The Capital Times
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Kristin Czubkowski

By the slimmest of margins, Madison's City Council voted Tuesday night against a downtown project that partnered a fraternity house with a local developer.

The development paired historic renovation developer the Alexander Co. with the Acacia House, 222 W. Langdon St., in order to bring much-needed improvements to the historic building. The plan involved turning the house into a combined fraternity and apartment building and adding an 18-unit apartment building behind the historic building on a gravel parking lot.

On a 10-9 vote, the motion to approve the project failed, needing one more vote to constitute a majority of the council. The project notably did not receive a recommendation from the Plan Commission, which voted 4-4 on the project at its meeting last week.

Supporters and critics of the building turned out in force Tuesday night, with those in support of the project urging the city to accept a project that would allow the developers to bring the house, which has not been fully maintained as fraternity membership declined, up to National Parks Service standards for rehabilitation.

Those critical of the project -- including the powerful downtown neighborhood association Capitol Neighborhoods, as well as several members of a nearby cooperative -- said the additional building behind the fraternity would be overly large for the small lot size and unfitting of the character of the historic neighborhood. Others said the project would bring unneeded density and pollution to an already very dense neighborhood and eliminate valuable downtown parking.

Downtown council members Brenda Konkel, who represents the fraternity, Mike Verveer and Eli Judge all voted against the project, expressing support for the idea but not the execution of the development.

"It was going to be a wonderful, historic preservation job, what (the Alexander Co. is) known for, using historic preservation tax credits and then all of a sudden it's morphed into this cramming a student apartment building in the back yard," Verveer said.

Konkel added that the design of the project had too many "misses," including the size and height of the four-story building, the lack of usable open space on the lot and the lack of exterior detailing to match nearby buildings.

Council members supporting the project, however, argued that the increased density it would bring has been a goal of the city and that the project, while it did not pass the Plan Commission, did get a recommendation from the Urban Design Commission after its design was altered several times.

"Density makes use of the existing infrastructure, the existing roads, streets, transit sites, the investments we've already made," said Ald. Tim Gruber. "I do believe that we should hold developments to a high bar, to high standards, but when those standards are met ... I think we should approve them."

Others, however, said the alterations made to the exterior of the building were too little to compensate for a project that ultimately did not fit in the neighborhood.

"I don't believe we can have this sort of prescription that all density is good, that density is good no matter what," said Ald. Julia Kerr. "Projects exist within their surroundings. This doesn't work in its surroundings."

Ald. Michael Schumacher, who voted in favor of the project, said the council's decision may be reconsidered at its next meeting when all members are present, which could tip the balance in favor of approval.

Also decided at the council Tuesday: -- The council voted to approve plans for a mixed-use movie theater and entertainment complex on the far east side. The project, proposed by Marcus Corp., had garnered controversy for its lack of transportation options as a transit-oriented development, but developers argued Tuesday night that the periphery project was set up for bus service as soon as development on the far east side would accommodate it. When completed, the complex will replace Marcus' Eastgate Cinema.

-- The council voted against appropriating approximately $100,000 from the contingency budget to retrofit the North Police District's HVAC system. Supporters argued that the retrofitting would vastly improve the energy efficiency of the police station, which uses far more energy per square foot than any other city building. Opponents questioned the need for the retrofitting in a building that is only 12 years old as well as why the request was not part of the city's annual budget process last year.