Special License Agreement Approved for Rasor Law Firm Property

The Royal Oak City Commission approved a license agreement for one of its members Tuesday at a special meeting.

Before approving a tentative agreement with Royal Oak firefighters, the commission approved an amendment to a license agreement at 321 S. Williams St., home of the Rasor Law Firm, that allows the construction of 6-inch high concrete curbs and guardrails at the building’s existing window wells on Williams and Fourth streets.

Commissioner Jim Rasor, who owns the property, recused himself from the table and did not vote.

The licensing agreement, which includes an insurance policy that indemnifies the city, is required to ensure the new construction meets safety standards since the guardrails will be built on the city sidewalk.

In addition to window well construction, Rasor also plans to add landscaping to the perimeter of the building.

“Williams and Fourth Street will now be softened by greenscaping,” Rasor said. “The building needed to be softened and not just rise up from concrete.”

Architectural plans, which also include revising the law firm’s floor plan to add two office spaces and modifying the entrance, have been in the works since 2010. The agreement became a matter of urgency for Rasor because Williams, Troy and Fourth streets are presently undergoing sidewalk and streetscape improvements. Had the commission not approved the license agreement, the window wells would have been covered with steel plates and concrete would have been poured on top, according to City Engineer Matt Callahan.

Many of the city's older downtown buildings had window wells in the past, including the Washington Square building and the former bank that now houses Starbucks on Main Street, according to Callahan. Window wells, which were once used to bring in light or get coal into basements have been covered for decades, he said. Unfortunately, they also can invite trash, cigarette butts and intruders.

Historic building to get new entrance, too

“Twenty years ago when I first moved to town, I wanted that building,” Rasor said. “I always looked at that building with its beautiful facade and five arches in the front and I knew that there had to be a center entrance on Fourth Street at one point.”

Royal Oak historian David Penney confirmed the entrance for the Italianate building was in fact on Fourth Street, Rasor said. The building, which was built in 1924, was once owned by Detroit Edison and was where one could pay electric bills.

Rasor said he plans to go before the DDA Infrastructure Committee and apply for grant money to help cover costs of modifying the entrance. The DDA has a $10,000 grant pool allocated for 2013 to help business to make s façade improvements and typically awards a percentage of construction costs to qualified candidates.