Planning Board reviews concept plan for 1120 Eighth Street student housing; no decision tonight

Planning board members and staff reviewed a concept plan to redevelop 1120 Eighth Street as a mixed-use, campus-adjacent student housing project, but took no formal action.

Shannon Mueller, senior planner with the City of Boulder Planning Department, told the board the concept-plan review was intended to identify key issues before a site review application. “No formal action is being taken tonight on the project,” Mueller said.

The proposal by LV Collective, presented by Danica Powell of Trestle Strategy Group and Andre Sahakian of LV Collective with architect Matt Post of Oz Architecture, would replace existing buildings on the 1.4-acre site with two buildings totaling about 87 dwelling units targeted to university students, one level of underground parking and up to five stories (a height modification to 55 feet). The applicant is requesting a 65% parking reduction and proposes ground-floor retail uses including a café and a market space; the plan set includes a central courtyard, rooftop decks and a mix of studio through five-bedroom units.

Why it matters: the site is zoned Residential High 3 (RH3) and is designated high-density residential in the Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan (BVCP). Staff said the location — adjacent to the University of Colorado main campus and near multimodal corridors and transit — makes student housing an appropriate use but flagged design and access issues that should…