't sway board members Lori Quilen and Brooke Bradley-King, who voted against it, while it won the support of board chair David Barlew Jr., Joe Sawyer and John Strasburger.
"I still have concerns about significantly altering a historic building on Frazier," Quilen said.
After that, committee members voted unanimously to deny plans to build condominiums on Tampa and townhomes on Baker Street by the Dynamic Group, the same Chattanooga-based company that built downtown's new Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites on Chestnut Street.
The North Shore Design Review Committee approved the condo development at its previous meeting. But about 20 neighbors came Thursday and argued, among other things, that not enough notice had been given. A sign announcing the project was required to have been put up seven days ahead of the previous meeting.
The developers provided an affidavit saying they had met the seven-day deadline by posting a sign facing Tampa Street, but after neighbors argued Baker Street is 90 feet higher in elevation, commissioners decided adequate notice wasn't given. The developer's attorney told the commission it didn't have the authority to rescind its previous yes vote, and left the meeting room at the Development Resource Center with the developers and architect in tow.
The commission then voted to deny the project, which drew applause from the crowd. The developer can appeal to the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Regional Planning Commission or appeal in court, said city attorney Phil Noblett.
The North Shore Design Review Committee had its final meeting to consider the two issues, and now is replaced by the city's new form-based code.
Contact staff writer Tim Omarzu at tomarzu@timesfreepress.com or www.facebook.com/MeetsForBusiness or twitter.com/meetforbusiness or 423-757-6651.