Prescott Preservation Commission members on Sept. 12 recommended approval of Special-Use Permit SUP25-001 for 130 Cortez Street, forwarding the item to Planning and Zoning and city council with a single condition: the applicant must submit exterior building materials for review and approval by the historic preservation specialist before building approval. The vote was 3-2.

The request, presented by Tammy DeWitt, community planner for the City of Prescott, seeks to convert the building’s second and third floors to residential apartments, add a recessed fourth-floor residence and install an elevator. “Before you today is a request for a special use permit for a remodel, adding 50 or more to the value of the existing structures relative to the pre model values,” DeWitt said during the presentation. The application is in the North Prescott National Register District, so the city sent the proposal to the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) for comment.

Why it matters: The property sits within a national historic district and includes visible historic elements, most notably a preserved “Prescott Hotel” ghost sign on the brick side of the building. SHPO compared the proposal to the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation and concluded the rooftop addition, set back from the street, met applicable guidance because it is differentiated and not highly visible from the street.

Key project details: The applicant proposes three units on the second floor and three on the third (six units total), eight parking spaces at the rear, and a recessed fourth floor set back from the street. The proposal retains remaining historic architectural features such as second- and third-floor arches and preserves the Prescott Hotel sign. The design team confirmed the building’s stucco will remain in place; staff said removing the stucco would likely damage the underlying brick. The downtown business district allows up to 50 feet in height; staff noted a recommended guideline of 48 feet but confirmed the proposed height meets code.

Commission debate focused on the visible effect and precedent of adding a fourth story to an older downtown building. Commissioner Diane Travis summarized preservation principles cited in SHPO guidance: “Generally, a new addition should be subordinate to the historic building. A new addition should be compatible but differentiated enough so that it is not confused as historic or original in the building.” Multiple commissioners expressed reservations that a visible fourth floor could “stick out” from the street and set a precedent, while staff and the SHPO comments emphasized the step-back and differentiation of the rooftop addition as mitigation.

The project architect, Colin Love Dahl of Michael Taylor Architects, said the design team stepped back the rooftop as far as feasible given the building’s shallow depth: “If we were to go farther back, we really start to restrict the usable area of that top floor.” He also explained plans for mechanical equipment and stair egress: rooftop condensing units would be concealed within the penthouse structure and some equipment located under a second-floor deck to reduce visibility and noise.

Action and next steps: Commissioner Diane Travis moved to approve SUP25-001 with the condition that exterior materials be reviewed and approved by the historic preservation specialist; a second was recorded and the motion carried 3-2. The commission’s recommendation will be transmitted to the Planning and Zoning Commission and then to the City Council for final decisions and any required building permits. The condition requires the applicant to return or supply materials for staff review prior to building approval.

Substantive clarifications from the hearing: staff confirmed the property is within the North Prescott National Register District (a national register area, not a local historic district), SHPO reviewed the submittal under the Secretary of the Interior’s standards, the applicant provided renderings showing preservation of arches and the ghost sign, the applicant provided eight parking spaces to serve the residential use, and staff noted that the city’s minimum parking requirement would have been three spaces. Structural/engineering approval remains a prerequisite for building permits; staff said the applicant has been working on engineering and believes the building can support the rooftop addition. No funding or tax-increment details were discussed.

All direct quotations in this article are taken from the hearing transcript and attributed to the speakers who made them. The commission’s formal recommendation and the requirement to submit exterior materials were recorded in the motion that passed 3-2.