Plans for a new seven-story apartment building with ground-floor retail on upper King Street were given final approval by Charleston’s Board of Architectural Review Wednesday evening.

The board previously deferred approval for the development set for construction at the corner of King and Spring streets, citing a lack of elegance and refinement in the designs. With plans including 74 residential units, developers were finally able to win over the support of board members and city staff who evaluated the project.

“It has been a long process, but it’s a much better building than was last presented. The detailing, I think, is appropriate to the importance of this project,” said board member Janette Alexander, whose remaining critique of the design was a lack of interesting color for the tan, red brick, and brown building.

Owned by Uncle Sam’s Real Estate and designed by LS3P Associates, this development is one of several planned for this stretch of King Street. Once completed, the 595 King St. apartment building would neighbor portions of Evening Post Industries’ Courier Square redevelopment effort. Plans for the multi-phase redevelopment effort on the 12-acre site surrounding the Post and Courier’s King Street office include apartments, office and commercial space, as well as a parking deck.

Looking at plans for the 595 King St. project shows that developers consider the transformation of the nearby U-Haul property into a public park to be a foregone conclusion. City staff were quick to remind applicants at Wednesday’s BAR meeting that the promise of a future park has not yet been resolved. Regardless of what ends up across the street from the development, the future of the corner of King and Spring streets has been decided.

“The elegance is there,” board member Jerome Clemons told applicants from LS3P. “I think that you’ve come back and you’ve addressed that concern between the retail and the residential on the King and Spring Street area, which I believe gives more elegance to the finish of the building.”

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