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Design Review Board approves Excelsior Apartments modifications but holds railing for separate review
Summary
The board approved modifications to a previously authorized 50‑unit, 4‑story Excelsior Avenue apartment project — including window and dumpster changes — but excluded a proposed mesh railing system from approval pending material samples and renderings.
Design team representatives for the Excelsior Avenue Apartments summarized a set of modest site changes to a previously approved four‑story, 50‑unit mixed‑use building, including a small ramp adjustment and a new dumpster enclosure required by the trash hauler. The board found the architectural revisions compatible with the earlier plan and voted to approve the modifications subject to a condition that the proposed site‑built steel/mesh railing be reviewed separately.
Architect Jace Brown noted the project has been refined since the 2022 approval and that most exterior materials remain consistent with the prior submission. "This is a 50 unit, 4 story structure," he said during the presentation, noting a vernacular veranda concept facing Excelsior Avenue and use of Nichiha panels and Glengarry brick at the base. Several board members praised the materials and massing but expressed concern that the proposed mesh railing could, at a glance and in a light color, resemble temporary construction barriers. The applicant agreed to return with a sample, color options and a rendering showing the railing in context.
The board's approval removes the railing from the current motion and asks the applicant to return for a focused review to finalize the guardrail details. The applicant noted time constraints tied to state funding and agreed to work with staff and the DRB to produce a shop drawing and color sample expediently.
Provenance: topicintro SEG 4012, topfinish SEG 4911.
Speakers quoted (first reference): Jace Brown, Beardsley Architects; Chair (Design Review Board).
