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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTHE MARK - FDP240013 - SUBMITTAL DOCUMENTS - ROUND 1 - Project Narrative MINIMAL RISK. PAINLESS PROCESS. BEAUTIFUL SPACES. o: 970.224.5828 | w: ripleydesigninc.com RIPLEY DESIGN, INC. | 419 Canyon Avenue, Suite 200 | Fort Collins, CO 80521 Project Narrative | The Mark (AKA: Johnson Drive Apartments, 255 Johnson Drive) Combined Project Development Plan & Final Development Plan (PDP/FDP) 07/31/2024 Past Meeting Dates: • Preliminary Design Review Meeting – 7/24/2024 Proposed Owner: Landmark Properties, Inc. Existing Owner: EPOCH FORT COLLINS DST LLC Introduction The Applicant is The Mark at Fort Collins, LLC (“Landmark” or “Landmark Properties”). Landmark Properties is a fully integrated real estate firm specializing in development, construction, management, investment, and consulting of high-quality residential communities. Based by a deep understanding of the markets, a commitment to quality and a strong track record of success, Landmark is responsible f or some of the premier student and single-family housing communities in the nation including The Standard at Fort Collins. Project Site, History, and Existing Conditions The project site at 255 Johnson Dr/Spring Ct is located in the General Commercial (CG) Zone District and the Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) Overlay Zone. It is situated roughly 250 feet west of College Ave on Johnson Dr and is approximately 2.5 acres (consisting of one parcel). There are a mix of uses surrounding the site. The history of the site at 255 Johnson Dr/Spring Ct. is intricate and goes back several years. Below is a summary of previous entitlement milestones: • A development proposal was reviewed and approved by the City from 2017- 2020. • Footing & Foundation Permit issued February 2020. • Development Construction Permit was issued in May of 2021. • The developer ceased construction on the site in March 2022 and the site has remained in same condition since then. • Vested Rights expired in 2023 - Public Infrastructure was not completed in required timeframe and thus the project is expired. Landmark, herein referred to as the applicant, is currently under contract with the owner to purchase the property and project. The project plans will re-engage the Development Review process to get re-entitled before construction can commence on the site. The intent of the project moving forward is to keep the design the same and move forward with minimal changes to what was previously approved. MINIMAL RISK. PAINLESS PROCESS. BEAUTIFUL SPACES. o: 970.224.5828 | w: ripleydesigninc.com RIPLEY DESIGN, INC. | 419 Canyon Avenue, Suite 200 | Fort Collins, CO 80521 The existing conditions are being evaluated to see what may or may not be salvaged during the construction process. The site is currently an abandoned construction site with visible foundations and elevator shafts . All water and sewer services to the building have been built, and transformers have been installed . Also, most of the storm outfall to Spring Creek has been built, except for the final outfall connection at Spring Creek. The site work items still left to be built for the Johnson Drive Apartments include sidewalks, retaining walls, curb and gutter along Johnson Drive and Spring Court, fine grading, and landscaping. ^Existing site conditions as of May 2024 Proposed Development and Design Considerations The applicant proposes to develop a 6-story multifamily student-oriented project, accommodating 193 units with a total of 397 beds. It will be a podium style building with parking in a garage within the building footprint on floors 1 and 2. The parking garage is enclosed and secured with screens and door access. Screens on parking garage levels 1 and 2 are 3 different patterns to add interest to the garage base and will mimic glass/storefront in appearance to break up façade. The proposed building will be fully sprinklered with NFPA 13 system using fire pump, fire command room, additional standpipes added to the courtyards, back - up/emergency generator, pressurized stairs and elevator, areas of refuge on each floor, and host of other fire sprinkler and fire alarm devices per the Poudre Fire District approvals. Sprinklers in the parking garage area are a dry-type system to prevent freezing. The building shows articulation and material palette of brick, stone, fiber cement panels, storefront glass or spandrel panels on all sides, not just street sides, giving the building a 360-degree finish instead of just the street sides. Brick is used down low as much as possible on street sides to mimic the look of old town Fort Collins. The brick colors and overall material palette was chosen to bring the downtown look to this part of town. Small canopies added with tie-rod supports to add cover to entry way to buildings and add interest to façade. Varying roof heights on corners and corner balconies on select apartments adds interesting form to the building corners. MINIMAL RISK. PAINLESS PROCESS. BEAUTIFUL SPACES. o: 970.224.5828 | w: ripleydesigninc.com RIPLEY DESIGN, INC. | 419 Canyon Avenue, Suite 200 | Fort Collins, CO 80521 Courtyard amenities are provided on the 3rd floor, and they face outward with good views of the mountains, park and streets. The courtyards are placed to break up the overall mass of the building and add interest especially to the street sides. Landscaping within courtyards will make appearance from the street softer and interesting seeing vegetation in between building masses. Balconies face the park for certain apartments to optimize views. The code requires a natural habitat buffer zone of 50 feet from irrigation ditches, which the project will maintain with a modified buffer area location on the site. The required 50’ buffer is a total of 19,933 square feet. To accommodate the building and programming on the site, the applicant proposes to adjust the location of the buffer slightly and create an enhanced detention pond to meet the buffer requirements (see LP102 for diagram). With the proposed modified buffer area and the additional area for the enhanced detention pond, the total area for the buffer zone ends up being 21,542 square feet, which exceeds the requirement by approximately 1,600 square feet. A modification request for lighting in the buffer zone is also included with this application as a separate document. The tree inventory that was previously completed for the Johnson Drive Apartments project showed most trees on-site to be removed for a total mitigation of 37 trees. I n comparison to the previous tree inventory, the current site still has the three Blue Spruce trees at the northwest corner, but the other Siberian Elms in the southeast corner have been removed. The mitigation required for those removed trees totaled 2 trees, so the applicant intends to mitigate for those trees for a new total of 39 mitigatio n trees on site. The previously approved project was required to submit a modification to the occupancy limits. Since then, House Bill HB24-1007 went into effect on July 1, 2024, which prohibits residential occupancy limits. To comply, The City of Fort Collins City Council then passed Ordinance 081, 2024 and Ordinance 082,2024, which removes all occupancy regulations from city codes and the Municipal Code. Therefore, the currently proposed project will not need to submit a modification request for occupancy limits since the code sections no longer exist. Project Context The Mark is located within the Transit-Oriented Overlay (TOD) District. The purpose of the TOD Overlay district is to allow for a “mix of goods and services within convenient walking distance of transit stations; encourage creation of stable and attractive residential and commercial environments…” The proposal is compatible with the surrounding area and zone districts because it allows for a mix of uses that are conveniently located to transit and other amenities and serves as a transition between existing uses. The Mark would be adding much needed residential in a commercial-centric corridor. The proposed 6-story multifamily building is ideally situated within the surrounding area. To the north, there is an apartment complex and commercial buildings that are 4 to 5 stories high, which is a similar scale and feel to the proposed 6-story building. Since the site is at a lower elevation compared to the neighboring buildings to MINIMAL RISK. PAINLESS PROCESS. BEAUTIFUL SPACES. o: 970.224.5828 | w: ripleydesigninc.com RIPLEY DESIGN, INC. | 419 Canyon Avenue, Suite 200 | Fort Collins, CO 80521 the south, and with the hill adjacent to the site, it effectively minimizes the perceived height and massing of the building. The location of the project site, tucked behind the buildings fronting College Ave, also provides a smooth transition to a taller building. As a separate document in our submittal package, there is a modification request for a 6-story building in the General Commercial (CG) Zone District. Site Circulation and Parking Vehicular access to parking is provided with one access point along Spring Court. Primary pedestrian access is provided from Johnson Drive and the Spring Creek Trail. Spring Court is proposed to be widened to meet the LCUASS local connector roadway width and ROW requirements. Additional ROW was dedicated via the final plat by the previous developer. The site is in close proximity to commercial businesses (including Whole Foods, King Soopers, various banks, multiple restaurants and fast-food options as well as coffee shops), CSU, the Spring Creek and Mason Trail system, the MAX, and bus transportation. This makes it a prime location for student housing, as it allows for multi-modal transportation options that provide connections throughout the city. As for parking, there will be a total of 400 bike parking spaces for residents (159 fixed, 241 covered) and 318 vehicular parking spaces provided in a structured parking garage on -site. Stormwater Strategy The previously approved Johnson Drive Apartments project was required to detain the difference between the historic runoff rate (2-yr for pervious areas and historic 100-yr for impervious areas) and the developed 100-year runoff rate. Due to the historic condition of the site being mostly a paved storage facility, the detention requirements for the project were relatively minimal. The Johnson Drive Apartments design accounted for detention within a vault internal to the parking structure. The historic property (prior to the Johnson Drive Apartments project) drained via sheet flow to an inlet in Johnson Drive. The outfall for the inlet was never located. The only direction the stormwater could drain was to Spring Creek. The proposed Johnson Drive Apartments built a storm sewer with the intent that it would outfall to Spring Creek. This drainage pattern will not change. A vault internal to the parking garage was approved with the Johnson Drive Apartments project. This vault provided both detention and water quality/LID for the stormwater runoff from the building. The water quality and LID treatment was provided within this vault by means of a sand filter. This vault is currently built.