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Design review board denies Parsco proposal to remove downtown façade for parking
Summary
The Pensacola Architecture Review Board voted to deny Parsco LLC's application to demolish the front office portion of the Pfeiffer building and replace it with a parking lot and monolithic façade, finding the proposal incompatible with the Governmental Center District street edge and pedestrian experience.
The Pensacola Architecture Review Board on Feb. 19 denied an application from Parsco LLC to demolish the front portion of a downtown warehouse at 307 South Royce Street and replace it with a parking lot and new CMU façade.
The applicant, Amir Michael Filati of Parsco, told the board the front portion of the building was vacant and the owner wants to repurpose that space to provide on-site parking adjacent to City Hall. Filati said the proposal would use painted concrete block, a bifold door and gooseneck lighting and that the owner may finalize some exterior accents later.
Several board members said the design as submitted would remove a pedestrian-scaled frontage and replace it with a “monolithic” façade that does not relate to neighboring buildings or the street. "We're charged with judging compatibility with the built environment," said board member George Mead, who argued the proposed frontage would break the established street edge and expose adjoining residential walls to public view. Mead and other members urged alternatives such as retaining a portion of the existing wall as a courtyard entrance or designing a transitional frontage that preserves the pedestrian experience.
Board member comments repeatedly focused on keeping a consistent street edge: members suggested leaving some wall elements in place, creating a parking courtyard behind a retained wall, or returning with a design that better integrates windows, transoms or other scale elements so the site does not read as a blank wall from the sidewalk.
After discussion, a motion to deny the application as submitted carried on a board vote. Planning staff cited the Governmental Center District standard that proposed plans must be compatible with the district's built environment; the board found the proposed demolition and replacement failed that test.
The board encouraged the applicant to return with a revised plan that preserves or replicates street-facing elements or provides an architecturally appropriate courtyard wall, and noted the board can offer specific recommendations during a resubmission.
