Downtown building sailing toward approval

The mixed-use building proposed for an empty lot along Gilbert Road in the Heritage District includes a rooftop patio and bar. (Town of Gilbert)

A mixed-use building with restaurants, offices and a rooftop patio and bar proposed for the Heritage District is likely to get a stamp of approval when it returns to the Redevelopment Commission this fall.

The Brundrett project is planned on vacant land between Norwood Furniture and the Farmhouse Restaurant on Gilbert Road in the downtown.

“I like the building,” Vice Chairman Casey Kendel said at the commission’s July 19 study session on the project’s design review. “I think it fits well. I think it matches other buildings in the area.”

The proposed four-story, 28,831-square-foot building would reserve the first floor for a full-service restaurant, bar or cafe, the second and third floors for offices and the fourth floor for the rooftop patio with a portion of the roof enclosed to protect against inclement weather, according to planner Kristen Devine.

The rear will include a patio area surrounded by a screen wall at the ground floor, which would be used as an outdoor seating area. The ground floor also would include an external pedestrian connection on the south side of the property that would connect patrons from Gilbert Road to the alley at the rear of the site towards Water Tower Plaza.

Kendel asked if there were plans to safeguard the adobe building housing the Farmhouse Restaurant.

“How is it going to be secured in the sense of, it won’t fall down?” Kendel said.

Nathan Moyers of Circle West Architects said the proposed Brundrett Building would be set off the property line to allow a bit more clearance from the footings underneath the adobe building.

“Also, when we go further in the design process and working more with our consultants, especially our structural engineers, there’s different footings that we can employ,” he said.

“We’re very mindful of our neighbor’s building and obviously we don’t want anything to happen to it from lots of different standpoints.”

Commissioner Cassandra Updike said she agreed with staff that the Indian Laurel trees proposed for the rooftop would be too tall as they can grow 50 feet to 60 feet. building is 55 feet tall.

“With the 50- to 60-foot tree height at the roof that is quite a drastic scale from the adjacent building,” Updike said.

Property owner Todd Brundrett accepted that the Indian Laurel was too tall and said the project was leaning toward olive trees instead.

He said the trees would be planted in boxes, which would restrict the roots and limit their heights. Additionally, the trees would be regularly pruned, capping the height.

“We’re mindful of the height and the concern with the heights of the trees,” he said. “It’s something that we’re working with our landscape architect and he’s aware of.

“We’re not going to have a humongous tree on top of our building. Just structurally it would not work.”

Commission Adam Baugh said, “I love the way the balcony overhangs create shade opportunities on both sides of the building and create activity within the ground-level uses.”

He said if the applicant moved forward with olive trees, then the landscaping plan for the project needed to be redone because currently it’s not included.

He also questioned why the applicant went with tree options that were not on the recommended plant palette for the Heritage Village.

“I’m just curious is it because ou want to create a larger shade canopy on the roof?” Baugh said. “If there’s a good enough reason I could totally be agreeable to a different type of tree planting.”

Moyers responded that most of the proposed landscaping should fit within district’s new guidelines and that the rooftop tree palette before the commission was just one of several options. Baugh said it was difficult for him to comment further on the trees not knowing exactly what is being proposed.

“We wanted something that would provide enough shade up there because it is going to get hot especially now this time of year,” Moyer said. “So we were looking for trees that had a wide enough shading capacity and so that’s why we presented this.”

He reiterated that his team was mindful of the tree height.

“We don’t want anything to happen as far as these blowing over,” Moyer said. “We’re very mindful in working with the landscape architect to restrict those heights. They are not going to be overwhelming.”

He said an example of rooftops with trees is the residential projects by developer Optima.

Chairman TJ Claassen said he agreed with Baugh and Updike.

“I think it can be done in a really attractive and well executed way,” Claassen said. “I think it would be outstanding to have shade cover, natural shade cover on the roof.

“I would encourage the landscape architect just to look at the approved trees that are allowed in the Heritage District. It would just make the process easier.”

Claassen said if an approved tree doesn’t provide the shade the applicant is hoping for, it could be remedied by adding more box trees on the rooftop.

“Maybe it’s not one tree but maybe it is two trees that grow not as high but combined can produce similar shade,” he said.

Kendal asked for an anticipated start date, noting projects in the vicinity such as the Water Tower renovation project directly behind the site and the Heritage North project.

“It’s going to be pretty busy in a very small amount of space,” he said.

Moyer explained that the project was in the very early stages and has been sent out for bids from general contractors.

“The start of construction would be early next year,” he said, adding that the construction would take between 10 and 15 months.

Devine later said that she expected the project’s design to return to the commission for formal action in September, possibly October.

Unlike in 2021 when the proposal first came before the town, the project this time does not need the approval from the planning commission or council because it stayed within the Heritage District’s 55-foot height limit.

The original proposal called for a 68-foot-tall building, which was rejected by the planning commission, prompting the applicant to withdraw the proposal and rework the project.

Never miss an issue. Sign up for free today.