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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMELDRUM OFFICE BUILDING - PDP - PDP130027 - REPORTS - PLANNING OBJECTIVESland planning  landscape architecture  urban design  entitlement Thinking outside of the box for over two decades. 401 W. Mountain Ave., Suite 200  Fort Collins, CO 80521  tel. 970.224.5828  fax 970.224.1662  www.vfrdesigninc.com August 28, 2013 Mr. Seth Lorson Community Development and Neighborhood Services 281 North College Avenue PO Box 580 Fort Collins, CO 80522 Meldrum Office Building Planning Objectives Project Vision: The project is located at 111 Meldrum Street where a current office building is situated. This current building will be deconstructed and razed in preparation for a new six story, 42,000 square foot office building with a basement. Although this project stands nicely on its own, it is planned to be constructed as part of a city block redevelopment that includes a separate project to the south. This complementary project will consist of commercial mixed uses and a public parking structure. The two projects are planned to share similar architectural and streetscape components to enhance the pedestrian experience along Meldrum Street. It is a goal of the applicant to integrate the new project into the downtown fabric of Fort Collins. Conceptually, the 111 Meldrum building’s design is derived from the idea of an innovative office building (upper floors) being inserted into a historical wrapper (lower brick floors). Materials of the area combine with a well-articulated form to provide an aesthetically pleasing building that meets the goals of the zone district. A supplemental packet that expands on views, shadows, and scale is included as an attachment. In addition to the integrated architecture, the streetscape design will enhance the pedestrian experience along Meldrum, especially when combined with the mixed-use parking project to the south. Innovative streetscape concepts could include rain gardens within the parkways to collect and treat storm water, a variety of native plantings, boulders and mulch types creating a rich texture at the pedestrian scale. Large sandstone pavers will make up much of the entry plaza, drawing inspiration from many of the area’s old walks. The main entry to the building will have a covered structural extension that will naturally flow into the sidewalk and direct pedestrian traffic away from and around the building entry. Security, safety and comfort are extremely important with the design of the entry. The concept of diverting the sidewalk allows a buffer from the entry of the building to the casual pedestrian and adds context to the overall street scape. To achieve this innovative streetscape concept, some of the existing diagonal parking along the site’s right-of-way will be replaced with the proposed streetscape concept. The additional parking structure proposed in the project to the south will absorb and replace these spaces. It is anticipated that this new Meldrum Office Building Planning Objectives August 28, 2013 Page 2 of 2 Thinking outside of the box for over two decades. 401 W. Mountain Ave., Suite 200  Fort Collins, CO 80521  tel. 970.224.5828  fax 970.224.1662  www.vfrdesigninc.com parking structure will ease the burden with commercial parking within the residential neighborhood areas. A private parking area will be provided within the building and will be accessed from the parking lot associated with the building at 17 West Mountain Ave. An access easement currently exists for this access. There will be improvements within the right-of-way that continue on with the streetscape to the north (same ownership group). This includes the continuation of the enlarged landscape areas and islands that replace existing diagonal parking and a commercial truck drop-off zone. The street corner where Meldrum intersects Mountain will also be improved in this fashion. Some of the aging plants in the landscape beds along Mountain will be refreshed with new plantings. It is anticipated that the new landscaped islands and crosswalks will promote lower speeds with vehicles along the streets and in the intersections. A neighborhood meeting was held on August 14th 2013 for both this project and the mixed-use parking project. Responses to the comments from the meeting have been taken into consideration from the applicant. Comments that the applicant deems to have merit are being addressed and will be made at the time of PDP submittal. Thank you for your attention to this project, we are looking forward to working with you on the continued enhancement of this special area of Old Town. Sincerely, Brent Cooper RIPLEY DESIGN INC.