Developers preview 19‑unit, five‑story condo at 215 East Victoria; commissioners press on wall, parking and height

Developers DMHA and Vanguard Planning presented early drawings for 215 East Victoria at the Historic Landmarks Commission, describing a proposal to demolish a 2‑story, three‑unit building and construct a five‑story condominium over a podium garage with 19 two‑bedroom for‑sale units.

Ed Devaseni of DMHA described the site as roughly 60 feet wide and 214 feet deep with a notable historic sandstone wall and hitching post along the frontage. "We would love to keep it," he said, but added the proposed drive aisle and transformer location constrain how much of the wall can remain. The team proposed reintroducing or integrating salvaged sandstone where feasible.

Commissioners pressed the applicants for more complete materials. Several said they could not assess project compatibility without all four elevations, context views showing adjacent neighbors, and a street‑level massing study. One commissioner urged the applicants to show how the design would meet code: "When this comes back, it will need to be explained why 17 private garages and 20 bike racks meet code for 19 two‑bedroom units," a commissioner said.

Design issues dominated the discussion: commissioners questioned the podium garage’s visible frontage, the grade difference that rules out rear alley garage access, and the scale of requested waivers for height and open‑space concessions under state density programs. Applicant Ryan Mills said the project would pursue an AUD (average unit density) path and emphasized that some concessions were necessary to deliver for‑sale product in a downtown site.

The commission recommended returning with full elevation drawings, an engineered massing study showing street perspectives and adjacent properties, detailed site plans that show the sandstone wall in context, and programming that explains parking and open‑space calculations.