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Home My WebLink AboutDOWNTOWN HOTEL & CONFERENCE CENTER - MODIFICATION OF STANDARD - 06-08 - MINUTES/NOTES - CORRESPONDENCE-NEIGHBORHOOD MEETING6 (L- e-� 4,52.4 /7(e< < < U✓l ��, 2� ism iv ld�1(2L4 rryYl ed u P. w7rnv)11 v10 c�— wd vvl- C�a�y h l'n^ wyc0( fa vvt,, c % ,t IS1u� �J N a 7�. k es.co C� S r C all / 1 n1i JC lsOrs� %ji iS S r;1 226-9�Oo I(al y,rt S � � 11 I S. n Pl7 � 12'2 3 r �r•�al �� ld�l ck— -,- Co ' ncl, _ c �c a� V\Oirna" l co) cze k- . D:�4,cr 31i16 C�9�,�d,rw�ku, BoSZ�I !'70- t4�40 170-�/B 89SS Civsse// ✓tisse/%ti/ls�hrl s. PAv M�t.L� rru i= . a�r� si . 80� �7�'8 . gac� ;IIsC��s11�;Uss�t -Iz 1 c� f f �l clfwsc C`(c F O S 9 7D `{ — nnJ JJ -y �- G.,a/ o� !r / z3 v- L S mar- A 3SS I aide I r{D 805Z`f 20rc—MS l!je✓f<o eGTI c fno 5oK ca 6, X 63� �„ S�. 9-o5'-ok s<bra.,@ �-•(- M-s.z-. 51 L 29� fo. C'� t At36 SQ,r'ir 970- Z4G -Z�/ Z co Cv d ,hr � Rau �. /�✓ � � �Z� 970 �/r -��r� d Ni �J',^ rf)kos?- 3S1 GI�OEN ST STD Y� 4051�'{ `'�'}n' Zr3- 29�� rl�orn}[s�@Cr'�-r)•io,pscn. 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Answer: I believe it is limited by the City's noise ordinance to between 7:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. It is an enforcement issue. If there is an issue, you can contact us or call City's nuisance hotline at 416-2200. 62. Question: Do you have a projected average daily hotel rate? Answer: Not yet. Meeting concluded at 8:45pm. 14 Answer: Well figure that out as we go along, once we have a plan for staging. We will communicate with affected residents, commercial owners and tenants. 57. Question: I live on Oak Street, east of Remington. There are numerous organized races, festivals, etc. in this area. Why is this project proposed here and not on North College in the Urban Renewal Area? This project may swallow up College storefronts. Is there no other available site? Answer: Chip: Another proposal did propose a North College site! We want density in downtown; people won't walk 6 blocks. We want this project to be in the heart of downtown and to be very attractive to pedestrians because they'll also eat out, etc., downtown. 58. Follow up: I can see how this project benefits business and outsiders, but not local residents. Can you move New West Fest, Brew Fest, etc. elsewhere, outside downtown? Reply: Chip: There is a lot of interest in residential downtown. We currently have 350 new units in downtown alone. Downtown living comes with all the activities you mentioned and the trains too. 59. Comment: I also live nearby and think this will be great asset. The existing surface parking lot is not doing anything for the downtown. Response: We're continuing to refine the design. Even since some of the pictures in the presentation were created, we've opened up the courtyard mid -block on Remington with completely separate buildings (not connected above). There is 100 feet between the hotel and conference center too. 60. Question: If existing parking is displaced to the Remington lot during construction, will there be some sort of pass -through the construction site? Answer: Chip: You could go north of Elks. Kelly: The City reviews construction staging and phasing during building permit review. We will have a plan when we are further along in the design development. Reply: Jokingly: Compensation would be welcome! 13 52. Comment: I am a business owner in the area. I applaud Corporex for bringing this proposal to our community, OZ Architects for the beautiful design and the DDA for their involvement. Response: Kim: Chip and Darin are great champions for this project. Kelly: Many municipalities lack the foresight and good interpersonal skills we've encountered in Fort Collins. Everyone here has been great to work with so far. 53. Comment: There's lots of excitement downtown. Please remain open to our parking desires. There are and will be concerts and eventually train connections to and from Denver. Other communities have given away public sites right before growth. We need to remember that this property is a community amenity. 54. Question: Some communities have `white elephant' convention centers. What kind of financial impact will the proposed conference center have on the community? Which City or DDA department will review this aspect during development review? Answer: Well be doing a financial analysis soon. (Anne Aspen, after researching the answer: Financial impact analysis is not a standard component of the development review process. Because this is a public private partnership, that will be a significant aspect of this project. The finance package will be negotiated by the City, the DDA and Corporex. At the staff level, it will be reviewed by Darin Atteberry, Mike Freeman, Chuck Seest and Joe Frank on behalf of the City, Chip Steiner and Kathy Cardona on behalf of the DDA. An outside consultant may be brought in if needed. Final approval of the financial agreement will be the purview of the City Council and the DDA Board of Directors at a series of regularly scheduled City Council meetings. The dates of those meetings have not been set yet.) 55. Question: What's the best case scenario for a construction start time? Answer: We are targeting 4th quarter of this year - it is an aggressive schedule. 56. Question: What is the parking plan for during construction? 12 0 46. Comment: On the parking issue: yes, it's an issue but Fort Collins has super easy downtown parking unlike other urban areas. We may have to change modes on how we perceive and use parking. The more development, the more difficult it can get but having more people coming downtown - that's good! Response: Chip: The City will be building the Mason Corridor concurrently with the building of this project. It won't solve the parking issue but it will give us an alternative way to move across town. Over time as people change their habits, it will alleviate some of the parking need. 47. Question: You (Kim) questioned whether providing 70,OOOsf of office space was too little? Isn't it too much? Will Corporex retain ownership? Answer: There is a dearth of high quality Class A office space downtown. We believe we are being conservative in our estimate of how much will make sense to offer. Corporex will own the hotel and office space. The residential units will be for sale. 48. Question: Have you acquired the Elks site? Answer: Chip: The DDA is 1/z way there. 49. Question: What is driving the room count? Answer: The market study shows a demand for 151-200 rooms. The conference center will help some. 50. Question: With 35-40,OOOsf of conference space, wouldn't the demand be more than 150 rooms? Answer: No, conferences don't always generate room nights. 51. Question: This is City -owned ground on which a mostly private project is proposed. Is this a disservice to the public? Answer: Chip: We can't build more conference center —it wouldn't work. One piece won't be built without the other. The uses were conceived as a symbiotic whole. If the Elks property were to fall through, the conference center part won't be dropped. We would reconfigure site in response. 11 0 downtown. There have been other hotel proposals that haven't come to fruition. Response: Chip and Randy: There is a plan for downtown parking in the Downtown Strategic Plan: as each development occurs in the downtown, the developer provides parking to standards. City parking structures are developed in response to parking need and strategic planning. We are well aware that more development is coming and it will be provided as development happens. Please keep in mind that structured and especially underground parking is extraordinarily pricey. We must balance creation of new parking spaces with good stewardship of public dollars. 40. Question: What about the evolution of this project? The commercial piece of this project wasn't a part of the RFP, so we didn't know about it. Answer: Chip: The RFP was for a mixed -use project with no specifically defined uses other than the hotel and a convention facility and retail at the ground level. Other uses could be proposed. 41. Comment: I really like this project. I own Poudre Appliance and we have trouble providing customer parking. Response: Parking should get better with this project, not worse. We're doubling the public parking currently available in addition to the parking that will be slated for the hotel, offices, retail and residential on the site. 42. Comment: I hope it's pretty --that it has open space and is not just functional. It needs to have plenty of parking too. 43. Comment: The net gain in parking could be illusory if new uses prompt lots more demand for parking. 44. Question: What changes will be made to Remington? Answer: No changes are proposed to be made to the street itself. 45. Question: What if the City/DDA can't afford the conference center. Would the offices have flexible meeting space? Answer: There is more than adequate meeting space in the hotel itself: 4000 - 6000sf planned. IM architectural interest. The idea was to have the mass be taller in one area and then as a result, lower elsewhere. Kim: This design also avoids the dreaded wedding cake tiers' design pitfall. This is a very important project and property. We don't want to be timid. And the project also needs to be identifiable. 35. Comment: On College south of Oak, the proposed buildings will be in the context of historical buildings. I am concerned about big buildings up against historic buildings on College. (Unfortunately, there was not a photo -simulation in the slideshow to illustrate this view. There is one in the height modification presentation that will be shown at the Planning and Zoning Board meeting on March 20). 36. Question: The proposal to connect Oak St. Plaza with Remington and beyond is great. I walk through there every day. It is a popular route. But it looks like it will be fully shaded. Is there any way to make a slot in the building to allow light in? Answer: Our preliminary shade analysis shows sunlight in summer and only minor impacts in fall and winter. The final analysis is nearly complete. (This will also be shown in the Planning and Zoning Board height modification presentation on March 20). 37. Comment: It would be worth talking to neighbors specifically about shading on Oak in addition to shading the properties (which I know is what the standard really addresses) since this segment will have such high use by pedestrians. Response: That's a good comment and well keep that in mind as we move forward. 38. Comment: You've done a beautiful job of presenting your proposal. I'm still not satisfied with the parking answer. 39. Comment: There are several loft projects approved in this area. This is only the first of many multiple -story buildings. There are a lot of potential redevelopment properties downtown. This project will stimulate redevelopment and the parking need. This property idea (for a hotel and conference center) goes back 30 years to Gene Mitchell's development plan for E • separate financing but the idea is to do them together. The hotel will take longer to construct than the office. Corporex would build the hotel without the conference center if DDA funding was in place. We think the office will be attractive and very marketable. We believe we are being conservative on how much Class A office space we are offering in this downtown market. 31. Question: What parts of this project are/will be publicly owned and/or managed? Answer: The Convention center and a significant portion of the parking will be publicly owned and operated. 32. Question: Is this the end of the Aggie? Will the residents/hotel patrons object to the noise? What about the public toilet? Answer: Chip: Why would Aggie go away? The noise from that is a piece of cake compared to railroad noise! Every desirable community of this size either grows or stagnates. The best thing we can do is to control how we grow. (A neighbor who lives at Old Town Lofts chimed in that the Aggie noise is not that bad). Kim: This project requires a careful balance of parking and shared uses, etc. We've done this in other communities successfully. 33. Comment: This is a beautiful design. 34. Question: Regarding the building height issue raised earlier (why not go higher?) I would respond that this project is surrounded by historic buildings, like on College. This unique property juts out. Is it possible to streamline the design so it is not so tall? Answer: At this point, the design is pared down quite a bit from where we started. We're still trying to figure out where tipping point is between economic viability and detrimental urban impacts. We do not have any agenda to make it taller than needed. The height is driven by the functions in the project. Chip: The trade-off with a lower building is that they'd increase the perceived mass and lose articulation and office, restaurant or shop is going to succeed if there is not adequate parking available. As to the Transit -Oriented Development (TOD) Overlay Zone, this overlay is in place all along the Mason Corridor within 1/4 mile of the stations. The only parking standard that this overlay adds to the underlying zone pertains to multi -family housing —there is no minimum requirement for parking spaces for this use. This is because elsewhere in town, our residential parking standards are based on greenfields development. These standards may not make sense for a multi -family project within a 'Amile of the Mason Corridor transit and trail system. In these projects it is likely that fewer spaces will be needed and the exception is in place so that the City doesn't require spaces that are not needed. Again, this does not mean that no parking will be provided. A developer can't get construction financing without adequate parking. A project won't succeed in the marketplace without adequate parking. In the case of this project there will be only 4-8 residential units to which this standard would apply. Kim: We must park this project to be successful - we are currently in the process of analyzing the parking demand, availability and opportunity for shared parking arrangements in order to right -size the parking for the project. 29. Question: What onsite energy -conservation methods will be used? Answer: Kelly: We're not at that level of detail yet but our goal is for the convention center to be certified LEED Gold and to achieve some level of LEED certification for all other parts of the project. We are considering photovoltaics, solar hot water as options. We have an opportunity on such a large project to consider a central plant concept. Kim: We chose OZ Architecture because they are efficiency - driven, not LEED score card -minded. Energy efficiency will be underscored in this project. 30. Question: Is there a plan to phase the project? Answer: It's open-ended now but certainly the parking will be constructed first as a structural platform for the rest. Timing for conference center may be separate because of the 7 lJ Answer: The entry points are not determined yet. We will go through an analysis of flows - so far we have considered Olive and Oak. 23. Question: When will Oak Street be vacated? Answer: Oak Street may not be vacated, depending on the ultimate design. It may stay a public street. We are engaged in a discussion with the City regarding whether it will be a turn- around port-cochere or a through street. 24. Question: When will you know more? Answer: After the analysis is complete and before submittal -probably in 1 or 2 months. Well be focused on balancing vehicular and pedestrian flow and safety. 25. Question: Have you thought about alley - will that be staying same? Answer: The alley will need to accommodate deliveries, pedestrians, but it will be an improved alley. 26. Question: Will the alley be converted to pedestrian use? Answer: This is an important secondary pedestrian link. This alley segment is a high priority for an upcoming enhancement project. Well be thinking about materials, etc. that make it pleasant for pedestrians, while also allowing it to function efficiently for trash and deliveries, etc. 27. Comment: The combination doesn't work well everywhere. I would like to see it work here. 28. Comment: Between the lack of commercial minimum required parking and the elimination of parking requirements in the area around the Mason Corridor, I'm really concerned that the developer won't provide near enough parking to serve the site. Answer: Anne Aspen: I can offer some clarification on that. First, about the commercial minimums, we don't have commercial minimums anywhere in town —in fact, we have maximums for commercial parking, because excess parking is wasteful and does not fit with our community's vision of walkability and street -fronting buildings. But sufficient and convenient parking must be provided for a project to be viable. No hotel, 17. Question: :, 19 allowable height. No modification would be required if the parking for the conference center was above grade and under 4 stories. Aren't the DMA Plaza and Key Bank buildings taller? Why is height a problem? Answer: Yes. The DMA Plaza building has more stories but they are shorter stories so it is about the same height as the tallest part of this proposal. The Key Bank and First National Bank buildings are about 110 feet tall. Question: Will changes be needed to utilities? Answer: We have excellent utilities in place in this location. There is the 84" storm sewer in Oak and a very large electric duct bank in Remington. We also will mitigate some of our energy use with energy savings measures. We will design the conference center to meet LEED Gold standards. Question: Have you specified a hotel operator yet? Answer: Comporex runs hotels as Commonwealth. The brand may be Marriott or Hyatt or a boutique operator. We have not determined that yet. Question: What kind of subsidies will this project receive? Answer: The hotel operation, offices, retail and residential needs no subsidy. We are working through the details of a partnership between the City, DDA and developer on construction and operation of the parking and convention center. 21. Question: Will existing parking on Remington stay? Will there be any free short-term parking? Answer: Yes, existing parking on Remington will remain. We don't know yet what the fee structure will be, if any, for the various parking on and around the site. Our existing parking structures are 1 hour free, then $.50 for each additional hour. This will likely be the model for the underground structure on the site. 22. Question: Where will the entries for the underground parking be? R Ci 14. Question: Will this project represent a huge net gain of parking demand? It seems so. Was an alternative site looked at north of Mountain or on North College where they're trying to attract projects to upgrade that area and have a URA? Answer: Chip: Alternates sites were reviewed in RFP. The RFP recommended the site this developer is working on but did not require it. Another developer team did submit an RFP for an area in North College area, but that team was not selected. This site is close to a 100% corner (College and Mountain) so it is very attractive to a hotel and to the City. We are trying to increase density: it is convenient to pedestrians who then patronize our other downtown establishments which in turn reinforces the vitality of our downtown. This is a great site and the City owns it too which makes it attractive as well. Kim: We know the numbers well need for parking and we are analyzing them to come up with the best design we can, but the details are still being worked out. The idea is to add net parking to site, ie.(adequate parking for all the uses proposed plus replacement of the 150 existing spaces plus 150 new public parking spaces). 15. Question: Which is the center or heart of project —the hotel or the convention center? Answer: The Elks parcels are not big enough to accommodate the hotel very well, but they work well for the conference center. In order to mitigate mass and height of the hotel, it is proposed for the south side of Oak Street. Placed on the north of the site, it will have the fewest negative impacts on neighbors with regard to shading or bulk. Placing the hotel and conference center across Oak Street from one another allows for the symbiotic relationship between the convention center and hotel. This corner in this location is the best place for height. Having the two functions on separate sites gives center its own identity. 16. Question: If parking can't go underground, how tall will buildings be, and will this be a part of the modification request? Answer: We are pretty sure we can engineer the parking garage to go over the storm outlet in Oak Street, but if we must bring the parking above grade at the convention center, it will add 1 story to that building, which would still be under the 2 0 0 handled in the other City parking structures with hourly rates and monthly permits. We will accommodate existing permit holders during construction too, but we have not gotten into the details of that yet. Chip: The DDA has set aside funds to defray the additional cost of a parking space in the Remington Parking Structure. 7. Question: What is the size of the convention center? Answer: Approximately 35-40,000sf. We're still figuring out the details and level of community need. 8. Question: What will the construction timing be? Answer: About 18-22 months. 9. Question: Will you be tearing down any existing buildings? Answer: The Elks building and public toilet will be razed. 10. Question: Is the property in the local floodplain? Answer: No. 11. Comment: This project looks good. 12. Question: Does the height need a modification? Answer: Anne Aspen: Yes. A height modification will be required. The applicant has submitted a request and the Planning & Zoning Board will hear the request on March 20+h at their regularly scheduled monthly meeting which starts at 6pm. If you received an invitation for this meeting, you will receive an invitation for the P&Z Board meeting as well. Applicant: The design pushes the mass of the building back from the street. There will be very little shading of neighboring property. 13. Question: Will the DDA get re -funded? Answer: Chip: It's going to clear committee. Well see about the outcome. 3 0 QUESTIONS, CONCERNS, COMMENTS, 1. Question: What parking ratios are you using per 1000 sf of leasable space? Answer: The total calculated parking for all of the uses, plus the city's desire for 300 spaces (150 to replace the existing surface parking, plus an additional 150 public parking spaces) would put us at a total demand of about 650 - 700 spaces. We are looking now at when those spaces would be used and the possibility of combining parking demand based on shared parking for the different building uses. The garage as we're proposing it now is closer to 450 or 500 spaces. 2. Question: How much finished square feet will there be? Answer: About 250,OOOsf including 150 hotel rooms. 3. Question: Is parking above or below ground? Answer: As it is proposed right now, all parking is underground. 4. Question: Has anyone thought about adding onto top of the structure at Remington and Mountain? Answer: The challenges with doing that are structural and traffic impacts. The Remington structure was not engineered to carry additional floors. We will have a parking study done shortly which will analyze the projected need with this development and the existing availability in this area. 5. Question: Will there be parking under the conference center too? Answer: Yes, if we can get above or below the 84" storm sewer in Oak Street. 6. Question: How tall are the buildings? Will neighbors be able to lease parking? How will that be handled? Answer: The tallest building is 100' to top. Ultimately well have twice the public parking available that we have now, in addition to the parking for the hotel and other uses. We will manage the public parking in much the same way that parking is 2 0 C0110ins where renewal is a way of life NEIGHBORHOOD INFORMATION MEETING PROJECT: Downtown Hotel and Conference Center DATE: February 26, 2008 APPLICANT: Kim Koehn, Corporex Colorado Jim Cowee, Corporex Colorado CITY PLANNER: Anne Aspen Planning and Zoning 281 N. College Ave. PO Box 580 Fort Collins, CO 80522 970.221.6750 970.224.6134- fax fcgov. com ALSO IN ATTENDANCE REPRESENTING THE DEVELOPER, DDA OR CITY: Chip Steiner, DDA Randy Hensley, Parking Manager Helen Matson, COFC Real Estate Department Kelly Davis, OZ Architecture Darrin Jensen, OZ Architecture Eric Becker, OZ Architecture Eric Bracke, ELB Engineering Bruce Hendee, BHA Design, Inc. The Applicant is proposing demolition of the existing Elks building and construction of a mixed -use project with a hotel, conference center, offices, retail, structured parking and residential units on the Elks parcels and the public surface parking lot on Remington between Oak and Olive Streets. A modification of standards will be required for the proposed height and setback standards in the Downtown District, Old City Center Subdistrict. The meeting started at 6:35pm. After an overview of the city development review process by City staff and an overview of the development proposal by the architect, the following questions and comments were fielded from the attendees. Questions are from the audience unless otherwise noted. Answers are from the applicant unless otherwise noted: 1