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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05/18/1999 COW minutes I ~ MINUTES ~ SPECIAL I COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE ~ MAY 18, 1999 I. CALL TO ORDER Mayor Farley called the meebng to order at 9 10 p m Present at the meebng were Trustees T~mothy Corcoran, Paul Hoefert, R~chard Lohrstorfer, Daniel Nocch~, M~chaele Skowron and Irvana Wdks Staff members present included V~llage Manager M~chael Janon~s, Assistant Village Manager David Strahl and Community Development D~rector W~ll~am Cooney Downtown Ad Hoc Committee members were also present II. CITIZENS TO BE HEARD None III. REVIEW OF PHASE lB DOWNTOWN REDEVELOPMENT PROPOSALS Community Development Director Wdllam Cooney stated that the proposals th~s evening are intended to provide a general overview to the Vdlage Board so that d~rect~on can be provided to staff to in,bate negobabons for a Developer Agreement We m.qton Partners Larry DeV~to, of Well,ngton Partners, presented the proposal of h~s firm He prowded a general overview and h~ghl~ghts of the RFP that he submitted H~s proposal ~ncludes 10,000-12,000 square feet of commercial on the first level w~th res~denbal apartments in the three floors above the commercial Parking would be on-grade and underground H~s proposal ~s designed for upscale apartments instead of condominiums,because h~s research points to the need for d~vers~ty ~n housing un,ts m the downtown area He stated the typical apartment dweller is working and has disposable income, whmh would sp~n off ~nto supporting businesses ~n the downtown area Jim Tmaglia, Architect for the Project, spoke He stated the s~te as proposed ~s somewhat taller than outlined m the original Strategic Plan but the budt-m green space for the Plan meets the strategic goals of the plan that was developed by the Committee General comments from the Vdlage Board members included the following ~tems There was a que'st~on whether the apartments could be converted to condominiums There was also a d~scuss~on regarding the value of apartments versus condominiums ~atth~s Iocabon There was d~scusslon regarding the extenor and the general construcbon of the buddings Trustees also requested additional financial information regarding the projected costs of the development Larry DeWto responded to the comments He stated that the building ~s designed for apartments but could be converted to condominiums, however, the condominiums would be smaller un~ts than typical condominiums One thing that would have to be changed would be the common laundry fac~l~bes and add~bonal plumbing related to ~n-un~t laundry facd~bes He stated the retail component on the first floor would front Northwest H~ghway The focus would be on quality tenants He stated they would most hkely contract for leasing services but retain ownership m the s~te W~th apartments, the pos~bve cash flow ~s projected In year two after completion w~th mortgage pa~d off ~n 15 years Parking was not ~ncluded atong Northwest Htghway because of possible questions w~th IDOT The proposal included the opbon of additional row homes on another port~on of the block just to ~llustrate how the development flows into other possible developments on the block ~tself The construcbon of the building would be sol~d masonry throughout and depending on the roof design preferred, the ~mpact on the cost of the project would be related to the type of roof desired He stated parking ~s taken care of by prowd~ng 1 8 spaces per unit He felt that based on their experience w~th th~s type of project, the projected parking level would be qu~te adequate He stated that he has had experience building s~m~lar products as th~s throughout the Chicago area He stated there would be add~bonal d~scuss~on regarding the Iocabon of a loading dock for use of the retail tenants and the Iocabon of refuse receptacles Norwood Builders Bruce Adrean,, of Norwood Builders, stated that Norwood remains committed to the V~llage of Mount Prospect as ewdenced by the construcbon of the third building at the Clocktower s~te and the project soon to be underway at the Northwest Electric block Mark Hopkins, Architect for Norwood, spoke He stated the proposal presented ~ncluded first floor retail w~th two add~bonal stones of residential condominiums for a total of 42 un,ts The design has the building spl~t ~n two to allow pedestnan flow through the building toward Busse Avenue The proposal also pulled the building away from Northwest H~ghway to encourage pedestrian traffic Parking ~s set at 1 1 spaces per unLt He stated one of the primary objecbves of their design ~s to break up the building mass by hawng vanabons m the vertical s~te I~nes so that there ~s an appearance that the building secbons were all built at d~fferent t~mes, however, they are all the same bu~ldtng w~th d~fferent facades He stated the V~llage Hall s~te would be good for add~bonal development toward the center of the block and th~s development t~es ~nto any additional development, which may take place at the V~llage Hall s~te ~tself He also pointed to the bnck path extending from the entryway of the building through the block to Busse Avenue Bruce Adreani stated the s~ze of the un~ts would be somewhat dependent on the s~ze of un,ts requested at the Clocktower and Northwest Electric block developments He ~s presenbng the proJect ~nclud~ng condominiums because he feels the market supports condominiums and not apartments He stated that he has not made a decision whether the leasing management of the retail would be contracted out or handled by Norwood He stated there would be rear entrances to each retail estabhshment m add~bon to the front entrance He would anbc~pate a sharing of the cost of the streetscape w~th the V~llage w~th the V~llage handling all pubtm ~mprovements to the s~te He stated the retail s~tes themselves would have to be built to ~nclude the option for food preparation including proper venting so that the suites themselves remain wable to possible tenants 2 General comments from V~llage Board members ~ncluded the follow~ng ~tems There was d~scuss~on regarding the type of construction and the location of parking to service the retail estabhshments There was also d~scuss~on regarding why condominiums were undertaken m the proposal and not apartments There was also some d~scuss~on on the financing of the project m terms of TIF proceeds Bruce Adreani responded to a number of the quesbons He stated the building could be built w~th e~ther masonry or frame construcbon depending on the cost He stated the site includes hm~ted green space He stated h~s company has the financial wherewithal to undertake all the projects w~th~n Mount Prospect which are currently ~n the p~pehne He stated the pnce offered for the land would be the same regardless of the number of umts, which were built He stated that he does not feel apartments would work based on the numbers and the return on ~nvestment He stated Norwood would consider sphtt~ng the TIF proceeds 50/50 after the debt was pa~d for the TIF ~mprovements He would esbmate a 15- 18 month construcbon cycle M~chael Hoffman spoke on behalf of the Downtown Ad Hoc Committee. He stated that the Committee would recommend the V~llage Board consider accepbng the Norwood proposal and enter ~nto negot~abons for a Developer Agreement Consensus of the V~llage Board was to authorize staff to enter into negotiations w~th Norwood for a Developer Agreement. If no Agreement is reached by a date certain, then the Wllage Board would reconsider Welhngton Partners w~th modifications to their proposal,' John Bennard~ of 805 South Maple spoke He sated that he ~s happy to see a retail component ~ncluded as part of the project He would recommend extensions of th~s Phase specifically focused on attracbng people to the downtown area Mary Johnson,~ 215 South Emerson, spoke, She stated that she would support the height, design and appearance of the Norwood proposal and the condominium opbon She wanted to point out some concerns regarding parking access for the retail port~on Trustee Hoefert stated the fate of the General Store w~ll need to be d~scussed w~th Clocktower residents and would not be d~scussed th~s evening IV.VILLAGE MANAGER'S REPORT None I V, CLOSED SESSION Mayor Farley stated that due to the lateness of the hour, the Closed Session has been requested to be cancelled 3 VI ADJOURNMENT No other business was transacted and the meebng was adjourned at 11 40 p m Respectfull~ submitted, DAVID STRAHL Assistant Wliage Manager DS/rcc ~ H ~GEN~Cow~M[nutes~51899 Special COW Minut~ doc 4