The day started out with a return phone call from the Caldwell Banker broker (Gary) on the 15,000 sf corner lot on Magnolia East of the site we chose. Gary indicated they wanted $30 psf. This is $8 psf more than our site and frankly, we like our site better. Further, Gary stated the owners were going to develop it themselves as mixed-use Residential/Commercial - Live/Work but were unable to secure financing. We asked him to see if the owners would consider a JV and get back to us. Later in the day, I received an email from him and they are not interested in JV'ing. Oh well.
I then took the time to print and read the 89 pages of the "Near SouthSide Development Standards and Guidelines" and determined a few things. Southside is dedicated to new-urbanism in realizing it's revitalization goals for Near Southside which pretty cool. They adopted the new form-based "MU" mixed-use zoning classification. Form-based standards emphasis is on shaping the form of buildings and public spaces rather than the segregation of different land uses. Among other things, they encourage creativity, architectural diversity and exceptional design while discouraging uniformity. That's flexible. This flexibility is further encouraged to adapt to changing conditions over time. This fits perfectly into Dr. Forgey's project criteria. They should love the glass garage doors.
We also need to be cognizant of the other regulatory documents namely: the historic preservation ordinance, off-street parking and loading and finally, the sign ordinance and downtown sign standards.
The Urban Design Commission (UDC),will issue a Certificate of Appropriateness (COA) that cites a projects compliance with the above mentioned principles. The UDC is a 9 member body appointed by the City Council of which six of the nine are practicing professionals. There is also a Development Review Process that will assist in getting your project started in the right direction. They meet with potential developers on Mon and Thurs. We have sent an email to the director (david.schroeder@fortworthgov.org) to seek a time to meet and will await his response. There is also a formal request form to fill out and send in on the City's website.There is a Application For A Certificate of Appropriateness on the site which tells you the required documents you need with the application on the City's Website.
We also confirmed the site we chose is in fact in the TIF and the broker told us the zoning was T5 and according to the The Transect Classification System, we are not T5 - Urban Center Zone, rather T4 - General Urban Zone, so we will get with the broker and confirm. The property is located in the Southwest portion of the Development Zone and the T4 Standards are as such: 20-ft. max front setback; 18-ft min. facade height; 3 stories max if single use; 5 stories max w/ public space or mix of uses; 6 stories max w/public space and mix of uses; parking behind or beside buildings. Our property is located along Magnolia street which is classified as Main collector street - walkable, mixed-use streets of moderate to high density. These are primary destination streets with active ground floor uses and on-street parking, and are comfortable and safe for bicyclists; have less than 8000 vehicles per day and further classified as a minor collector street - usually undivided with 3-4 travel lanes. Magnolia also has a striped bike lane.
There is a lot of information to be found in this document and is advisable to read through it. One other CAUTION of note is: under parking and driveways, #6. Residential Garages - Garages should not front public pedestrian space. Garages shall be accessed from alleys or rear driveway or shall be detached and located at the rear of the site. Also of note, look at the Architectural Standards section and more specifically; D.1 and D.2. - Ground floor transparency for non-residential uses. Be sure and check the "permitted land uses" as well. There is also a Development Review Checklist that could be helpful.
We are alos looking into HUD's - Mortgage Insurance for Rental Housing for Urban Renewal and Concentrated Development Areas: Section 220. It's purpose is: Section 220 insures lenders against loss on mortgage defaults. Section 220 provides good quality rental housing in urban areas that have been targeted for overall revitalization. Section 220 insures mortgages on new or rehabilitated housing located in designated urban renewal areas, and in areas with concentrated programs of code enforcement, and neighborhood development. http://www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/mfh/progdesc/renturbanhsg220.cfm
Finally, for whatever it is worth, I laid in bed from 10pm - until about 11:15pm going over the design of our building in my head and thinking about all the things we could incorporate into it including my patent-pending toilet fartfan-an exhaust fan built into the toilet itself. I like the open concept of the units and if you have a walled but open ceiling in the bathroom, you have to have a way to exhaust the smell so as not to have an unpleasant order lingering throughout the rest of the unit. I will not be able to share the design at this time as the patent is still pending.
That's it for now boys. Same bat time and bat station tomorrow!!
Cheers,
J2M
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