Design Review tonight: Avalon project advances, 42nd doesn’t

That’s the Transitional Resources project at 2922 SW Avalon, one of two projects examined by Southwest Design Review Board members tonight at Madison Middle School. This is intended to be an 16-unit residential project over 1200+ square feet of living space, part of the TR complex offering services, including residential units, to people living with mental illness. This was the project’s first time before the board, seeking “early design guidance” (see the full presentation here); members agreed to let it move on to the next phase, with a few recommendations, including open-space coordination and the courtyard entry. Next project did not have such smooth sailing:

That’s 4532 42nd SW (presentation here), which last went before the board 10 months ago (WSB coverage here). It’s already passed “early design guidance,” so it’s in the second phase of design review, but has to come back for at least one more meeting. Last June, board members said they wanted a closer look at what this mixed-use building (35 residential units over 3,000 sf commercial) will look like at street level; they got one tonight but aren’t happy yet with how the ground-level retail will look – saying it’s not inviting enough and looks distant and inaccessible, which could lead to business failure. So the first floor will be the topic of the next meeting – in hopes a revamp will make it less “vanilla” and “generic.” One more note from tonight’s meeting: new members Norma Tompkins and Robin Murphy joined the board.