APPT-2023-15 : Appointment of Robert Tullis, 8 Thurston Road, to the Historic District Commission (HDC), for a three-year term set to expire on the last day of February 2026.

Transcript (~9 min @ 17:18)

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▶ 17:18 Speaker 7: the room with us. Is going to be speeding.

▶ 17:24 Jen Grigoraitis: Do we have a second second? So we have a motion made by counselor? Sonella seconded by counselor karmchatie to take appointment 2023 - 15 out of order as we do have the appointee here to speak to us tonight. Is there any discussion? all in favor Any opposed? Okay, so that order is now before us and while Mr. Tell us if you want to come up to the table good evening. I'll entertain a motion to Yep, you can sit right there, and we just need to suspend our rules so we can hear from you. I'd

▶ 17:52 Speaker 9: like to make a motion to suspend the rules.

▶ 17:55 Jen Grigoraitis: So we have a motion to suspend the rules made by counselor Karm chady's seconded by councilor. Cinella any discussion seeing none all in favor. I any opposed so our rules are now suspended. So Mr. Tell us you're welcome to briefly talk to us about your appointment to the historic district

▶ 18:14 Speaker 10: commission. Thank you for being here right? Thank you. You're welcome. Thanks for taking me out of order. Yes, so I've been Appointed to the historic district commission. I could not attend that meeting but a week ago we going to half ago whatever it was because I had concert tickets in Boston that had bought over a month prior saw Louis Prima Jr. He was fabulous. So I thank you for the opportunity to sort of table that a little bit so that I could see you tonight. My qualifications are that as far as Melrose goes? I am probably at this point a 35 year 37 year resident. I live at 8 Thurston Road in the Horace Mann school district. Both of my girls went to Horace Mann school and went to the middle school and went to Melrose High School. I've been involved in the past at my church The Highlands Congregational Church and Professionally, I am an architect. I have been in practice professional practice in the Boston area since 1982 prior to that. I attended Harvard Graduate School of Design and prior to that. I attended Colgate University in Upstate, New York where I met my lovely wife who's sitting at home at 8 Thurston Road right now. By professional experience sort of going backwards in time starting with the most recent was I retired in August 31st September 1st of this year. So I now have more time to devote myself to things like this prior to that for 12 years. I was the senior vice president and director of design for General Investments Development Group and prior to that prior to jumping over to the dark side of real estate development. I Was An Architect and vice president at elkus man, Friday Architects for about 14 years Elkins man, Freddie, if you don't know is the largest firm in Boston and I believe in all of New England and a responsible for many many projects throughout the continental United States a couple overseas and a lot in New England in the Boston area. And before that I worked for Fred Carter and Susie Kim on Boylston Street, they are internationally known Architects. One of them was my one of my professors at Harvard and they have done a lot of urban planning work and I got involved in that and prior to that. I had my own firm in partnership with another guy. We had a 25 person firm and I think the last year of operation which was probably 1987 or so. So these numbers don't really make that much difference, but we did like five million dollars worth of business which you know at the time for a small firm was a pretty big deal. So sort of reversing it and going forward at elkas Manfredi Architects. I did a lot of different types of design projects a lot of different use types for the buildings. I did multifamily residential retail retail Interiors of commercial office interiors and a lot of mixed use because of not specializing because of being a generalist that's sort of what got me into mixed use projects because mixed use projects as I'm sure you all know have some of all of those uses in it Office Buildings hotels apartment buildings stores Etc due to my and at that time I did. Probably two projects that you may or may not be aware of they were pretty well known in the industry. The Grove at farmers market in Los Angeles and Americana at Brand in Glendale, California, very very successful projects after that success. I was sort of lured away to to real estate development because my company was had this special Development Group that was formed to make the best use out of property that the firm already owned and controlled in the highest and best use was thought to be mixed use development. So they were looking for somebody with my sort of generalist expertise of those two things aren't you know, Polar Opposites and at GID, I spent 12 years doing projects like waterline Square on the west side of Manhattan. The project called High Street just north of Atlanta a project called Regent Square in Houston, Texas and a number of others. These are all multi-building multi-phase multi-block mixed-use projects that Go over a long period of time and in the capacity particularly with GID. We was my responsibility to search for the right architect higher that architect and then work with those Architects and the engineers structural landscape civil to get those projects going. And in that capacity. I picked up a red pencil and I went through a lot of their drawings and and sort of synthesize everything coming together. I also prepared signage guidelines for all the retail stores within these precincts and the word Precinct is is really probably a good one as it applies to the historic district commission here historic district here in Melrose in that in all those projects. It's the public realm. It's the overall outdoor space the space between the buildings that is as important. If not more important than any one particular building because what we wanted people to do is live there work there stay in hotels there but certainly come from their own home somewhere nearby and You know shop there go there for you know dinner on a Saturday night and come back. So it's all about making that overall realm the public space as successful as it can possibly be and I am actually now working on a book about placemaking which is that that sort of architectural specialty of thinking about life between the buildings and not the design of anyone building itself, and I'm about halfway through the book. And I've lectured extensively on the matter. So between reviewing tenants. Applications for storefront design signage design between working with different Architects and stakeholders with different buildings really trying to make the overall public realm, you know the best that it could be. I think that's what attracted the mayor and others to my to my willingness to serve and so I am willing to serve and I think it would be great.

▶ 25:41 Jen Grigoraitis: Thank you for that and I will at this time just see if there's any questions from the council for Mr. Tullis.

▶ 25:50 Manjula Karamcheti: See, oh no. I was just gonna say at this time as this appointment comes from the health education and Welfare committee and I am the chair. I would love to make a motion for passage as this came from hgw with the recommendation for passage second. So we have the motion

▶ 26:06 Jen Grigoraitis: for passage made by counselor. Karmchatie seconded by counselor. Cinella. Is there any discussion Seeing none all in favor any opposed so that passes unanimously welcome to the historic district commission. Thank you for taking the time tonight to share your expertise with us. We really appreciate it. Okay. Thank you, and I look forward to helping

▶ 26:26 Speaker 10: the city and in any way that's appropriate. Thank you