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Staff seeks new Housing and Transit overlay to support downtown redevelopment; Blazer Ventures' Marcus Center cited as first candidate
Summary
Staff presented a new Housing and Transit overlay to permit denser mixed-use redevelopment through development agreements; the overlay would require a minimum 5-acre site, 50-unit-per-acre density and an average building height of 50 feet, and Blazer Ventures has requested rezoning for the Marcus Center property pending a development agreement.
City planning staff asked council July 9 to enact a new Housing and Transit overlay district intended to support high-density, mixed-use redevelopment in the downtown core. The overlay would change multifamily from a conditional use to a permitted use for qualifying projects and allow redevelopments to proceed under development agreements the council would approve.
Spencer, a city planner, said the overlay is designed to implement the city's general plan goals for vibrancy, walkability and transit-oriented development. Key proposed standards are a 5-acre minimum lot for qualifying projects, a 50-unit-per-acre minimum density, and an average building height of at least 50 feet to ensure projects achieve a certain urban scale. The overlay would not alter setback standards and would be applied as an overlay onto existing downtown zoning.
Spencer said Blazer Ventures has petitioned the city to rezone the Marcus Center property to the new overlay and that a fully executed development agreement must be in place before any rezoning would take effect. He described the intended benefits of a development agreement as a tool to secure high-quality urban design, a mix of residential and commercial uses, public amenities, and deed-restricted affordable housing. Spencer said the project package discussed by staff includes a 470-space publicly accessible parking structure and that affordable housing components would be deed-restricted at 60% AMI; he also said the project would use HTRZ funding as part of the public investment strategy.
The planning commission reviewed the overlay and forwarded a positive recommendation on June 19, Spencer said. At the work meeting staff asked council to enact the overlay as a code change; the rezoning for the Marcus Center and any development agreement would return to council together once the developer's agreement is ready.
Ending: staff asked council to take action at the upcoming regular meeting to enact the new overlay district; Spencer said the development agreement and rezoning would be presented for council consideration at the same meeting if the agreement is executed by then.
