A New Showroom Planned for Econize Closet at W Broad and S Spring
Summary
Econize Closets presented their revision of a site plan for a new design headquarters at 821 W Broad Street at the corner with S Spring Street, at the Planning Commission meeting on March 5, 2025. The basement level may be remote workspace with individual offices planned.
The owner of Econize, Noel Sweeney, plans to sell his two T-Zone properties at 703 and 705 Park Avenue to Madison Homes and move his operations to this new location.
The Commissioners were generally satisfied with Mr. Sweeney’s submission, because it incorporates many of their recommendations. The Planning Commission expects to approve the final submission in April. Mr. Sweeney, who also owns the property at 821 W Broad Street, said that he hopes to begin construction in July.
Location and Zoning
This property consists of two different zones – 80% of the lot facing W Broad is zoned B-1 (business) while the back 20% (about 3,300 sq ft) is zoned R-1A (residential). The entire lot is 15,280 sq ft, according to the City assessment data, but 15,334 sq ft (0.35 acre) on the site plan.
Waivers requested
- Requirement for a minimum 10-foot-wide landscape buffer around parking lots. Minimum of 25 small shrubs and four canopy trees. Staff: “This request is for the northern edge of the parking lot, which adjoins another B-1 zone. There are no buffer requirements between B-1 zones.”
- Requirement of 5% interior parking lot landscaping. Staff write that there is adequate landscaping and screening.
- Requirement for a 20-foot rear yard setback when adjoining a residential zoned parcel. The waiver is for a trash facility that is 16 feet from the neighboring residential property. Staff: “Given the size and narrowness of the property, this may be the most appropriate and reasonable location for trash and recycling. The proposed landscaping also does an adequate job of providing a buffer…”
- Parking reduction waiver. 26 spaces and one loading space are required. 18 spaces are provided but no loading space, a 31% reduction. Staff and the Planning Commission support the parking reduction given the use of this building.
- Requirement that no vehicular entrance to a commercial business off-street parking shall be within 100 feet of a residential district. The entrance to the parking lot is 106 feet from the adjacent property. This waiver applies to the R-1A zoned portion of the property.
The second Econize Site Plan submission
Planning Commission Chair Andrea Caumont expressed regret that the building was not bigger and suggested that the developer should not let the parking requirements stand in the way. She said, “I wish this was three stories. I do think there would be a great demand, and I was pretty confident we could work out the parking issues.”
Mr. Sweeney responded that three stories were not financially feasible, “It’s really expensive to build right now, super expensive. It’s like 40% more than it used to be.”
Design updates
The building size was significantly reduced from three stories to two stories, plus an 800 square-foot roof deck, and the basement was reduced in size from15,500 sq ft to 11,740 sq ft. The building is 45 feet tall to the central roof deck, but the rest of the building is 33 feet tall, providing a transition to the adjacent residential neighborhood.
The building sits on the lot line adjacent to the neighboring business property on Broad Street. It is set back 24 feet from the Broad Street curb and 25 feet from the Spring Street curb. It is more than 100 feet from the residential lot in the rear.
The Planning Commissioners commended the developer for responding to their comments on the first submission. The current design increased the buffer with the neighboring residential lot to 24 feet from 10 feet, except where the dumpster is located at a distance of 16 feet. There is now only one curb cut on S Spring Street.
Two bike racks will be provided, and the landscape buffer along the sidewalk was flipped to the streetside, as requested.
The developer had also looked into solar panels, but the cost was too high.
The ground level will be the Econize showroom, and the mezzanine level will have staff offices and conference rooms. The 800 square-foot rooftop deck is also for staff use. The plan is to design single offices in the basement level to rent to remote workers.
Fiscal Impact
The property currently has an assessment of $1.3 million even though Mr. Sweeney purchased it for $1.5 million. Redeveloping this lot would increase the value of the property and the City would receive higher real estate taxes as a result. Other business taxes may also increase, although this business replaces the one on Park Avenue so that the change may not be significant. It would increase the City’s small commercial tax base, without adding any residential development.
Stormwater runoff and trees
Spring Street is an area where there are stormwater issues, and the stormwater system is known to be undersized. The City only requires that redevelopments not increase the stormwater runoffs.
| Impervious Area (sq ft) | Impervious % | Building (sq ft) | Lot coverage % | |
| Existing Conditions | 5,789 | 38% | 757 | 5% |
| Econize | 12,490 | 82% | 4400 | 29% |
The table above shows that this project greatly increases the impervious area on the site from 38% to 82%. In addition, this site has 13 mature canopy trees, many with trunks over 20 inches in diameter, that will be removed. These are marked with an “X” in the site plan below.
The City only requires that the development not increase the existing stormwater runoff for a 10-year storm, based on a calculation of impervious and “managed turf” areas. Mature trees are not differentiated from lawn in this calculation. 30% of the stormwater on such green areas is assumed to run off, compared to 90% of the stormwater on non-green areas. Furthermore, areas draining into a bio-retention area do not contribute to the calculated stormwater runoff.
Based on this method, the project is able to show a reduction in stormwater runoff rates for 10-year storms by providing two bioretention planter boxes, designed to hold about 400 cubic feet of water, to receive rainwater from the rooftops. This essentially removes the 4,400 square-foot building area from the total site for stormwater runoff calculations so that the 0.35 acre site is now effectively 0.26 acres. (An inch of rain will drop 366.7 cubic feet of water on a 4,400 square-foot area.)
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