Plans by Warehouse apartments co-owner Daryl Hollingsworth to install a balcony system in the rear of the apartments at 1412 and 1414 Washington St. have received the blessing of the Board of Architectural Review.

The board voted 5-0 Tuesday to approve the plan, which includes a three-balcony system linked by a staircase, which Hollingsworth said will double as a fire escape.

The board’s approval was required because the Washington Street buildings are in the city’s historic district.

“When we bought the building, it had doors in the rear that lead to nowhere,” he said. “We locked them so they couldn’t be opened. Both the building inspector and the fire chief agreed that the 75 feet from the apartments to the front of the building was too far for the people go in an emergency, so building the balconies will give people a chance to enjoy being outdoors and double as a fire escape in an emergency.”

He added he and his partner, Mary Jane Wooten, “wanted a balcony from the start, but we had to put them on the back burner.”

The initial phase of the balcony system is the center of a $9,500 lawsuit filed in county court against Hollingsworth June 4 by 2nd Moment LLC, which claims Hollingsworth has failed to pay the company for building the first apparatus. The company is also seeking for $3,163.50 in attorney’s fees.

Hollingsworth said the suit concerns the design for the balcony, adding he spurned the company’s design because it did not meet the building dimensions. He said he is using another design by Jackson architect Doug Lum.

The apartments and a wine bar called the Wine House are in the buildings where The Ware House apartment and lounge complex operated from 2007 to 2009.

Previous bar-and-grill businesses operated there and at neighboring parts of the building in the past decade, including Manda’s and Niknar’s.
The building was one of several of buildings owned by Robert Ware that were bought for $1 million in January 2010 by Britton & Koontz Bank at a foreclosure sale.

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Reporter Danny Barrett Jr. contributed to this article.