HomeMy WebLinkAboutProject Narratives - 03/19/2025
Project Narrative - FDP
Project Title: Prospect Plaza Redevelopment
Past Meetings:
· Stormwater Due Diligence Meeting: 02/23/2024
· Fire Department Due Diligence Meeting: 11/06/2024
· Concept Review Meeting: 12/17/2024
· FDP Prep Meeting: 01/08/2025
· Neighborhood Meeting: 01/08/2025
· TransFort Coordination Meeting: 01/09/2025
· SPAR Hearing: 02/05/2025
Owner: The Board of Governors of the Colorado State University System
General Information:
The project site, located between Lake Street and Prospect Road, and one block east of Center Street, is
roughly 4.5 acres. A collection of eleven 3-story buildings, as well as a small multi-tenant retail building
currently exist on the site and are at the end of their serviceable life. The project intends to replace these
existing buildings to make way for redevelopment as an off-campus student housing while enhancing the
site’s strong location directly adjacent to CSU’s campus and providing much-needed off-campus housing for
CSU’s growing student population. The project is currently planned as a 5-story apartment building at its
tallest point along Lake Street, with the southern portion of the building limited to 4-stories. The project is
currently planned to accommodate approximately 696 bedrooms and 430 Parking spaces (45 surface stalls,
60 parking spots off-site and 324 in structured parking). The zoning for the site is HMN. As the project site is
owned by Colorado State University Board of Governors, the project is being submitted under the Site Plan
Advisory Review (SPAR) process. Part of the SPAR process for the project includes a limited FDP for City staff
to review and approve engineering of the site.
Written Narrative:
Site Design - Site Layout and Vehicles
All existing structures and features on the site will be demolished. This includes all existing buildings, parking
areas, and the bus drop off loop. The proposed site will include a residential building that includes a parking
garage and exterior courtyard areas. The north portion of the building will have columns so that the building is
raised to the second floor. This design was created to accommodate student outdoor amenities and
floodplain volume (discussed further below). There is also green space in the north portion of the site and in
the courtyard areas.
The design team is working with both TransFort and CSU Parking and Transportation Services to remove and
reconfigure the bus drop-off. Instead of a loop, the proposed configuration is an eastbound pull off lane to be
constructed on Lake Street as shown on the Site Plan. To the south of the lane, a bus waiting area with a
building overhang and amenities for students is proposed.
The existing site has five points for vehicular traffic; three from Prospect Road and two from Lake Street. In the
proposed condition, this will be reduced to two access points from each of the public streets. The western
access points will be the primary vehicular access, and the eastern access points will be for emergency
access only. The western private driveway (located between the proposed building and the Lake Street
parking garage) will accommodate the existing Arthur Ditch underground culvert and will have off-street
parking stalls (similar to the existing condition). The eastern driveway will primarily function as a pedestrian
and bike corridor but will also be designed to accommodate emergency vehicles as an aerial fire-apparatus
access road. Site safety for pedestrians and bike traffic is being considered and addressed.
The development team hired Delich Associates in April of 2024 to perform a transportation impact study (TIS).
The data was obtained while school was in session at peak hours of traffic. As stated in Exhibit A; the
attached TIS, the study conforms to the format set forth in the Fort Collins transportation impact study
guidelines contained in the “Larimer County Urban Area Street Standards” (LCUASS). After review, the level of
service is still within acceptable limits based on the proposed development’s attributes.
Site Design - Floodplain and Stormwater Drainage
The existing site has a floodplain that is mapped by CSU’s PCSWMM floodplain model. Flooding is deepest in
Lake Street and extends south into the site. For the proposed condition, assessing floodplain impacts is
critical to ensure that the redevelopment does not increase flooding risks to the site and the surrounding
areas. To accommodate the proposed development, the floodplain boundary within the site will be adjusted
while maintaining the existing flood volume on-site. The proposed development accommodates this
floodplain volume within open space in the north portion of the site and within the proposed driveways on the
west and east sides of the building. Additionally, the northwest portion of the building does not have a ground
level and will instead be elevated on structural columns. The finished floor elevation of the residential portion
of the proposed building is set at least 2 feet above the base flood elevation (BFE), and the commercial
portion is set at least 1 foot above the BFE. An update to CSU’s floodplain model will be completed to ensure
the BFE used for design is accurate. Proposed floodplain limits are shown within the Utility Plans.
Because the overall imperviousness of the proposed development will be less than that of the existing site,
traditional stormwater detention is not required. Water quality for the site will be treated using Low Impact
Design (LID) techniques. Rain gardens are proposed in various areas of the site as shown in the Utility Plans.
These systems will treat at least 75% of the site’s impervious area in accordance with CSU and City of Fort
Collins stormwater design criteria. Coordination with the Arthur Ditch Irrigation Company will occur to ensure
that changes to drainage and all impacts to the enclosed ditch on the west side of the site are permitted and
adhere to engineering best practices.
During construction temporary erosion control measures will be installed to meet the state standards for
erosion and sedimentation controls. A Stormwater Management Plan (SWMP) manual is included with the
FDP submittal and will be used by the contractor. The contractor will obtain a State of Colorado CDPHE
permit for temporary stormwater.
Utilities
As shown on the Utility Plans, there are existing utility mains adjacent to the site. These include City of Fort
Collins water, City of Fort Collins sanitary, City of Fort Collins electrical, Xcel Energy natural gas, and CSU
communications. New fire hydrants are proposed at three corners of the site (the southeast corner has an
existing hydrant) to provide fire protection for the proposed building, and domestic water and fire services are
proposed to tie directly to the main in Lake Street. The sanitary sewer service is proposed to connect from the
north and south sides of the building to the existing sewer mains in Prospect Road and Lake Street. The City
of Fort Collins Water-Wastewater Engineering Department is currently working to verify the capacity available
in the existing sanitary sewer mains. Depending on the results of this investigation, the project sanitary
service may need to be modified and a portion of the existing sanitary main in Lake St (expected to be a
maximum of ~150ft) may need to be upsized. Natural gas and communications services will be connected to
the mains that run along the south side of Lake Street. It is likely that three transformers will be required to
power the building. These are proposed in the southwest corner of the site and will connect to the existing
electrical vault at the southwest corner of Prospect Road and Bay Road. These proposed utility connections
are all shown in the Utility Plans.
Pedestrian Flow and Landscape Design
Concrete paths and plazas lead users into and out of the building with crusher fines “nodes” or spaces that
provide informal seating and gathering spaces as well as bicycle parking. The smaller nodes have landscape
beds as a backdrop which allow for separation between spaces and the larger ones are more open and have
the ability to accommodate larger groups.
The interior courtyard area is designed to be an amenity area with several uses. On both the north and south
end, there are seating nodes with fire pits and festoon lighting that can also be used as a study area during the
day. In between two of the nodes is a lawn area intended for group fitness or passive use. The two small
landscape areas on the south side of the building accommodate rain gardens as well as a dog run and an
ornamental fence will be provided in these spaces for security.
The east side of the building is planned for fire access as well as a strong pedestrian connection from north to
south. The design team understands the space requirements for Fire access but intends to create a
connection that feels appropriate at the pedestrian scale that will (at the minimum) include design elements
such as pedestrian scale lighting and landscape.
The west side of the building includes the parking structure for this housing project and will face the existing
parking structure. There will be narrow spaces for landscape, but this space will focus on guest parking and
vehicular circulation.
Landscape areas on the north side of the building are designed to accommodate the floodplain as well as the
elevated second story of the building. A lawn is provided for relaxation, passive recreation, and includes
seating areas via steps as well as furnishings that fit the character of the design. Planting beds are laid out to
provide buffer between building windows and public spaces, frame pathways into the building, and will also
include rain gardens to support LID requirements. To the extent possible, plant material will be low water-use
and all material be appropriate for the site and region. For the most part, the existing trees on the site are in
fair to poor condition and all will be removed and mitigated with proposed trees.
The proposed landscape in the interior and south courtyard areas consists primarily of foundation planting
that will provide a buffer between resident windows and the user spaces outside. The design and layering of
plant material will consider security (clear lines of sight), sun exposure and aesthetics for the outdoor
gathering spaces.
Architectural Design
The project is governed by CSU’s design guidelines, and the project has completed, and received approval of
concept level review from CSU’s Design Review Committee. The proposed student housing concept has
been carefully crafted to respond to its neighboring site context. The project team has worked closely with
CSU STRATA, CSU’s campus architect, design review committee, and Housing and Dining Services, to identify
an appropriate architectural character for the project. As the project is not intended to serve as Dormitory
Housing for freshmen students and will be managed by CSU STRATA, the decision has been made to
incorporate subtle nods to the architecture of the campus, while differentiating materiality to allow the
project to stand apart visually from projects managed by Housing and Dining Services.
With campus situated to the north, the building responds by opening up the first level of the proposed
structure along the more pedestrian-friendly Lake Street frontage. This act of porosity and transparency
welcomes pedestrians, cyclists, and visitors into a semi-public courtyard space that presents itself as the
front porch of the development, but also serves as a critical flood control element to accommodate water
during heavy rain events. Furthermore, the building above will act as a covered waiting area for the bus stop
along Lake Street.
The south-facing elevation of the proposed structure along the Prospect Road frontage was not treated as a
large mass in-line with the Lake Street Garage, but instead sets the urban edge with more porosity and
opportunities for landscaping in mind. In an effort to provide a visual interest and a comfortable building
scale along Prospect Road, two semi-recessed forecourts allow for a break in the massing. To further
address pedestrian scale along Prospect Road, the project team has made the decision to reduce the
building height in this area from five stories down to four. Architectural detailing and materiality have also
been considered relative to human scale along this frontage, including limiting the height of stone elements
via a change in materiality, covered entries at the street level, and landscape features to provide transition
between the building and the streetscape. The south-facing forecourts allow for the building’s corners to be
opened up with large amounts of transparency to showcase common lounge spaces that act as “lighted
candles” to signal a sense of arrival to the southern edge of CSU’s Campus. These “lighted candle” elements
that are repeated at many of the building corners are a key element throughout CSU’s campus, offering a
sense of belonging, safety and warmth when they are internally lit in the evening hours that help showcase
the activity inside of the building.
The roof line intentionally helps break up the scale and gives a subtle nod back to a residential aesthetic that
is more commonly characterized by pitched roofs. Toward the middle of the roof there is a flat area beyond
the pitched roofs that will be filled with condensing units, therefore this varying roof line is also performative
in that it becomes a screen to block the view of these units from both directions along Prospect Road and
Lake Street.
Sincerely,
Megan Walter, PE
Sunny Civil
970-694-1389
mwalter@sunnycivil.com