70 Pacolet St. Mixed Use
70 Pacolet St. is a two story commercial building located in Tryon, NC. Built in 1952, this building has been an anchor in downtown Tryon for decades. We immediately knew using an adaptive reuse strategy of adding a residential component to the building would not only add value to the project, but would add value to the community. Adaptive reuse is the process of repurposing buildings for viable new uses and modern functions. Adapting allows for a building's continued use and helps it remain a community asset.
70 Pacolet St.
It all starts with place.
Place.
Tryon, North Carolina is a quaint town nestled into the Southeastern face of the Blue Ridge Escarpment, the dividing line that separates the Blue Ridge Mountains from the Piedmont plains. This area is known for its abrupt change in elevation creating a weather phenomenon known as a thermal belt which keeps temperatures mild all year.
Visited by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Mrs. Calvin Coolidge, English actor David Niven, composer George Gershwin and birth place of Nina Simone, Tryon became a small town arts hub. Painters, sculptors, photographers, musicians and creatives are perennially drawn to the picturesque town. This history helped shape Tryon into the small town cultural hub that it is today.
Structure.
70 Pacolet St. is a two story concrete block and brick structure of roughly 4200 square feet. There are two street frontages, one along Pacolet St. and one along Depot St. Due to the topography of the parcel, the building appears as only one story on Pacolet St. with the full two stories only visible from Depot St. The durability of the structure paired with its location created an ideal recipe for an adaptive reuse project.
Plan.
Community is the central focus of any Placemaker Group plan. After reading the Downtown Tryon Visioning report prepared by the Tryon Downtown Development Association in October 2019, we found that the community was in need of housing Downtown. We also discovered that the community has expressed the desire for public art. These community needs have been woven in to the fabric of the 70 Pacolet project plan.
After appearing before the Tryon Planning and Adjustments Board in November 2020, Placemaker Group has obtained approval to add a residential component to 70 Pacolet St. The residential component will not be visible from Pacolet St as per Town zoning regulations, but will be visible from Depot St. This will help to bring more life to Depot St. while also providing additional ‘eyes on the street’ during non-business hours. Beyond the residential component on Depot St., our plan involves public art that will face Depot Plaza. This will help to improve the general appearance of Depot St.
“There must be eyes upon the street, eyes belonging to those we might call the natural proprietors of the street.”
— Jane Jacobs
