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Home My WebLink About2000-02-22 City Council (10)City of Palo Alto City Manager’s Report 9 TO:HONORABLE CITY-COUNCIL FROM:CITY MANAGER DEPARTMENT OF PLANNING AND COMMUNITY ENVIRONMENT DATE:FEBRUARY 22, 2000 CMR:149:00 SUBJECT:611-619 EMERSON STREET: DESIGNATION OF A SIGNIFICANT HISTORIC BUILDING (CATEGORY 2) AT REQUEST OF OWNER PURSUANT TO MUNICIPAL CODE CHAPTER 16.49, SECTIONS 16.49.020 AND 16.49.040. RECOMMENDATION The Historic Resources Board (HRB) and staff recommend that the City Council designate the property located at 611-619 Emerson Street as a significant building, Category 2, consistent with the finding of the City’s Historic Survey consultant, Dames & Moore, that the building retains a high level of integrity and appears eligible for the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion C (Design/Construction) at the local level of significance. PROJECT DESCRIPTION The subject building located at 611-619 Emerson Street is a one-story, stucco-clad commercial structure designed by local architect Birge Clark and initially constructed in 1923 (see Attachment A - Site Location Map). The front building fagade is framed by simple piers and panels derived from Renaissance and Baroque sources. The building incorporates tile work on the piers and bulkhead walls that is more characteristic of the Arts and Craft movement. The display windows are framed in metal and the original doors are located within recessed entryways. The left and rear fagades contain a number of industrial steel windows characteristic of early 20th-century commercial building. BOARD/COMMISSION REVIEW AND RECOMMENDATIONS The HRB, at its meeting on February 2, 2000, reviewed an application for this project. The HRB unanimously supported the project and voted (6-0-0-1, Bernstein abstained) to recommended and forward approval to Council. The HRB based on its recommendation on the criteria for designation and the definitions of the historic categories found in Palo CMR:149:00 Page 1 of 2 Alt0 Municipal Code Chapter 16.49 and a consideration of the Dames & Moore historic evaluation. The Board concluded that 611-619 Emerson Street meets all the criteria for designation and best fits the definition of a Category 2 building (see Attachment B - February 2, 2000 HRB staff report). ATTACHMENTS A.Site Location Map B.Historic Resources Board staff report dated February 2, 2000 PREPARED BY: Phillip Woods, Senior Planner REVIEWED BY: George White, Planning Manager DEPARTMENT HEAD REVIEW: CITY MANAGER APPROVAL~ Director of Planning and Community Environment FLEMING Manager cc:Thoits Brothers, Inc., 629 Emerson Street, Palo Alto, CA 94302 DES Architects and Engineers, 399 Bradford Street, Redwood City, CA 94063 CMR:149:00 Page 2 of 2 Attachment A % File No(s): 99-HRB-41 Dat~2000 Proposed Action: Designation of a significant historic building (Cagegory 2) at request of owner pursuant to Municipal Code Chapter 16.49, ~~~ ~~~1 0’ 100’ 200’ d:\Gloria DVbtwork\Ha ps~SI3ff~eport~\Emerson611.619at200scale.ai Attachment B Historic Resources Board Staff Report Date:February 2, 2000 To:Historic Resources Board From: Subject: George White, Planning Manager Department: Planning and Community Environment 611-619 Emerson Street [99-HRB-41]: Application by DES Architects and Engineers on behalf of Thoits Brothers, Inc. for Historic Resources Board review and recommendation to the City Council for designation as a significant historic building (Category 1 or 2) pursuant to Municipal Code Chapter 16.49, Sections 16.49.020 and 16.49.040. REQUEST The Historic Resources Board is requested to review the definitions of Historic Categories in Municipal Code Section 16.49.020 Co), the criteria for designation of historic structures in Section 16.49.040 Co), and the Dames & Moore Evaluation (please see Attachment A) of the property under the criteria of the National Register of Historic Places, and recommend to the City Council regarding the eligibility of 611-619 Emerson Street for designation as a significant historic building (Category 1 or 2). (Note: 611-619 Emerson Street is the historic address. The building is currently numbered 611-623, and is referred to in the application as 611 Emerson Street.) RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends that the Historic Resources Board recommend that the City Council designate the property located at 611-619 Emerson Street as a significant building in Category 2, consistent with the finding of the City’s Historic Survey consultant, Dames & Moore, that the building retains a high level of integrity, and appears eligible for the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion C (Design/Construction) at the local level of significance. s:\plan\plandiv~trb\staffreport\611-619 Emerson Page 1 BACKGROUND In June 1999, Thoits Brothers, Inc. submitted a Major ARB and Design Enhancement Exception application for a proposed three-story retail and office building of 26,638 square feet for the site at 200 Hamilton Avenue. The proposed project will use the concept of the transfer of development rights from two contiguous properties located at 611-619 and 625-631 Emerson Street, which will involve square footage bonuses for historic preservation and seismic upgrade. (625-631 Emerson Street is already on the City’s Historic Buildings Inventory as a Category 2 structure.) DISCUSSION The Building The building at 611-619 Emerson Street is a one-story stucco-clad structure initially constructed in late 1923. The street-facing facade is framed by simple piers and panels derived from Renaissance and Baroque sources, but the tile work on the piers and bulkhead walls is more characteristic of the Arts and Crafts movement. The street- facing facade is accented by a full-width band of transom windows, each of which is divided into two vertical panes, which dramatically emphasizes the verticality of the windows. The display windows are framed in metal, and the original doors are located within recessed entryways. The left and rear facades contain a number of industrial steel windows characteristic of early 20th-century commercial buildings. The building may be the earliest surviving commercial structure by Palo Alto’s most important architect, Birge Clark. It is an important extant example of his early typically American commercial designs. In the following year, 1925, he turned to designing commercial buildings almost exclusively in the Spanish Colonial Revival style. The building retains its two original store fronts. The store on the left first served as an annex for the Warren Furniture Company located next door on the corner of Emerson Street and Hamilton Avenue. The store on the right initially housed the Durlin B. Hackett Hupmobile showroom and garage. The Hupmobile dealership remained on site until 1936, which established an association of this building with the automobile industry, which was a very important form of business in early Palo Alto. The building is a rare local example of a nearly intact early 20th-century commercial building. A minor impact on the overall integrity of the building occurred at an undetermined date in the past when a small third storefront was added at the right side of the front facade. The addition resulted in the replacement of the original metal- framed plate glass window with incompatible wood-framed divided windows. However, given the simplicity of the original window design (identical to the extant original display windows), the alteration appears reversible. s :\plan\plandivkhrb\staffreport\611-619 Emerson Page 2 Historic Evaluation by Dames & Moore (see Attachment A) In 1997, the San Francisco consulting firm of Dames & Moore, Inc. undertook a formal historic survey of pre-1948 properties in Palo Alto. By January 1999, Dames & Moore had found 611-619 Emerson Street to be potentially eligible for the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion C (Design/Construction). In January 2000, after extensive further research, the text of the final Historic Evaluation for the building was completed, with a finding that the building appeared eligible for the National Register of Historic Places under both Criterion A (Events--the early development of Downtown, and the development of the local auto industry), and Criterion C (Design/Construction). Although Dames & Moore’s Evaluation reflects the entire range of research and assessment standards administered by the State Office of Historic Preservation, the section of the Evaluation most pertinent to the application before the Historic Resources Board is that which makes the determination that 611-619 Emerson Street is architecturally significant at the National Register level (see Attachment A, pp. 5-6). For, as shown below, the definitions of Category 1 and 2 buildings contained in MC Chapter 16.49 require major architectural significance. The next section presents the general criteria for designation found in MC Chapter 16.49, followed by the def’mitions of the Historic Categories. Criteria for Designation and Definitions of Historic Categories Chapter 16.49, Section 16.49.040 (b) provides general criteria that apply to all historic designations in Palo Alto. The criteria are: 1.The structure or site is identified with the lives of historic people or with important events in the city, state or nation; 2.The structure or site is particularly representative of an architectural style or way of life important to the city, state or nation; 3. The structure Or site is an example of a type of building which was once common,but is now rare; 4. The structure or site is connected with a business or use which was once common, but is now rare; 5.The archiect or building was important; 6.The structure or site contains elements demonstrating outstanding attention toarchitectural design, detail, materials or craftsmanship. Chapter 16.49, Section 16.49.020 (b) establishes the level of importance of properties that meet the general criteria for designation. The focus of the definitions of the Categories is on architectural significance. Category 1 and 2 structures are defined as follows: s:\plan\plandiv~arb\staffreport\611-619 Emerson Page 3 Category 1: "Exceptional building" means any building or group of buildings of preeminent national or state importance, meritorious work of the best architects or an outstanding example of the stylistic development of architecture in the United States. An exceptional building has had either no exterior modifications or such minor ones that the overall appearance of the building is in its original .character. Category 2: "Major building" means any building or group of buildings of major regional importance, meritorious works of the best architects or an outstanding example of an architectura! style or the stylistic development of architecture in the state or region. A major building may have some exterior modifications, but the original character is retained. SUMMARY Based on an analysis of the criteria for designation and the definitions of the Historic Categories found in MC Chapter 16.49, and a consideration of the Dam~s & Moore Historic Evaluation, staff concludes that 611-619 Emerson Street meets all the criteria for designation, and best fits the definition of a Category 2 building in that: it represents the early expansion of Downtown (Criterionl); it represents the understated classically-inspired stucco storefront buildings of the early 20th century, and is a rare intact example of a once-common form of commercial building (Criteria 2 and 3); its history represents the once-important automobile industry Downtown (Criterion 4); its architect, Birge M. Clark, is of great local significance (Criterion 5); it retains much of its intricate tile work, and a band of unusual transom windows (Criterion 6); and the building is consistent with the definition of a Category 2 building in that it retains an unusually high degree of integrity, and appears eligible for the National Register of Historic Places at the local level of significance under Criterion C (Design/Construction). TIMELINE Following review and recommendation by the Historic Resources Board, the item will be reviewed for approval by the City Council tentatively scheduled for March 6, 2000. ATTACHlVIENT .. Attachment A: Historic Evaluation by Dames & Moore, Inc. s :\plan\plandiv~trb\staffreport\611-619 Emerson Page 4 COURTESY COPIES Thoits Brothers, Inc. DES Architects and ~Engineers Prepared By:Dennis Backlund, Management Specialist for the Historic Preservation Program Reviewed By:George White, Planning Manager s:\plan\plandiv~trbkstaff~eport\611-619 Emerson Page 5