428-444 State Street Appeal

Hi friends,

I am writing this blog to share why I filed an appeal for the 428-444 State Street development. To those that are not yet aware, JD McCormick proposed a mixed-use building situated in the 400 block of State Street next to Peace Park. The McCormicks have been working with the neighborhood on this development for several years. Last year, the Plan Commission voted to deny the demolition permit. The Commission affirmed this position at last month’s meeting. While I have a great deal of respect for the Commission and the Commissioners that voted against demolition, I filed an appeal because their actions were inconsistent with the city’s demolition standards. 

In this blog, I will provide an overview of the development itself and the municipal process for approving developments, discuss why the Common Council should approve the demolition permit, and share insights into my reasoning for supporting redevelopment. 

SUMMARY

Based on the conversations I have had with plan commissioners and alders, there is disappointment with JD McCormick's unaltered plans that do not incorporate some of the unique facade elements of State Street. Based on these sentiments, I am concerned that commissioners and alders are basing their decision on future use which is not allowable under city ordinance. We need to separate the demolition of buildings that have far outlived their useful life and the conditional use permit of a new building. 

In considering the current state of the buildings, it is clear that the demolition permit should be approved. The Plan Commission denied the permit on the idea of encouraging the preservation and adaptive reuse of sound older buildings. No rational, logical thinker can validly argue that these buildings are structurally sound. Forcing the preservation of unsound, unsafe, and health hazardous buildings is a terrible precedent for the Plan Commission and City of Madison to set. 

The Plan Commission's actions create a situation where it makes this site incredibly difficult to redevelop. Even if we get a design where the neighborhood, plan commissioners, alders, and the city universally love and are excited about, it would be difficult to proceed with those plans because we stuck our foot in our mouths and said that we want to preserve these buildings. Thus, we should proceed with approving the demolition permit. 

That being said, it seems like community members, commissioners, and alders are getting hung up on modern design of the new building. I am open to a conversation about how we can incorporate the facades and architectural design unique to State Street, during the debate on the conditional use permit. 

DEVELOPMENT AND PROCESS OVERVIEW

PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT 

The development is a fairly straight forward mixed-use project that will create much needed retail and residential space on State Street. It offers up to 6,445 square feet of first floor commercial space and 26 units of residential space. There will be indoor and outdoor bike storage for residents and retail customers, alongside an opportunity to use outdoor seating arrangements like many other local businesses on State Street. As a condition of redevelopment, JD McCormick will partner with the city’s Parks Department to make desirable improvements to Peace Park.

For near recent context, the development is located where B-Side Records, Freedom Skate Shop, Sencha, and the Culture Collective formerly resided. The City of Madison is a proud partner with JD McCormick and numerous other multicultural-focused organizations to offer the Culture Collectives Pop-Up Shop program. JD McCormick shared that they are eager to continue this partnership in a newly developed and structurally sound retail space. 

PROCESS OVERVIEW

For any Madison development, would-be developers must go through a rigorous design and review process. Among the many permits and certifications that a developer needs is the demolition permit and the conditional use permit.

• The demolition permit provides approval of the demolition of the existing buildings. The Plan Commission evaluates the demolition permit application based on seven standards of approval. These standards include reviewing a certificate of appropriateness from the Landmarks Commission, the condition or structural soundness of the building, and if the demolition permit aligns with “the health, prosperity, safety, and welfare of the City of Madison.”
• The conditional use permit approves the plans for the new development of which there are 17 standards of approval. These standards include a condition that the building meets “sustained aesthetic desirability compatible with the existing to intended character of the area and the statement of purpose for the zoning district.”

It is critical to note that the appeal is based on the Plan Commission’s vote on the demolition permit not the conditional use permit. This means that the Common Council cannot consider future use (or the new building) when deciding upon a demolition permit. This is an important distinction, because as evidenced by the March 2024 Plan Commission hearing and decision on the demolition permit and in conversations that I have had after the meeting, it does seem as though commissioners likely did consider future use in their demolition permit decision. This is directly contrary to city ordinance.

As such, the Common Council must solely review the seven demolition standards of approval when considering the demolition permit for the 428-444 State Street development. 

PLAN COMMISSION'S DECISION

On March 25th, the Plan Commission voted 3-5 with the deciding vote coming from the Chair to place the demolition permit on file without prejudice based on standard 7. The Commission cited that they believed the additional information the applicant provided was insufficient to meet the statement of purpose of the section. More specifically, the Commission was interested in how the demolition permit application did not meet recommendation 75 of the Downtown Plan.

• Demolition Standard of Approval 7: The Plan Commission shall consider the factors and information specified in items 1—6 and find that the proposed demolition or removal is consistent with the statement of purpose of this section and with the health, prosperity, safety, and welfare of the City of Madison.
• Section 28.185 Statement of Purpose:  It is hereby declared as a matter of public policy that the careful consideration of requests to demolish or remove existing principal buildings is a public necessity and required in the interest of the health, prosperity, safety, and welfare of the people. The purpose of this section is therefore to ensure the preservation of historic buildings, encourage applicants to strongly consider relocating rather than demolishing existing buildings, aid in the implementation of adopted City plans, maximize the reuse or recycling of materials resulting from a demolition, protect the public from potentially unsafe structures and public nuisances, and require the use of safe and orderly demolition or removal methods.
• Recommendation 75 of the Downtown Plan: Encourage the preservation, rehabilitation and adaptive reuse of sound older buildings that contribute to the district’s character.

CURRENT STATE OF 428-444 STATE STREET

Please look at the following photos. Tell me if you can genuinely argue that in seeing these photos the buildings are structurally sound. 

ADDITIONAL CONTEXT

Below are past actions on the demolition permit on committees outside of the Plan Commission.

• Neighborhood Steering Committee

Neighborhood Associations plan a critical role in ensuring that neighborhood voice is realized in the development process. In relation to the demolition permit, the Capitol Neighborhoods Inc (CNI) shared, “approximately half of the committee members find these buildings unremarkable, and even detrimental to the visual appeal of State Street,” see the linked report. The steering committee also pointed to the City of Madison’s Downtown Plan, which identified buildings that are “ripe for destruction.” The committee report stated, “there are some design similarities between the buildings photographed in the Plan, and those presently under consideration for demolition. The 440 State Street building, in particular, is aesthetically indistinguishable from those targeted by the Plan.”

While it was not unanimously agreed upon by the neighborhood steering committee on the historic value of the buildings, the report creates a clear argument that demolition is consistent with the Downtown Plan and historic value is subjective to the beholder.

• Landmarks Commission

The Landmarks Commission reviews every single demolition permit to ensure that landmarks or potential landmarks that may need preservation are flagged. In layman’s terms, the Commission makes recommendations to the Plan Commission based on if it is either a green, yellow, or red flag. Green flag being go ahead to demolish it. Yellow means pause, there might be historic value. Red is a stop, this has historic value.

The Landmark’s Commission gave this demolition two yellows and one red flag. The staff report states, “...buildings at 428-430 State Street and 432-436 State Street have historic value based on their status as contributing structures in a potential National Register Historic District, and the building at 440- 444 State Street has historic value related to the vernacular context of Madison’s built environment and its intact condition, which could make it contributing to a potential National Register Historic District.” This basically means that there is known historic value to some of the buildings based on their status as **potentially** contributing to a **potential** State Street national register historic district. To be clear, this does NOT mean that the buildings are historic landmarks. This does NOT mean they are in a local or national historic district. Based on my conversation with our Historic Preservation planner, the Landmarks Commission sees that there can be a development here, but the hope is that a new development creates a sense of place knowing that is consistent with State Street's unique culture.

• Plan Commission: I outlined Plan Commission’s decision below; however, I wanted to flag here that the Plan Commission did recommend that the demolition permit met all the standards of approval. Additionally, some Commissioner’s commented on the idea of this development being demolition by neglect. That is simply not valid here, because JD McCormick acquired the buildings in 2018 and much of the foundational damage had already been done upon purchasing the buildings. Furthermore, much of the water damage is attributed to the poor infrastructure of storm water runoff in Peace Park. 

THE COMMON COUNCIL SHOULD SUPPORT THE DEMOLITION PERMIT

The key element that the Plan Commission failed to consider was the word “sound”. The applicant provided numerous photographic evidence of the state of the buildings and during the meeting articulated how repairing the buildings to its original state would be infeasible. As noted in the staff report’s recommendation to pass the demolition permit, “The information submitted by the applicant suggests that the buildings have various deficiencies, including structural and foundation issues, mold, water infiltration, and plumbing concerns.” Having toured each of the buildings, I can personally attest to the dismal state of these buildings and wholeheartedly believe that safe restoration of the buildings is simply not possible.

If you are still in disbelief of the structural integrity of the buildings, please look at these photos and tell me if this looks like a sound building to you. Better yet, anyone that would like to tour the properties and meet with me and the developer in person are welcome to reach out.

The city should not fall into a practice of preserving vacant, inoperable, irreparable, unsound, unsafe, and health hazardous buildings simply for the sake of resisting change on State Street. The Plan Commission’s arguments are invalid because they fail to account for the structural integrity of the buildings. I encourage my colleagues to support the demolition permit.

Beyond the demolition permit, I will also note that I am excited for the prospective community benefits of redevelopment. Redevelopment will be a valuable addition to the State Street pedestrian mall, which is being piloted this year. It would further provide much needed commercial space for small businesses and help make improvements to Peace Park. Overall, this development would be a strong addition to revitalizing State Street.