A new seven-story building is planned for Reily Street in Harrisburg on a 1.01 acre site near the future Federal Courthouse.

KevGar Holdco, which is owned by Kevin Baird and Gary Nalbandian, and 400 Reily Street Management, plans to develop the building that will include commercial space for a 23,000-square-foot grocery store, an 8,000-square-foot restaurant and coffee shop, a 1,500-square-foot office; 85 apartments; and an approximately 500-space parking garage.

The grocery store would have an outdoor seating area and bike racks will be installed as part of the project.

The building would replace four buildings on Reily Street, that are all more than 100 years old, according to Dauphin County property tax records. Those buildings would all be demolished. The buildings include a 1,784-square-foot structure at 422 Reily St.; a 1,476-square-foot structure at 430 Reily Street, a 1,920-square-foot structure at 432 Reily St. and another 1,248-square-foot structure.

The project was brought before the Harrisburg Planning Commission on Wednesday night via Zoom to request various zoning relief from use and development regulations required for the construction of the development, which unanimously recommended by the commission.

The Federal Courthouse is currently under construction.

The Harrisburg Housing Authority also plans to build a new five-story, 50-unit affordable housing apartment building nearby in front of Lick Tower on Sixth Street.

--Business Buzz

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7-story building with parking garage, restaurant and apartments to be built near new courthouse in Harrisburg - PennLive

Natale also hopes to have the first two of the three apartment buildings ready for occupancy by the end of 2021, with the third coming online in spring 2022, Corrao said.

But this depends on receiving tax breaks from the Amherst IDA, Natale said at the Jan. 25 Village Board meeting.

That's because labor for the project is getting more expensive and harder to find thanks to the pandemic and the cost of lumber and other building materials also is going up,according to Natale. Each of the three apartment buildings likely will cost an extra $250,000 to construct for those reasons, Natale said.

The apartment buildings represent about half the estimated $30 million cost of the project, Corrao said. The developer calculates the apartments now will cost $16 million to $16.5 million, with an unknown increase in the cost of the town houses still to come.

The tax incentives won't fully cover this increase but will help put the project back on solid financial footing, Natale told Village Board members.

Only the apartments would be eligible for the incentives, which would take the form of sales, mortgage recording and property tax breaks.

And the tax breaks, if approved by the IDA, only would apply to future investment in the project.

A payment in lieu of taxes, or PILOT, agreement would be the most lucrative piece of any tax incentives.

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Developer of in-progress $31M housing project in Williamsville seeks tax breaks - Buffalo News

The citys permitting process has four main stages: pre-application, land use review, building permit review and then, once the permit has been issued, construction. There are currently four projects in the pre-application phase, totaling 484 units, plus three in the land use stage with a total of 507 units.

Four more projects are in building review, with a combined 457 units, and 11 projects are actively under construction or have permits issued. Thats 2,339 units in the pipeline for the next couple of years on top of 949 units that have already been built downtown since the adoption of the 2007 plan, Eiken said, in total representing about 75 percent of the target for 2027.

Commercial development is also showing signs of increased growth, Eiken noted. The city has only added a few major office buildings since the recession, he said the Hudson Building, Hurley Tower and the Murdock building at the Waterfront but several projects currently in the pipeline will probably double or triple the amount of new office space added in the post-recession era.

The city doesnt have a hard target for office development like it does for residential, Eiken said, but it all serves the same goal.

A lot of it is more in the intangible area of adding vitality to the downtown, he said. By bringing more residents to the downtown as well as workers, theres more support for the local businesses, and as we know, the more rooftops we get in the downtown, the more likely it is that well get a grocery store, so its really important that we get income levels up but also the number of units in the downtown.

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Downtown Vancouver is on the rise - The Columbian

CLEVELAND, Ohio The ground shook. Debris rained down as the sharp teeth of an excavator bucket chewed at the concrete innards of a three-story, brick-faced building. A man in heavy work clothes and a hard hat sprayed water from a hose to keep the dust down.

That was the scene Monday as contractors began tearing down the former Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority Big 8' apartment complex on West 25th Street in Ohio City, a block south of Detroit Avenue.

After more than a decade of planning, dreaming, designing, and grant-writing, the demolition marked the first highly visible step toward the creation of a 23-acre park at Irishtown Bend overlooking the Cuyahoga River and the downtown skyline.

Every bite of the excavators bucket opened up a bit more of the view.

Once the site of a 19th-century Irish immigrant settlement, Irishtown Bend is a sodden, unstable, weed-covered slope on the outer curve of the Cuyahoga River opposite Columbus Road Peninsula, with a few buildings on top, along West 25th Street.

For decades, the hillside has threatened to avalanche into the river, an event that could rupture a major sewer line and block ore boats from reaching steel mills upstream.

The Port of Cleveland, Cleveland Metroparks, LAND Studio, Ohio City Inc., the City of Cleveland and other nonprofit organizations and government agencies have joined forces to stabilize the slope, rebuild waterside bulkheads, and create a park with trails zig-zagging down to the water.

Other partners include the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA),

West Creek Conservancy, CMHA, the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District, and the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless.

Its a pretty monumental day,' said Tom McNair executive director of Ohio City Inc. Its an odd thing in our business where you literally spend years working making things happen. To reach a point where you can see actual, tangible progress on a project is pretty incredible.

McNair and other advocates have long described the Irishtown project as a gigantic two-fer, with numerous benefits to communities and businesses.

Safeguarding the slope would protect a $3.5-billion shipping industry that serves 20,000 jobs in the region, according to information attributed to the Port of Cleveland on LAND Studios website.

The park also has the potential to become one of Ohios best public waterfronts, with trails connecting it to Lake Erie at nearby Wendy Park on Whiskey Island, and to the Towpath Trail, which links Cleveland to the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Akron, and points south.

The northernmost five miles of the Towpath, reaching Canal Basin Park opposite Irishtown Bend, are scheduled for completion this summer.

Other nearby trails nearing completion this year include the 2.25-mile Red Line Greenway, which will intersect the Towpath at Columbus Road at Franklin Boulevard, and reach deep into the West Side.

The Irishtown Bend project is also likely to help spur residential redevelopment on the citys West Side, where a reverse migration after decades of white flight has brought an influx of new residents.

New and upcoming projects in the neighborhood include the 158-unit Church and State apartment building at Detroit Avenue and West 28th Street, and the 10-story, 288-unit Intro apartment building at West 25th Street and Lorain Avenue, which bills itself as Americas tallest timber-framed building.

McNair said the project to stabilize the Irishtown slope and build the park has so far attracted roughly $40 million in grants and donated property.

The funding includes $9 million awarded for the project in 2019 by the U.S. Department of Transportation through NOACA for slope stabilization.

Linda Sternheimer, the director of planning and urban development at the Port of Cleveland said the agency hopes by this fall to complete engineering plans for stabilization of the slope and to start construction by next winter.

NOACA, meanwhile, has identified $3.3 million to extend a half-mile section of the Cleveland Foundation Centennial Lake Link Trail across the lower edge of Irishtown Bend along the river, which will connect to already completed sections leading north to Whiskey Island and south to the Towpath.

Cleveland Metroparks said the trail link could be finished as soon as 2024.

To pay for the acquisition and demolition of the CMHA apartments and a nearby former CMHA office, which will also be demolished soon, LAND Studio obtained a $1.4 million grant from the Ohio Public Works Commissions Clean Ohio Conservation Fund.

Cleveland Metroparks is leading the demolitions. The two buildings have been vacant for nearly a decade.McNair said the Big 8 building, a long, rectangular, three-story structure, took its name from its role in housing families with up to eight members.

Various plans for the transformation of Irishtown Bend have been underway at least since 2006. It was then that nonprofits including ParkWorks, a predecessor of LAND Studio, initiated discussions about the area.

In 2007, Michael Christoff and Bradley Fink, two then-recent graduates of Kent State Universitys College of Architecture and Environmental Design, organized a low-cost international design competition to brainstorm ideas for a future park on the bend.

Two years later, ParkWorks and other organizations completed a Flats Connection Plan,' using part of a $740,000 grant from the Gund Foundation. Many of the trails envisioned in that plan have been built or are close to being completed.

In late 2009, the Trust for Public Land, a national nonprofit land conservation organization based in San Francisco, announced it had closed a $3.2 million deal to preserve 1.3 miles of abandoned rail bed on the west bank of the Flats for a future trail network.

In 2014, the Cleveland Foundation announced it would devote $5 million toward building those trails, most of which are now complete or soon will be, except for the Irishtown Bend section.

In 2017, LAND Studio, Ohio City and partnering agencies unveiled the first conceptual plans for the new park on the bend. Those plans continue to evolve in synch with the Ports work on engineering the stabilization of the slope.

We know theres a long way left to go with this,' McNair said. But to reach the point where we finally see buildings coming down and opening up the viewshed so people can see whats so exciting, is really special.

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Demolition in Ohio City signals big visible first step toward creation of park at Irishtown Bend - cleveland.com

Plymouth-based affordable-housing developer Dominium announced Friday it has closed on financing for two apartment buildings on the former Kmart site and the adjacent vacant Signal Hills Bank property in West St. Paul.

The $124 million project at Butler Avenue and South Robert Street will be the single most costly residential project West St. Paul has ever seen, according to the city.

The city council in September gave Dominium the OK to build the two U-shaped buildings, which will be adjacent to the Signal Hills Shopping Center. The council also agreed to give the developer $5 million in tax-increment financing funds over 16 years.

One building Hilltop at Signal Hills will be four stories tall with 146 units of workforce housing. Legacy Commons at Signal Hills will be five stories with 247 units of independent senior living. The buildings will offer one-, two- and three-bedroom homes units.

Dominium is excited about the opportunity to create 393 units of affordable housing to the local senior and working communities, Nick Andersen, vice president and project partner at Dominium, said in a prepared statement. West St. Paul is an area where there is ample demand for affordable housing, and we look forward to filling that need.

City officials long have considered the northern part of the shopping center property and its expansive parking lot underused and ripe for redevelopment. Their desire to see it redeveloped was bolstered in late 2016, when Sears Holdings Corp. closed the Big Kmart. Signal Hills Bank has been closed for nearly two decades.

Besides the TIF money, Dominium also secured a Freddie Mac Forward Tax Exempt Loan serviced by real-estate finance company Greystone, a construction loan through America First Multifamily Investors and tax-exempt bonds and 4 percent affordable housing tax credits through the Dakota County Community Development Agency.

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Developer closes on financing for $124M apartment project in West St. Paul - TwinCities.com-Pioneer Press

Renters have gravitated toward larger apartmentsas they have spent more time at home over the last year, a trend that is beginning to influence the way developers think about unit sizes in their future projects.

An apartment in Mill Creek's Modern on M building in Southwest D.C.

Before the coronavirus pandemic,new apartment projects had been trending toward smaller units, as many renters wanted more affordable options and cared more about neighborhood amenities than unit size. But now those neighborhood amenities have been closed or limited for nearly a full year, andbetween working from homeand staying in at night, renters have spent much more time in their apartments than they did before the pandemic.

"Micro-units was the buzzword. It's never going to happen again," Morgan Properties principal Jason Morgan said Jan. 28 on theBisnow Multifamily Annual Conference digital summit. "That really has shifted, and now it's more about space."

Mill Creek Residential Executive Managing Director Sean Caldwell said he had begun to see a shift toward larger units before the pandemic, driven by empty nesters renting apartments.

"You go into the pandemic and that acted as an accelerant to allow the opportunity for people to look for more space," Caldwell said. "So it's really multiple things, not just pandemic-driven, that is having us look at average unit sizes that are slightly bigger."

Caldwell said studio units tend to perform well when apartment demand is strongest, with the competitive renter market driving cost-conscious people to settle for smaller, cheaper units. But that is not the case today.

Class-A Apartment absorption inD.C. last year was down 75% from 2019, and the city's vacancy rate rose from 4.9% to 10.3% over the course of 2020, according to Delta Associates. Rents for Class-A apartmentsacross the D.C. Metro area fell by 10.2% last year, the largest decline Delta Associates has recorded since it began tracking the marketin the 1980s.

"There are many deals, even in millennial locations, where they're having trouble moving their studios at all right now because of the pandemic," Caldwell said. "If I'm doing a mix today, I'm certainly going to have less studios than I would have a year ago, and I would look at more two-bedrooms and contemplate three-bedrooms in the right location."

Mill Creek has one apartment project in the planningstages in Northwest D.C. for which Caldwell said it is increasing the unit sizes. He expects the average apartment will be around 1K SF, with an emphasis on two- and- three-bedroom units.

Projects that delivered during the pandemic didn't havethe luxury of changing their unit sizes.

"Once youmake your floor plan mix, it's very difficult to make any changes. It's extremely costly virtually impossible. " J.P. Morgan Asset Management Managing Director Allina Boohoff said on thedigital summit. "There have been plenty of situations where you make the decision that at the point in time, [the market] is short on studios, but by the time you deliver, everybody else delivered studios, and you can't lease them."

An apartment at WashREIT's Trove building in Arlington, Virginia

Last year, WashREIT welcomed its first residents to its new 401-unit apartment building on Arlington's Columbia Pike corridor, with the project deliveringin two phases in February and October.

Thedeveloper designed the building, branded as Trove, with more studio apartments than its typical projectbecause it saw thatthe submarket was lacking the smaller units. But then the pandemic began to impact the market, and renter demands shifted.

"When I look at my lease-ups, the one-bedroomand larger units are flying off the shelf and the studios are sitting," WashREIT Managing Director of Multifamily Ed Murn said on thesummit.

Murn,in an interviewwith Bisnow Friday, said 25 of the building's 49 studios have now leased, adding that "it's not killing us."

He said WashREITisn'tmoving away from studios for future projects because the unitsare attractive to renters looking for affordable options. But he said he does expect theaverage size of new apartmentswillbe larger than it was before the pandemic.

"The pendulum had swung so far to smaller units," Murn said. "I do think that the square footage is going to be rethought by some developers and you'll see the average square footage go up."

Bisnow/Jon Banister

Clockwise from top left: JPMorgan's Alina Boohoff, CBRE's David Webb, WashREIT's Ed Murn, EYA's Aakash Thakkar, Mill Creek's Sean Caldwell and Neighborhood Development Co.'s Adrian Washington.

But increasing unit sizes comes with drawbacks for developers. Having largerunitsmeans they can fitfewer units in the building and will bring inless total revenue. Studio units, while the cheapest for renters, are cash cows.

"The challenge everyone's going to tell us is the cost and being able to get that pro forma to work, because the studio units pay the highest price-per-square-foot and help the overall pro forma," Murn said on the summit.

Part of the reason developers had been moving toward smaller units was so they could maximize revenueasconstruction costs have been rising,Moya Design Partners Design Principal Federico Olivera Sala, an architect who works on apartments, said in an interview.

"Units are more price-driven, and when the cost of construction goes up, they tend to get smaller and smaller, not bigger and bigger," he said.

Hickok Cole Director of Housing Laurence Caudle said construction costs haven't decreased during the pandemic, so cost is still a driving factor for unit size decisions.

"It seems that construction costs haven't really gone down in all this, so that is still a huge financial factor as clients are planning these buildings," Caudle said. "They need a certain number of units to make the numbers work."

Sala saidhe doesn't expect a major change in unit sizes, but he thinks the percentageof studios within new buildings may come down from around 15% to around 10%.

"What they're doing now is junior one-bedrooms as an alternative for studios," he said. "That bedroom typically doesnt have a window, but at least you have your own space you can enclose, and keep your messiness under control, and then you have your living room and public area of the unit more tidy."

Neighborhood Development Co. CEO Adrian Washington said on BMAC he thinks the long-term effects of the remote work movement will push developers to increase unit sizes.

"I think people have seen the advantages of working from home and will do it a bit more than before," Washington said. "There will be subtle shifts in adding more space, more outdoor space. That will be with us for the long term."

Evendevelopers that have already delivered projects, or those who don't want to increase unit sizes for cost reasons, are finding ways to cater to remote workers.

A built-in desk for remote work in Jefferson Apartment Group's J Linea building in D.C.

Caudle said he is still designing new projects downtown with small units, because somedevelopers can't afford to reduce their unit count. But he said unit size has been discussed much more frequently during the pandemic, and those developers thatdecide against larger units are finding ways to make their apartments more flexible.

"You can't afford to build bigger units, so we're just going to have to make the current square footage we use look bigger with more flexibility, and be thoughtful about how we space plan these units," Caudle said.

At Jefferson Apartment Group's J Linea, a building Hickok Cole designed that deliveredin June, units come with built-in desks for remote workers.Caudle said the firm is also designing units with dedicated spaces for home workout equipment.

"When we space plan the unit, the way we position kitchens, or the living room area or bedroom, we're identifying a place where you could put the yoga mat, where you could put the stationary bike, and the unit will still lay out and live with more flexibility," Caudle said.

Urban Atlantic Managing Partner Vicki Davis said on BMAC that her company is looking at ways to rearrange units to cater to remote workers, such as turning walk-inclosets into home offices.

"We're experimenting with our product to see what's going to work in the future," Davis said. "A lot of people are working at home, and there are a lot of opportunities for how do we create more flexibility in the space so people can use that creatively."

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Apartment Developers Increasing Unit Sizes For New Projects In Response To Pandemic - Bisnow

NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) In the 1960s, Bishop D. Lawrence Williams of the Church of God in Christ had a dream. In the town that staged Massive Resistance, rather than integrate schools and the birthplace of the racist poll tax, Williams dreamed of a high-rise apartment building to house the City of Norfolks elderly residents who were in financial need.

It was a bold plan that was met with pushback, but his dream came true when the 150-unit, 11-story, COGIC High-Rise building opened in March of 1974, not far from the historically Black Norfolk State College, now Norfolk State University, and the historically-Black Booker T. Washington High School.

Pastor Toney McNair, now vice president of the COGIC High-Rise Board, has a gleam in his eyes when he flashes back to that day when the first proud residents entered their deluxe apartments in the sky.

That was a most exciting time after knowing what Bishop D. Lawrance Williams had to do to get to that point. We were surprised but blessed to see that day, said McNair.

Lemuel Williams was also on the front lawn on that historic day and he has been there ever since as the buildings sole manager for 47 years.

This is the first senior citizen high-rise in the whole state of Virginia and we were operated by African Americans, said Williams with pride.

Over the years, portions of the 150-unit building have been upgraded to include a modern hair salon, a computer center, and professional offices. In two weeks, crews will begin an $11.7-million top-to-bottom renovation. It will include a new roof, new windows, a new facade, plumbing, new heating and air conditioning systems, and new kitchens.

The city and state are pitching in for the funding.

We had to use tax credits from the state of Virginia. They allotted tax credits for low-income housing so then the housing authority issued us bonds for financing, said Williams.

Because of the pandemic, extra precautions will be taken to protect residents once construction crews arrive. Anyone entering the building must stop at a temperature-check station for screening and construction workers must use designated entrances and exits.

Temperatures will be checked, one designated elevator will be used We have an exit in the back, so we have that all in place. Every morning, temperatures will be checked, just as we do now, said Williams.

Starting at the top, the building will be renovated two floors at a time with residents moved temporarily to hotel-style apartments while improvements are made to their units.

Currently, the building has an 18- to 24-month waitlist for new tenants. Veteran manager Williams says the demand only underscores the need for Norfolk officials to pave the way for the construction of more affordable rental units for senior citizens.

The renovation is expected to be completed by New Years Eve 2021.

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A makeover for Norfolks deluxe apartment in the sky - WAVY.com

As Palo Alto continues to lag in its effort to build affordable housing, Santa Clara County is advancing its own plan to create an apartment complex for teachers in neighborhood that is already undergoing a dramatic transformation.

The county's plan, which the City Council will get its first look at on Monday night, would bring 110 apartments to 231 Grant Ave., across from the Palo Alto Courthouse in the California Avenue business district. Developed by nonprofits Mercy Housing and Abode Communities, which specialize in affordable housing, the apartments would be open to teachers and school district employees from participating districts in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties.

Unlike other proposed developments in Palo Alto, the Grant Avenue development would be built on county land and, as such, does not require formal approval from the city. The county enjoys "sovereign immunity" when it comes to adding government functions and, as such, has the power to exceed the city's zoning rules.

To date, county staff had signaled their intent to adhere, to the extent feasible, to the development standards in the city's recently created "workforce housing" zone, according to a new report from the city's Department of Planning and Development Services. At the same time, the project exceeds several design standards. With a height of 55 feet, the apartment complex would exceed the city's 50-foot height limit. Its density of about 80 dwellings per acre is twice the number that the city typically allows in its multifamily zoning districts (RM-40). The recently created workforce zone, however, does not set limits on units per acre.

The project's building density, however, falls below the city's limits. The proposal would have a floor area ratio (FAR) of 1.85, below the 2.0 FAR allowed in the workforce housing zone. And even though it would exceed some development standards, city staff had concluded that the project is "generally consistent with the City's housing goals, which express an interest in providing high density multi-family housing near transit," according to a report from the Department of Planning and Community Environment.

Plans for the project show two C-shaped, four-story buildings, each with a courtyard. A third courtyard separates the two buildings. The project also includes a community room and a "flex room," which could accommodate a caf or another use, at the portion of the property closest to the corner of Grant Avenue and Park Boulevard. An at-grade garage behind the apartment buildings would include 112 spaces for cars through the use of stacked parking structures, along with 134 spaces for bikes. A report from the county's Facilities and Fleets Department notes that the project's "proximity to transit and farmer's markets, groceries, shops, restaurants, parks and libraries can help residents reduce trips for daily tasks, cutting down on vehicle miles traveled and greenhouse gas emissions."

If the county Board of Supervisors ultimately approves the project, as is expected, the apartments would go up in an area that is already going through a dramatic transformation. The teacher complex will go up just blocks from the city's newly built parking garage at 350 Sherman Ave., and from an adjoining site at 250 Sherman Ave. where the city is about to commence construction on a public safety building. The housing complex would replace an existing office building near the intersection of Grant and Park Boulevard. The project is also just a few blocks from the Ventura neighborhood, where the city is preparing to adopt a new land use vision with the goal of encouraging more housing, park space and community amenities.

While city and county staff have been discussing the teacher housing project for nearly two years, the Monday hearing will give the council and residents their first chance to offer feedback on the preliminary plans for the proposed development, which will go through the environmental review process later this year.

So far, the city has requested that the county refrain from adding any curb cuts along Park Boulevard, a popular bike route. The city is also urging the developers to consider measures to regulate the volume and speed of traffic in the area. Claire Raybould, a senior planner at the Department of Planning and Development Services, also requested that the county consider the cumulative traffic impacts of both this project and the concurrent construction of the city's new public safety building. This includes ensuring that adjacent properties maintain their access to the streets during construction.

"Coordination between the County and City of Palo Alto must occur to minimize potential impacts associated with street closures, vehicle deliveries and other construction activities," Raybould wrote.

The Grant Avenue project was spearheaded by county Supervisor Joe Simitian, who in 2018 suggested using county land for teacher housing. The county and the city agreed that year to commit $6 million and $3 million to the project, respectfully. The county approved its partnership with Abode Communities and Mercy Housing in August 2019 and Facebook gave the project a boost in October 2019 with a donation of $25 million.

The housing will be available to teachers and school staff from the Palo Alto Unified School District, Mountain View Whisman School District, Mountain View-Los Altos High School District, Ravenswood City School District, Menlo Park City School District, Las Lomitas School District, Sequoia Union High School District, Los Altos School District and Foothill-De Anza Community College District.

In a Thursday statement, Simitian said that "no one wins when local teachers have to commute from miles and miles away."

"It's just that much harder to attract and retain the best teachers available," Simitian said. "Time in the car is time not spent with students or preparing lesson plans. And our teachers become more and more remote from the communities where they teach."

Teri Baldwin, president of the Palo Alto Educators Association, said in the statement that the local school district has teachers who commute from Gilroy, Morgan Hill, Aptos and Dublin.

"This long commute takes a toll on our teachers' quality of life and decreases the value of their salaries," Baldwin said. "It also adds to traffic and pollution problems in the county.

"When teachers live in or near their school communities, students also benefit. We want to be part of the community we teach in. We want to organize or attend after school events and support and encourage our students."

The county plans to go through the design and environmental review processes this year, with the goal of launching construction in August 2022 and completing the project in February 2024.

Continue reading here:
Teacher housing plan moves ahead in Palo Alto - Palo Alto Online

GUILDERLAND Claiming that a lower court judge overstepped the bounds of established judicial review, the town of Guilderland and Pyramid, owner of Crossgates Mall, have asked an appeals court to reverse the lawsuit that stopped both the construction of a 222-unit apartment development on Rapp Road and a proposed Costco Wholesale store.

Kevin and Sarah McDonald, along with other Westmere residents Lisa and Thomas Hart, and gas-station owner Jonathan Kaplan in September of last year filed a lawsuit against both the town of Guilderland and Pyramid Management Group after the towns planning board approved the companys Rapp Road and Western Avenue projects.

In November 2020, Albany County Supreme Court Judge Peter Lynch ruled in the groups favor. Pyramid filed its appeal with the Third Appellate Division on Dec. 11, 2020; Guilderland filed three days later, on Dec. 14. The Appellate Division is the middle level in the states three-tiered court system.

The issue at hand, Lynch wrote in his Nov. 20 decision, was whether the Guilderland Planning Board complied with its obligations under the State Environmental Quality Review Act procedurally and substantively. It did not, on both counts, Lynch concluded.

In his decision, Lynch wrote that the planning board had violated the procedure set out by the act as well as the hard look test, a three-part test that requires an agency reviewing an action to: identify the areas of environmental concern; analyze the areas of concern to determine if the action may have a significant adverse impact; and support its determination with evidence.

Since the board violated the SEQRA procedure and the hard look test, Lynch declared null and void the boards acceptance of: both the draft and final environmental impact statements; the August issuance of a findings statement justifying its approval of the project; and the October granting of site-plan approval for Pyramids 222-unit apartment and townhome development.

In its Jan. 25 appeal, Pyramid claimed that Lynchs decision was not made based on arguments presented by either the plaintiff or the defendant. Rather, Pyramid argued, Lynch chose to identify specific issues that had not been in dispute, and handed down a decision for a case that neither side had actually presented.

Lynch in effect took it upon himself to amend the original petition, Pyramid argued in court papers, and then didnt give the town or company time to respond, violating the states prohibition against litigation by surprise.

The Third Appellate Division, Pyramid claimed, has repeatedly recognized that a lead agencys rational and substantiated SEQR finding is to be complied with. But Lynch did not defer to the planning boards judgement, Pyramid states in its filing; he chose instead to ignore the boards nearly two-year hard look and assumed the role of lead agency and substituted [his] judgment for that of the planning boards.

In an affidavit, Guilderland Supervisor Peter Barber stated, At its core, the trial courts decision discarded the Towns 20-year effort, as shown in its Comprehensive Plan, Westmere Corridor Study, and Transit Oriented District, to redevelop the former pig farm and vacant residential subdivision with new large scale commercial and multi-family development, because of their placement on an underutilized four-lane road with direct access to the Northway, and walking distance, for residents, retail workers, and shoppers, to CDTAs busiest area transit station and terminus of its planned rapid bus line to downtown Albany.

The trial court improperly annulled the Planning Board's two year hard look by claiming that the Board should have blindly ignored this planning process and Town Zoning Code by finding that the proposed action was incompatible with its surroundings.

Barber helped town attorney James Melita write Guilderlands appeal.

He told The Enterprise he had taught SEQR classes in the past, and that Melita has had very little bit little experience with [SEQR]. Barbers affidavit notes that he chaired Guilderlands zoning board for 16 years

In October of last year, the town let Pyramid take the lead in responding to the plaintiffs original complaint, addressing only a specific records-request denial made by the plaintiffs lawyer, James Bacon.

Barber said that Guilderland let Pyramid take the lead then because the company had been defending, basically, [the] application process.

The difference between now and October 2020, Barber said, is: We have a decision from [a] state Supreme Court judge that we think was wrong. And, with the town itself as well as its planning and zoning boards being sued, he said, We want to provide the best defense that we can.

Pyramids plan included developing three sites:

Site 1, a 19-acre plot at Rapp and Gipp roads for 222 apartments and townhouses, with the possibility for another 90 apartments to be built on the site.

Specifically, Pyramid was proposing three two-story townhouse-style buildings, with 10 units in each building, totaling 30 units, on the west side of the property. On either side of the entrance to the property, the developer was proposing two five-story apartment buildings, one with 94 units and the other with 98 units. The project additionally included about 3,900 square feet of commercial space. The company was also proposing a total of 362 parking spots: 84 indoor spaces and 278 outdoor spots;

Site 2, sixteen acres at Western Avenue and Crossgates Mall Road for a Costco, a membership-only, 160,000-square-foot warehouse-price club, that would offer gasoline service and 700 parking spots; and

Site 3: Eleven acres between the Costco site and Pyramids hotel on Western Avenue that could be used for retail, offices, or apartments. There are no current development plans for Site 3 however, Pyramid did present a zoning-compliant conceptual plan that could include 115,000 square feet of retail space, 50,000 square feet of office space, and 48 apartments.

Bacon previously told The Enterprise, The heart of an environmental impact study is a reasonable analysis of alternatives thats at the heart.

He then pointed to examples of his argument penned by Lynch:

In context of the proposed density, the project sponsor did not identify any alternative to the Site 1 use/design. To the contrary, the project sponsor affirmatively represented that there were no alternatives. This claim is false, Lynch wrote.

Pyramid argued in its Jan. 25 court papers that the planning boards Site 1 alternate-review had to be viewed in context: The board had already determined that the Rapp Road apartment-and-townhome development would not have a significant adverse impact on the environment, which negated the board from having to consider any alternative but the no-action alternative.

However, Pyramid claimed, the board did consider some Site 1 alternatives, like moving the entire development closer to Macys in nearby Crossgates Mall; different site layouts in order to protect the butterfly-management area; and nine different ways of routing traffic.

Lynch also wrote that the apartments and townhomes and proposed Costco had represented a maximum build scenario, and wrote that nowhere in the record was there any evidence of a scaled-down alternative, which would have enable[d] a comparative analysis to mitigate impact

The Costco was not a maximum-build scenario, Pyramid countered, stating that retail facilities of up to 250,000 square feet are permitted in the Transit-Oriented Development District (TOD). The company was proposing a 160,000 square-foot price club, approximately 36-percent smaller than the maximum allowed.

Bacon previously told The Enterprise that the court, in its decision, was mindful of its role in looking at the project: The role of the court was not to substitute its own judgement for that of the planning board, Bacon said; the role of the court was to determine if the lead agency, operating under the hard look standard, followed the correct procedure.

It did not, in Lynchs opinion.

One thing the plaintiffs were looking for in asking for a redo of the SEQRA review process was re-establishing a lead agency in order to obtain an impartial examination of the projects environmental impacts .

Lynch, citing case law, wrote that the lead agency is principally responsible for determining whether or not a project would have a significant impact on the environment.

The planning board had the authority to review site plans for each of the three sites, Lynch wrote, but it was the zoning board that had the sole responsibility of issuing a special-use permit for Costco. So, Lynch wrote, It is arguable that either entity is principally responsible to conduct the SEQRA review for the project. As such, the lead agency determination was required to undergo the coordinated review process.

Lynch wrote that its undisputed the planning board had a procedural failure with its SEQRA review process because it failed to coordinate Lead Agency determination with the Zoning Board of Appeals. Lynch went so far as to say, The Zoning Board was simply left out of the process.

The Planning Board had every opportunity to re-establish lead agency but failed to do so, Lynch writes. This was a blatant, material procedural failure which undermined the integrity of the EIS review.

In its Jan. 25 court filing, Pyramid argued that the planning board did not violate the coordinated review process laid out by SEQR, because the zoning board had been established as an involved agency, and had been notified of that fact after Costco and Site 3 were added to the planning boards scope of review, a move that triggered an in-depth environmental review.

When it adopted the positive SEQR declaration that triggered the in-depth review, the planning board identified the zoning board as an involved agency, Pyramid stated. The zoning board was fully apprised at the start of and throughout the EIS process, Pyramid claimed, and had a free hand to participate in the review process.

The positive SEQR declaration form that triggered the in-depth review stated that the scoping process would be undertaken, a draft scope would be prepared, and that draft document would be sent around to all involved and interested agencies and anyone requesting a copy.

Copies of the positive SEQR declaration were sent to nine potential involved and interested agencies, the zoning board among them, which also never objected to the planning board declaring itself lead agency, Pyramid noted.

Pyramid claimed that Lynch evaluated the SEQR record, de novo, as if the planning board had never adopted a negative declaration, and determined that a closer look was needed on already-settled issues. Lynch also identified three new areas of concern that were never addressed by the complainants, Pyramid argued, but were nevertheless cited by the judge in his decision to overturn the planning board.

According to Pyramid, Lynch claimed the planning board had failed to:

Take a hard look at the impacts the project would have on birds in the Pine Bush (later in its court filing, Pyramid claims that the birds were taken into account when the planning board undertook its hard look test);

Take a hard look at the visual impact a multiple five-story apartment buildings would have on the Rapp Road Historic District; and

The board failed to consider shorter alternatives to the apartment-and-townhome development on Rapp Road and a a residential alternative for the Costco site.

Pyramid stresses that the planning board took a hard look at the visual impacts associated with the Rapp Road apartment-and-townhome development. The appeal argues that Pyramid, to eliminate visual impacts, had to incorporate features the planning board had found in its study, features beyond the TOD minimum.

Pyramid had engaged in extensive outreach with residents in nearby neighborhoods during the early stages of the Rapp Road development review process, the company claimed.

Although the company also consulted with residents of the [Rapp Road Historic District], at no point during the Planning Boards SEQRA review did any resident of the RRHD raise any concerns regarding visual impacts, Pyramid claimed. Nor did the Historical Association or the SHPO, the appeal said of the State Historic Preservation Office.

Regardless, the planning board still analyzed visual impacts to the Rapp Road Historic District when it undertook SEQR, the appeal claims.

The district is a neighborhood of small homes, many of them hand-built by African Americans who arrived in the pinebush, largely from Mississippi, during the Great Migration.

Throughout his November 2020 decision, Lynch pointed to omissions that the planning board failed to consider when making its determination. The historical and cultural significance of the Rapp Road Historic District, Lynch wrote, cannot be overstated, and, in turn, cannot be ignored under the hard look test.

With the closest homes just a few hundred feet away from proposed five-story buildings, the planning board failed to consider any alternative with reduced building height.

But Pyramid counters that Lynch pointed to omissions that were actually omissions in the residents suit. Strikingly, Pyramid asserts in its Jan. 25 court filing, the Rapp Road Historic District was not mentioned a single time in the original complaint.

Pyramid also states that there are nearly 1,000 feet between the southernmost occupied home in the historic district and the northernmost five-story building at the site.

Whenever Pyramid makes an assertion like Lynch being way off in his measurement of the distance between the historic Rapp Road homes and proposed apartment building, or claims that the zoning board had actually been notified about its agency status with the project, the assertion is accompanied by a five-digit code that refers to a paper record in the companys voluminous court filing, which runs over 8,400 pages.

Lynch, the town asserted in its Jan. 28 court filing, claimed that the planning board failed to consider the impact the project would have on the historic Rapp Road neighborhood, committing a seismic failure in the process.

The record soundly defeats this false statement, the town states.

Rapp Road residents, according to the towns filing, confirmed that we get more help from the Town of Guilderland from what Ive seen going through this process going on two years, that it recognizes that this a gem and the amount of communication is very open with Pyramid and the Town of Guilderland.

The town argued that the planning board went well-beyond what is required of a hard look, for example, receiving expert opinions and comments from the states conservation and transportation departments, and says the proof is in the pudding.

Guilderland claims that a comparison of the project from when SEQR first began to when the board adopted a Findings Statement two years later shows that the planning boards review was proper and thorough. The town lists what it considers 10 substansial measures to illustrate its point, with four traffic-related measures and a requirement that Pyramid hand over 8.4 acres of land to Albany Pine Bush Commission, among them.

Justice Lynch wrote that the draft environmental impact statement also fails to mention, let alone account, for the fact that Costco will not improve the environment for non-automobile-oriented modes of transportation, will not reduce the number of required parking spaces, and will not focus intense development away from existing residential neighborhoods, all in contravention of TOD.

Pyramid countered in its court papers the plaintiffs conceded that Costco was fully consistent with the Transit-Oriented Development District, and that the plaintiffs objected to the project on economic grounds. The Court nevertheless faulted the Planning Board for relying on the fact that the Costco Project was permitted under local zoning, the company states.

Pyramid argued that it was only as the planning board was nearing completion of its environmental review for the proposed 222 apartments and townhouses on Rapp Road, that the company first made the town aware of its intention to apply to the zoning board so that it could develop the second of its three adjacent sites, a Costco.

With this new information, Pyramid states in its filing, the planning board decided to postpone taking any action on the apartment-and-townhome proposal and instead, on its own initiative, expanded the scope of the SEQRA action to include the [Rapp Road Development site], the proposed retail site on Site 2, and potential future development on Site 3, and declared itself SEQRA lead agency for the redefined action.

James Soos, the director of development for Pyramid, stated in an affidavit, Put simply, if resolution of this appeal is delayed, it is likely that Costco will abandon its proposed development on Site 2 and restart its search for other development sites in the region to construct its facility. Should that occur, the consequences would be devastating for Pyramid and the Town.

Then Pyramid argues in its court filing, Costco Project will create numerous construction and retail jobs, inspire local business growth, and significantly increase tax revenues to the Town, Albany County, and Guilderland School District.

Pyramid is currently suing the town in an attempt to knock $139.2 million off of Crossgates Malls $282.5 million assessment. In tax year 2019, the seven parcels of land that collectively make up Crossgates Mall paid entities within Guilderland the town itself; Guilderland schools; and the public library about $7 million in property taxes. If Crossgates were to win its lawsuit, the taxes it pays could be cut by about half.

Barber, in his affidavit, citing a paid-for-by-Pyramid economic analysis, asserted that Costco would generate significant annual property and school tax ($141,707; however, $16,160 would be the countys money) and sales tax revenues ($2 million; of which $157,516 would be Guilderlands take) at a time when State, local, and school budgets are under extreme pressures.

Barber goes on to state that Costco alone is projected to generate 142 jobs, over $3.9 million in earnings, and over $114.4 million in sales in Albany County, annually, and 187 jobs, over $5.1 million in earnings, and over $133.3 million in sales in the Town, every year, in terms of the direct, indirect, and total impact on employment and wages, according to an economic impact analysis.

But economists of all stripes left, right, libertarian, in the academy, and at think tanks caution readers of economic impact analyses to take their findings with a grain of salt, in part because, most economic impact studies are commissioned to legitimize a political position.

Excerpt from:
Guilderland and Pyramid seek to reverse ruling that halted companys projects - The Altamont Enterprise

ANN ARBOR, MI South University Avenue in Ann Arbor is looking a lot different these days as preparations are being made for the next student apartment high-rise.

A row of one- and two-story buildings that for many years contributed to South Us funky and eclectic vibe home to businesses such as South U Pizza, Oasis Grill, Rendezvous Hookah Lounge, The Village Apothecary, PNC Bank and Underground Printing was demolished recently.

All that remains standing on the south side of South U on the block between Church Street and East University Avenue now is Good Time Charleys and Catina, and theyre staying.

Rising in the big, empty space next to them will be a 13-story apartment building called Vic Village South, complementing the Vic Village North high-rise across the street.

It will join several other high-rises built in the South U area in recent years, all catering to University of Michigan students.

Vic Village South will add nearly 130 more apartments with 300-plus beds, including 14 affordable housing units, said Sean Havera of Hughes Properties, the developer, which is working with general contractor The Christman Co.

There will be four ground-floor commercial spaces in the new high-rise, some of which could be combined for a bigger business, Havera said.

Tenants have not been identified yet.

Underground Printing and PNC Bank moved into new ground-floor spaces created in the Vic Village North high-rise, which opened last year, and Oasis Grill moved down the street into a space previously occupied by China Gate.

The high life: Inside Ann Arbors newest luxury apartment high-rise

The family that owned Oasis Grill also owned South U Pizza and the Rendezvous Hookah Lounge, which closed about a year ago. The Village Apothecary closed five years ago.

Work on an earth-retention system for Vic Village South is expected to begin in February and that will allow crews to finish excavating building foundations and start construction, which will last into summer 2023, Havera said.

It wont be too difficult to start construction amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Havera said.

Where were at with all of the work being outside, that helps, he said, indicating vertical construction is not expected until around next October and there will be an extensive amount of exterior work before interior work begins.

The block of South U in front of the development has been reduced to a single traffic lane during construction.

The new building will include two levels of below-grade parking and the developer has an agreement to lease about another 40 overnight parking spaces in a nearby public parking deck.

Vic Village South will offer a different mix of floor plans and amenities than Vic Village North, Havera said, noting there will be some studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments, in addition to higher-bed-count units that are attractive to larger groups of students wanting to live together.

And while Vic Village North offers more of a standard fitness center, Vic Village South will have a CrossFit gym, Havera said, adding tenants of both buildings will have shared access to the amenities in both buildings, including tech lab spaces, study areas and rooftop lounges.

Ann Arbors small-town look fading as downtown reaches toward sky

Vic Village South will have a 13th-floor lounge and game room with an outdoor TV, grill and fireplace, similar to one of the upstairs lounge spaces at Vic Village North, Havera said.

It will be the sixth student-focused apartment high-rise built in the South U area since 2009, following Zaragon Place, Landmark, ArborBLU, Six11 and Vic Village North.

After Vic Village South, Hughes Properties plans to shift focus to its next planned high-rise development, Vic Village East, where the Middle Earth shop and Safe Sex Store on South U were demolished in recent years.

Beyond the South U district, more apartment high-rises are planned downtown, including one underway at Main and William called The Standard, which is expected to open in fall 2022.

MORE FROM THE ANN ARBOR NEWS:

Before-and-after views of downtown Ann Arbors dramatic transformation

Timeline: Ann Arbors downtown housing boom and whats to come

1960s building boom introduced Ann Arbor to high-rise controversy

Vintage photos showcase downtown Ann Arbors historical charm

See plans for 3-story, mixed-use development proposed in Ann Arbor

Read the rest here:
Another South U block demolished to make way for next Ann Arbor high-rise - MLive.com