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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02/19/2002, B4 - PROPOSED OWNER CHANGES TO THE COPELANDS PROJECT PARKING/OFFICE STRUCTURE. l council j, acEnba REpont 5 C I T Y O F SAN L U I S O B I S P O FROM: Wendy George, Assistant City Administrative Officer 6D4( Prepared By: Shelly Stanwyck,Economic Development Manager SUBJECT: PROPOSED OWNER CHANGES TO THE COPELANDS PROJECT PARKING/OFFICE STRUCTURE. CAO RECOMMENDATION 1. Direct staff to request that the architects provide an additional elevator, at Palm and Morro Streets, in the Copelands Project Parking/Office Structure at an estimated cost of$150,000. 2. Direct staff to request that the architects widen the footprint of the Copelands Project Parking/Office Structure by encroaching into the Morro Street right-of-way by no more than five feet and eliminating parking on Morro Street when the project is complete, at an estimated cost of$25,000. 3. Direct staff to modify the Memorandum of Understanding with the Copelands to reflect these design and cost changes and return to Council for approval of the modified agreement. REPORT-IN-BRIEF The City and the Chinatown-Court Street Partners LLC (the "Copelands") recently amended a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) indicating that the Copelands will construct a Parking/Office Structure, based on a specific design, which the City will purchase for a guaranteed maximum price (GMP). In its role as future owner, City staff has determined that,by adding an additional elevator to the structure at the corner of the building closest to Palm and Morro Streets, disabled access to buildings on Palm Street, including the Library, will be greatly improved. Members of the public and Library staff have expressed concern that the original design, with only one elevator located further down the Morro Street hill, would require individuals with disabilities to traverse the hill on the sidewalk in order to reach Palm Street. Adding a second elevator would also solve access issues for the ground floor office space, eliminating the need for a public corridor through the building to the lobby space on the Palm Street side of the building. Cost for and additional elevator is estimated to be$150,000. Staff has also determined that, by allowing the project to encroach into the right-of-way on Morro street by up to five feet, several problems can be solved. The footprint of the Structure itself can be widened by one foot, two inches, allowing operational functionality and safety to be improved through increased turning radii and minimization of potential vehicle conflicts. Pedestrian access around the Structure can be enhanced by a wider sidewalk on Morro Street. Planters can also be added to the Morro Street side of the building to soften its visual impact, as suggested by the Architectural Review Commission. Finally, in addition to being wider, the L3 4- 1 i Council Agenda Report—Changes to the Copelands Project Parking/Office Structure Page 2 building can be shifted two feet toward Morro Street, thereby improving the plaza area next to the library. Approximately five parking spaces on Morro Street will be lost, but the wider footprint will allow a comparable number of spaces to be added to the Structure. The cost of these design changes will be approximately$25,000. DISCUSSION Background On December 11, 2001, the City and Chinatown-Court Street Partners LLC (the "Copelands") amended an existing Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) outlining the terms for the purchase and sale of various properties between the two parties. Pursuant to terms of the Amended MOU, the Copelands will construct a Parking/Office Structure for a guaranteed maximum price (GMP). The GMP is based on a fully designed Parking/Office Structure. The plans for the Parking/Office Structure (as well as for the Court Street component of this project) were submitted to the City's Community Development Department for development review on December 12, 2001. City staff has begun the development review process. Because the City will ultimately own the Parking/Office Structure, staff has been analyzing its design as both a regulator and owner. As future owners of the Parking/Office Structure, we have identified two areas of improvement to the Structure that require direction from Council. These areas involve adding a second elevator and increasing the width of Parking/Office Structure. Both changes are responsive to suggestions for improvements to the access and design of the structure. The second elevator would improve access to the structure and would be responsive to initial comments from Library Patrons and residents of the Anderson Hotel. The increased footprint would increase landscaping/planting opportunities around the structure, and would be responsive to the preliminary comments from the Architectural Review Commission about pedestrian issues. It would also address traffic engineering and operational concerns relating to safety and efficiency. 1. Additional Elevator The Parking/Office Structure is located on a steeply sloped site. As agreed to in the Amended MOU, the Parking/Office Structure has one elevator, located at the corner of the building nearest Monterey and Monro Streets. When proposed, this was thought to be adequate. The Palm Street Parking Structure does not have an elevator and the Marsh Street Parking Structure presently has only one elevator. Staff however, has received feedback from a variety of potential users of the Parking/Office Structure and has concluded that a second elevator at Palin and Morro Streets would better serve all of the potential users of the Structure. More specifically two elevators would: a. Provide convenient access to all users of the Structure, whether they have business up or down the Morro Street "hill". Both the Library staff and other community members, especially those with disabilities, have expressed a particular concern about access to the Structure being difficult because of the hill. Two elevators would provide access that is more convenient to both Palm Street and the Library, and the downtown shopping area. q'Ca Council Agenda Report—Changes to the Copelands Project Parking/Office Structure Page 3 b. Provide greater flexibility and safety to the office tenants. Public access to the offices would occur through a public entrance reached by the elevator at Palm and Morro Streets, rather than a back door entrance out of the Monterey Street elevator. Access from Monterey Street alone would require a public corridor through the whole building to reach the reception area on Palm Street in the office floor. c. Provide long term flexibility for the conversion of additional floors of the Structure to office uses. The Structure has flat floors and two elevators for access would increase the likelihood of that future conversion if alternative parking became available. Staff does, however, recommend the second elevator serve all levels of the Structure excgRt the roof. This will save not only costs, but it will also minimize the visual impacts of the Structure by not adding a second tower feature to hide the mechanical aspects of the second elevator. There will be designated handicapped parking spaces on all floors adjacent to the elevators. If one requires elevator service from the roof, has business on the uphill side of the building, and does not want to go up the Morro Street"hill", one could always transfer on the fourth,third or second floors, traveling across the flat surface of the garage instead the Morro Street hill.. 2. Encroachment into Right-of-Way a. Modifying the Width of the Parking/Office Structure From a traffic engineering and operational standpoint, the Parking/Office Structure would be a better structure if it were slightly wider. As stated to Council in the December 11, 2001 Agenda Report regarding the Amended MOU (copy available in Council Reading File), the design presented represented what the developer believed were the minimum dimensions necessary for the Structure. However, Public Works staff has identified that the functionality and safety of the proposed Parking/Office Structure, specifically the turning radii, needs improvement. But, because Council and the community both desire to create a plaza on the Library side of the Structure, and because of the complex access easements in that area, the Parking/Office Structure realistically should only be widened on the Morro Street side. If the Parking/Office Structure were to encroach into the public right-of-way on Morro Street by one foot two inches beyond the baseline project, bringing the baseline project width to 119 feet, and if parking on Morro Street adjacent to the structure was eliminated (when the project was complete) and the sidewalk widened into the parking area, the following would occur: 1. Approximately five parking spaces would be lost on Morro Street, However, several additional parking spaces, presently estimated to be five, would be added to the Parking/Office Structure,bringing the total to 243 spaces. 2. The pedestrian access around the Parking/Structure would be improved through the widening of the Morro Street sidewalk to eight feet. 3. The aesthetics of the Parking/Office Structure would be improved by adding planters to the building on the Morro Street side and softening the building's overall appearance (an improvement suggested by the Architectural Review Commission(ARC) during its preliminary design review.) /)—,3 i Council Agenda Report—Changes to the Copelands Project Parking/Office Structure Page 4 4. The functionality and safety of parking in the Parking/Office Structure would be improved through increased turning radii and the minimization of potential vehicle conflicts. 5. The addition to the overall square footage of the office space would increase its potential use. This alternative was not presented to the City by the Copelands as the baseline project because it requires an encroachment into the public right-of-way. Because the Copelands are the private developers of a private project, (until the City buys the completed Parking/Office Structure) this option was rejected by the Copelands as impracticable. However, staff recommends the described encroachment so that the City can buy a more functional structure. b. Nudging the Parking/Office Structure Towards Morro Street and Widening the Sidewalk In addition to considering widening the Parking/Office Structure toward Morro Street by adding one foot two inches to the baseline project, there is the possibility to move the Structure over slightly toward Morro Street by an additional two feet. This would increase the plaza area adjacent to the Library and respond to concerns about blending pedestrian and vehicular needs in that area by providing additional space. The narrowest part of the plaza area occurs where the Bookmobile and trash enclosure are opposite the Parking/Office Structure and is approximately 14 feet. Were the building nudged over, that dimension could change to 16 feet. Additionally, by approving an encroachment of up to five feet into the right-of-way, there is an opportunity to widen the sidewalk along Monro Street, as well. The added encroachment would accomplish the following: 1. Respond to the ARC'S conceptual direction to improve pedestrian/vehicular access in the Library plaza area. 2. Allow the architects to create a designated 12-foot drive aisle for the Bookmobile, and other limited access vehicles, through the plaza with an adjacent four-foot pedestrian area. This could be accomplished through either different texture treatments of the concrete in that area or by using different colors for the pedestrian and vehicle areas. 3. The widest parts of the plaza could then be possibly be over 30 feet. 4. A drive aisle on Morro Street adjacent to the Parking/Office Structure of 12 feet and a sidewalk of 10 feet could be created. 5. Approximately five parking spaces would be lost on Morro Street. I I Council Agenda Report—Changes to the Copelands Project Parking/Office Structure Page 5 c. Summary of Encroachment into Right-of-Way Above ground, there is a need for a minimum of one foot two inches to be added to the baseline to achieve operational efficiency. Improved pedestrian access would be accomplished in the plaza area by moving the baseline over two feet toward Morro Street. Finally, there is the potential that some of the foundation work for the Parking/Office Structure would encroach underground because of the type of foundation proposed. A more expensive option could be pursued to prevent that encroachment, but the cost savings of that occurring, and it occurring underground, should have minimal impact to the right-of=way. Staff recommends having the flexibility to encroach into the Morro Street right-of-way to accomplish the benefits of widening and moving the building and suggests an encroachment of no more than five feet. When the working drawings are complete, we are likely to find the encroachment to be less than five feet, but to be safe and have flexibility,no more than five feet is recommended. ALTERNATIVES Council could consider making other more significant modifications to the Structure. In bringing forward the modest modifications, staff would be remiss to not acknowledge the existence of alternative designs for the Parking/Office Structure. The most plausible alternative design, given the site parameters (specifically the limited depth as the Structure goes toward Monterey Street and existing buildings) would be to make the Structure wider still,by building further into the right-of-way. This wider structure would have a radically different internal operation and would likely yield additional parking spaces, perhaps as many as 30-45. Staff does not recommend pursing this alternative design because the numerous operational and design issues it presents and because of the City's existing agreement with the Copelands. Significant problems with the alternative design include: 1. The inability to convert the levels of the alternative design to offices or other non-parking uses in the future because the floors are sloped rather than flat. 2. Limiting possible improvements to pedestrian access on Morro Street because the sidewalk depth would not be as great (if the Structure were also moved) or preventing pedestrian improvements to the plaza because the Structure could not be moved. 3. Limiting the area available for possible landscape design improvements suggested by the ARC at its conceptual review of the project because the encroachment would be taken up by building space. 4. Redesign of the Structure's fagade, because of the sloped floors, would likely be less visually appealing and more expensive. Angled openings could be the ultimate design solution, differing from the conceptual design taken to the ARC with which it was generally satisfied. 5. A wider Structure has more mass, causing the visual impact of the alternative design from Monterey and Morro Streets to be significant. Council Agenda Report–Changes to the Copelands Project Parking/Office Structure Page 6 6. 90 degree parking would be used rather than, 60 degree angled parking that is designed for short-term parkers and is consistent with our other garages. 7. From a user perspective, internal ramps and a turnaround at the top will slow circulation through the garage and is less convenient than speed ramps. It would take longer to go up and down the alternative design. 8. Because of engineering and beam size, the alternative design would be 52 feet high, two feet higher than the Baseline and taller than allowed by City regulations. A variance would be required to allow the alternative design at that height. Perhaps more important than the specifically identified problems with the alternative design, there are the practical problems created by a major departure from the baseline Parking/Office Structure. The level of specificity in designing, engineering, and costing current the baseline took the Copelands at least eight weeks to complete. They utilized the services of architects, engineers, development consultants and a local construction company. Watry and Associates (the parking engineers), alone, spent six weeks developing schematic designs for concrete volumes, foundation work and other engineering. . Their estimates are supported by hundreds of sheets of calculations. This level of specificity and work was necessary to achieve an accurate estimate for the GMP (guarantee maximum price) in the Amended MOU. To take a significant departure from the baseline would result in another major modification of the MOU, would require reworking the entire GMP, would slow down the Environmental Impact Report for the Project and would likely result in the developer's withdrawal from the project. In addition, the new GMP would likely be greater. Parking spaces would be gained but at the risk of jeopardizing the entire project. On the other hand, the modifications being proposed by staff to the baseline project, while significant as far as improving the functionality and safety of the parking operations, are small enough that they would not require significant re-engineering and costing. Thus,modification of the Guaranteed Maximum Price in the MOU can be accomplished without slowing down the construction timeline. FISCAL IMPACTS The cost of modifying the width of the baseline Parking/Office Structure is anticipated to be $25,000. The cost of an additional elevator, without a tower feature is estimated to be $150,000. If Council directs staff to pursue one or both of these improvements to the Parking/Office Structure, the Amended MOU will be modified to reflect these changes and returned to Council for approval. Allocation of the increased costs between the two parties will be a part of the amendment process, and will depend upon whether they were created by discretionary design improvements or caused by compliance with City standards. Council Reading File December 11, 2001 Agenda Report and Attachments '41-10 IYIGG I IIY17 /'117GI\NA C : a-! ITEM #./I/ �I����iiiiiii!!IIIllillll� 9nllll council mcmoizanbum city of!wi tws 6Bisp0, aaminlsttzat on a004ptment ' DATE: February 15, 2002 TO: Council VIA: Ken Hampian, City Administrative Officer 6� FROM: Wendy George, Assistant City Administrative Officer Shelly Stanwyck, Economic Development Manager !Stg� SUBJECT: Council Agenda Item 4, February 19, 2002 Meeting Attached are several architectural renderings and site plans regarding the Copelands Project Parking/Office Structure (Agenda Item 4 for the February 19, 2002 Council Meeting). The attachments depict the possible changes to the structure if Council were to direct staff to pursue the addition of a second elevator and allow the building to encroach into the right-of-way. Attachments 1 through 3 (those in color) are renderings of the Parking/Office Structure and are intended to show how the additional elevator would be integrated into the project. Because it is recommended to only go to the fourth level of parking (and not the roof), the second elevator does not change the "roofline" of the structure. In response to feedback from the Architectural Review Commission, the entry to the office space has been modified. Last, a detailed view of the elevator and stair area is provided as Attachment.3. Attachments 4 through 6 (oversized and in black and white) are site plans. Attachment 4 shows the existing sidewalk and parking configuration in the area where the Parking/Office Structure would be constructed. Attachment 5 is the site plan for the baseline Parking/Office Structure. Attachment 6 is the site plan for the modified Parking/Office Structure. CyaGNCIL .Do DIR ❑ FIN.DIR � F�IOEtHIEF WORNEY ®'PW DIR 9'CLERK�ORIO M POLICE CHF ❑ T HEADS ip C1 REC DIR e e IreZ"UTIL DIR V'-MHR DIR MA,%&� . RECEIVED FEB 1 5 20"12 ( SLO CITY COUNCIL Coa ci1.41emo 1-19 bftg C Perspective Sketch at Corner of Palm and Morro Streets Palm 1 Morro Offices & Parting APS Archbeft h� February 14 2002 ...IOIC odc4t'=,. �o� 1'�lrkrFl .in.111114�ItIi.7i[11 Pt1F:4ii�ll nl' .iu Fl�illl •- ' ,7 t , Flr �� ( ,�1•C �{Y� 1� @@gle..ryme ..gyp �' ,�I r '• .. /• Y k [ + -(+��., �� 6 KC✓fY YF ' ✓ roc C.I '. ..r r/ r�-'+r l� � 8 t➢ �.�",'PCF�� � ��li e.f' � H��. � � �o��rt A?�t� o �� i.: L. `?"}. :� T' i i• � r- . .6� r 1�G r Kw -gyp •�+'rr i! f c 1 7 - �l�7. _. ,• -"�1._. � Q'.� — ._E` . ' �r� —��FRI a • Y"fi,}`.•. 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