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Bold AT&T makeover wins first OK
The proposed Museum on the Square design for the AT&T building in downtown Santa Rosa would provide space for the Sonoma County Museum on the ground floor.
PD FilePublished: Friday, January 8, 2010 at 10:53 a.m.
Last Modified: Friday, January 8, 2010 at 10:53 a.m.
Santa Rosa’s Redevelopment Agency board gave enthusiastic and speedy approval Friday to a proposal to transform the bunker-like AT&T building downtown into a modern homage to glass.
On a 4-0 vote, the agency’s directors decided that local developers Hugh Futrell and Bill Carle had submitted the best of five ideas for converting the windowless, five-story building on Third Street into a 10-story glass-clad tower.
Their decision took less than 15 minutes and sets in motion a lengthy process of project design and public review.
The Futrell-Carle design, called Museum on the Square, would strip the building exterior of concrete, install space for the Sonoma County Museum on the ground floor, provide offices on middle floors and add five stories for apartments.
“I want to quiet those people who will say this will never happen,” said agency board member Bill Arnone.
Another board member, Pamela Nobel, praised the proposal, but questioned whether the transformation is physically and technologically possible.
“I am concerned that it could change once you get into the real plans of it,” Nobel said. “With all these windows, do we know we can do this?
An architect’s illustration of a glass-walled building is a preliminary concept, Futrell said, and could change over time to meet structural and design requirements.
Nobel, however, said “it is beautiful, people are really excited about that, but I am concerned that it could change once you get into the real plans of it.”
Futrell, whose company has developed other mixed-use projects in Santa Rosa, said he is confident concrete removal can be accomplished, but acknowledged the revamped building “will require additional metal bracing on the inside.”
“It is an amazingly powerful building and a huge amount of concrete can be removed,” said Futrell, referring to its design 40 years ago to withstand a nuclear blast.
Although five teams of developers and architects submitted concepts for their projects, the Futrell-Carle proposal was one of only two that contained building designs.
The other detailed proposal came from Exchange Partnership, which called for a museum and bookstore on the first floor, an arts-related tenant on the second floor and a boutique hotel on seven floors that would include a four-story addition.
Carle said architects had not yet examined makeovers of of other similar AT&T structures across the U.S.
Board chairman Jake Ours suggested that the developers take a look at the former AT&T building in San Rafael, where an atrium was carved out of the center.
The 82-foot building with 18-inch concrete walls was designed to remain a secure haven for vital communications equipment following a nuclear attack on San Francisco. The city purchased the building in 2007 for $3 million following AT&T’s merger with SBC.
The transaction between the city and the developers is likely to result in the building’s purchase by the development company.
Futrell said the redevelopment board’s approval gives his team the green light to design “a truly cutting edge building that will transform downtown.”
Approval by the agency board means that its staff can begin negotiating an “exclusive right to negotiate” agreement that will return to the agency’s directors for approval on Jan. 25.
After that meeting, redevelopment specialist Frank Kasimov said agency staff expects to have developed a timeline for a review process that will include community input on the proposal, an environmental impact study and design review before final consideration by the city council.
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