The Design Review Board Urban Panel met last Thursday to discuss some of the most recent development and renovation requests for downtown and the West End.

Here’s the highlight reel:

✅Markley Place: The five-story residential condo set for 110 N. Markley St. was planned and approved back in 2015. However, small changes were reintroduced during the June meeting which were approved by the DRB.

✅South Carolina Children’s Theatre: In the words of the Upstate Business Journal, the Design Review Board “overwhelmingly approved” Craig Gaulden Davis’s application for the South Carolina Children’s Theatre’s new building.

⚠️Westone: As we announced earlier this week the former Star Cleaners & Dryers building and 109 W. Stone Ave. will soon become the home of Liability Brewing, a second Coffee Underground location as well as other retail outlets.

However, some serious renovations must be done before opening day.

The What: The developers of the building are seeking a preliminary certification for a special tax assessment based on the historical nature of the building

The Why: The tax (if deemed a historical site) would allow the developers, to pass along a lower triple-net lease rate to tenants.
❓: A triple-net lease in short is one that allows the developers to pass along the burden of capital expenditures to the landlord (basically the landlord would need to pay to renovate the building).

The DRB could not reach an agreement, but agreed to visit the site to determine if enough of the existing structure is historic to qualify for the tax assessment.