BY DONNA SWICEGOOD
Planning is underway for the property in downtown Statesville that was destroyed by a fire in April of 2023.
A three-story building featuring a restaurant and retail and office space is proposed for the site at the corner of Broad and Center streets in the heart of downtown. The vacant lot is now surrounded by a fence after the three damaged buildings were demolished months after the fire.
Nathan Morgan of Schaeffer Design Associates said the new building will be roughly the height of the clock tower, which is on the eastern corner of Broad and Center streets. It will be approximately the same height as the Bank of America building, which is further down on West Broad Street.
Morgan said the plans are for the building to house retail space on the first floor. The second floor will be for a restaurant space.
“It will be a New Orleans-French Quarter style restaurant,” he said.
The restaurant will include an outdoor space overlooking downtown, and the third story will feature a penthouse space for offices and a rooftop patio for the restaurant as well as mechanical equipment.
Old Iron Management is planning to construct the building, according to documents submitted to Statesville City Council, which approved the plans at its first meeting in December,
Morgan said the plans have been approved by the city’s Design Review Committee and will now be reviewed by the Technical Review Committee. Once that is approved the owner can submit plans for building and zoning permit approvals.
Once the TRC gives its approval, the design process can start to determine costs. That will allow the owner to figure out rental costs and start recruiting tenants for the building.
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This is a cover up for the vape shop that’ll be there in a few years. Won’t ever grow downtown when we spend all our funding on brick walls.
I think we should all be grateful major private investment is taking place in Statesville and a worthy replacement for what was lost to the fire is happening sooner rather than later. The last time that corner went vacant it took 10 years to rebuild. We are fortunate the location and business assessment makes for a reasonable return on investment. Without it private investment would likely not take place. While I am not an architect, the proximity to the square and the scale of the adjacent properties are consistent with what is being developed. A “monument” scale is what should be at that location. This is a rendering…and perhaps the opportunity exists to have some input into the final design…maybe look what was at that location prior to what burned down. Bringing a blend of that into the final design may make the architecture more unique to Statesville. As far as the business types that will be brought here as a result…again, ultimately the space needs to generate income to meet the investor objectives. What is proposed is consistent with what this community needs and I wish them great success!