Aiyana Group Height Adjustment (at NE 16th and Weidler)
DRAFT Statement of Support by Sullivan’s Gulch Neighborhood Association
8 January 2002
DEVELOPMENT ON "FARRELL’S" BLOCK
THE AIYANA GROUP’S REQUEST FOR HEIGHT ADJUSTMENT
SGNA Land Use Committee’s Recommendation 1/04/02
The Land Use Committee of the Sullivan’s Gulch Neighborhood Association is pleased to recommend the support of a height adjustment for the project planned for the block bounded by NE Broadway and Weidler Streets and 16th and 17th Avenues.
Our committee has had two full working sessions with the Aiyana Group and numerous smaller meetings in addition to a final three-hour session during which we worked out our recommendation to the SGNA Board. Our work has been enriched by the participation of Josh Plager and other members of the Irvington Community Association’s land use committee and by Ted Schnieder of Grace Memorial Church. We have talked with adjacent property owners, several business owners, as well as several neighbors who live nearby.
Background
The block bounded by Broadway and Weidler between 16th and 17th Avenues occupies a critical location in Sullivan’s Gulch. It serves as a primary entrance to our neighborhood from the west and as a transition from the Lloyd District. It joins us to Irvington and within our neighborhood it integrates the Broadway business district with the high-density housing in our western blocks.
Beyond setting the stage for neighborhood-oriented business along Broadway and high-density housing at our "west end", our 1987 Neighborhood Plan gives us little direction. The subsequent loss of Weidler as a two-way neighborhood street further complicates the question: How do we recapture the blocks north of Weidler and integrate them back into the residential sections of our neighborhood?
In the fall of last year the Aiyana Group approached the neighborhood to see if we would support a height adjustment on a project that they hoped to develop on the above mentioned block. Our land use committee (augmented by representation from Irvington and from Grace Church and joined by Doug Fick of Broadway Florist) met once with them. Seeing potential and particularly pleased with the prospect of new residents to support the local businesses, we decided to recommend to the board that SGNA work with Aiyana to try to find a project design that mitigated against the additional height.
At its November meeting the Board accepted our recommendation and the above- mentioned meetings took place. Dick Cooley, owner of the property across 17th Avenue, also joined our committee. Ted Schneider has brought us news of Grace Memorial’s "campus planning" and there are natural relationships to be developed between the Church property and the proposed Aiyana project - not the least of which is a neighborhood entrance "monument" as noted in the Broadway/Weidler Corridor Plan.
The Aiyana Group’s Proposal
The members of the committee recognize that this project represents a significant "leap" in scale to what exists currently in this area and we are cautious about setting a precedent for future development. We have chosen to take the long-term view, believing that this block and the project built upon it will send a signal about the kind of development we want for our neighborhood — i.e. high-quality design and construction located on use-appropriate sites (in this case use types that can optimize connections to existing business and transit corridors).
The project presented by Aiyana represents a quality of development that would set the standard for future projects at this critical location. It supports METRO and SGNA goals of building housing along transit streets. The housing will bring welcome new customers to neighborhood-oriented businesses without the need for additional parking. And the condominium ownership is more likely to produce residents who see a greater stake in their neighborhood.
The proposed building design has well-articulated façades supporting a pedestrian environment. The materials are to be of relatively high quality suggesting a project of long-term value. Vegetation is introduced back into the block by various landscaping means. While not required, below grade parking is provided for both residents and commercial customers. Aiyana will upgrade the public pedestrian areas as required by the Broadway/Weidler Corridor Plan.
On balance we believe that Sullivan’s Gulch and the city are better served by granting the adjustment. While the scale of the project is more that we would prefer and we have some concerns about how it will impact public space, we recommend that SGNA support the height adjustment.
Our committee very much appreciates the openness and attentiveness with which our comments have been heard and then reflected in Aiyana’s work. We have enjoyed working with them.
** Endorsement of this height adjustment should in no way indicate that SGNA would support a continuation of this pattern east along Weidler. ** The Land Use Committee recommends that SGNA immediately begin a planning project to look at the areas in the Broadway and Weidler corridor and consider revised zoning and or urban design standards.
Conditions
:1. Materials and Massing. The type and placement of the materials noted in the proposal and the articulation of the façade must be conditioned as part of the adjustment. A primary issue to the committee is the increased bulk of the building due to the increased height by adjustment and the bay windows and balconies that overhang the sidewalk four feet on the majority of the exterior. It is critical that this larger bulk be mitigated by maintaining quality finishes and heavy articulation of the façade (i.e. not a primarily ‘flat’ façade comprised of cheap materials like at Lloyd Place). This is also important in creating a better standard for future projects to be judged against. Specifically:
A. Materials. Support of the adjustment should be conditioned on maintaining the following materials: brick veneer up to at least 45’ high on the body of the building (a true brick cavity wall — not ‘Z-brick’ panels), cement stucco on the bay windows, steel canopies, dark-colored aluminum window systems through-out, metal roofing on all sloped roofs, and an open — not solid — design for the steel or aluminum balcony railings. Areas that need more discussion with Aiyana are the color of bay window stucco above the 45’ high cornice (currently called out as light blue) and the material selection for the remainder of the walls above the 45’ high cornice (formerly metal panels, now stucco?). The wood windows at street level on the 17th Avenue facade are inappropriate and should be changed to match the rest of the windows.
B. Massing. The general mass of the building is large due to the proposed height adjustment and the bay windows and balconies overhanging the property line four feet on most facades. However, the heavy articulation on most of the facades helps to reduce the perceived mass of the building by breaking it up into smaller elements, primarily though the use of bay windows and by progressively stepping back the upper two floors, especially at the Sixth Floor. Large amounts of continuous windows and material changes at the higher floors also contribute to lightening the mass of the building. Canopies wrapping around the NW, SW, and SE street-level corners help hide awkward double-cantilevered bay window conditions above and also provide shelter for pedestrians waiting to cross those intersections. The cornice at 45’ is an important unifying element because it ties together the numerous bay windows and provides a datum for future eastward development built to the more typical 40- or 45-foot height limit to relate to. Care should be taken during the development of the design to give the bay windows and balcony railings as ‘light’ as treatment as possible to reduce their perceived mass hanging over the right-of-ways.
2. Parking. The parking ratio stated per the proposal should be a part of the adjustment. Furthermore, up to two spaces should be made available for car-sharing at market rate. (The committee considered requiring new occupants to buy parking, but decided that such would not promote alternative transportation. We decided to leave the number as proposed and encourage the increased use of car-share which is a natural fit for the site and project.)
3. Storefront Windows. Since the development has many central city characteristics, we recommend a condition requiring compliance with the Central City zoning standard for storefront windows along Broadway, Weidler, 16th Avenue and the southernmost 40 feet of 17th Avenue (this standard requires the amount of windows at street level to be equal to or greater than 50% of each façade’s length and 25% of each façade’s area). This will ensure adequate transparency into the building at street level and enhance the pedestrian environment.
Items of further interest and concern
1. Loading and Trash Area. There is some concern that the size of the loading and trash area may be inadequate. The trash area needs to be adequately sized to handle all retail and residential garbage and recycling, and adequate space and systems to keep recyclables separate from garbage should be provided. There also needs to be ample on-site loading space to allow for the many deliveries needed by the proposed grocery store and 107 condominiums. It is imperative that these activities be given adequate space on-site to minimize any chance of them overflowing into the right-of-way and hindering pedestrian or parking garage traffic.
2. Neighborhood Monument Sign Cooperation. Also as a public benefit, Aiyana has expressed a willingness to cooperate with and help SGNA design and place a monument sign indicating entry into the Sullivan’s Gulch neighborhood at the NE corner of 16th and Weidler. We applaud Aiyana’s assistance with this sign.
3. Sustainable Design. We are pleased to learn that portions of the building have an eco-roof. As a neighborhood we certainly want to embrace sustainable development and, to the extent possible, we suggest that Aiyana maximize the integration of green-building principles and strategies. We suggest the project be designed to a standard equal to LEED-Certified as per U.S. Green Building Council standards.