Plans to replace the Royal Theater with a 5 story luxury apartment complex and retail space will go before Historical Commission’s Architectural Committee next week. Universal Companies and Dranoff Properties has proposed partial demolition of the historic, African American venue, preserving only the building’s facade

With an Act 135 petition to give conservatorship to developer Ori Feibush looming and a state grant gone, Universal Companies’ drive to redevelop the Royal Theater has a renewed urgency. Bradley Maule talks with project adviser Carl Dranoff and others about the challenges ahead, after a Monday night public meeting