Visit Emily Battle's blog: City Beat

An artist rendering shows a redesigned plan for 410 William St., a city property that could house offices and possibly a cafe. Visit the Photo Place

Office-space plans go forward

Now that Historic District appeal has vanished, property owner moves ahead with revamped design for commercial property on William Street in the city.

Date published: 1/30/2006

By EMILY BATTLE

Nearly two years after the Architectural Review Board first approved plans for an office building at 410 William St., the project is up and rolling again, with a new design.

Fitz Johnson has hired a new architect--Richmond-based Baskervill--and submitted a revised plan to replace the one-story building on the property now with a 17,400-square-foot office building.

It's the latest evolution of a project that prompted a group of Historic District property owners to appeal the original ARB approval.

When the City Council denied the group standing to appeal the decision, it asked the Board of Zoning Appeals, then the Circuit Court, to rule that the city's own laws required that their appeal be heard.

The group lost those appeals, and filed one with the Virginia Supreme Court, but dropped it in November, saying it wanted to work with the City Council, not through the courts, to resolve the issue of who can appeal ARB decisions.

The council will take up that question sometime in the next few weeks, when it considers a slate of recommendations from a task force appointed to review the entire Historic District ordinance.

The group had previously dropped its appeal of the ARB's approval of another project--First Baptist Church's plans to demolish an old bank building at the corner of Amelia and Princess Anne streets to build a parking lot.

The appeals put Johnson on the sidelines, unable to go forward with his plans, but once they ended, he said he went back to the drawing board to move ahead with a new design for the three-story brick building.

"After all we'd been through, we just weren't satisfied" with the old design, he said.

Last week, Johnson presented his new plan for the site to the ARB for a preliminary review. The board will hold a public hearing on the plan Feb. 13.

"This is pretty much starting from scratch," he told the board.

The third story of the new building is set back from the street-front facade of the structure, and that facade is divided into three parts, intended to look like other two-story shop buildings in downtown Fredericksburg.

Plans call for a courtyard between the new building and the white structure next door, which houses a wine shop and financial firm.

Follow us on

Read more stories about Fredericksburg
Date published: 1/30/2006