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Commission approves Med Square mixed‑use medical office and townhomes with conditions
Summary
After staff recommended approval, the City Commission authorized a special‑exception and development agreement for the Med Square mixed‑use project (6‑story medical office + eight townhomes), approving a waiver for upper‑floor floor‑plate size and adding conditions on trash pickup, tree canopy, traffic egress and timing for the townhomes.
The commission considered companion Items 4 and 5 (the Med Square proposal), a large‑scale special exception and a development agreement for a mixed‑use medical office building with rear townhomes on an entire city block bounded by SW 62nd Avenue, 68th and 69th Streets.
Mark Alvarez of the city’s planning review team summarized staff’s review and recommended approval. Alvarez said the project complies with the Transit Supportive Development District (TSDD) standards for this transitional block, provides more open space and parking than required and includes eight two‑story townhomes at the rear to provide a residential buffer.
Staff and the applicant explained that the developer requests a waiver to exceed a strict floor‑plate size on the upper office floors to accommodate the medical office program; Alvarez recommended the waiver after weighing compatibility, shadow impacts and the TSDD intent. The applicant said the project would provide 353 parking spaces where the code requires 153, internalize deliveries and provide a research‑reviewed traffic mitigation plan.
“The application is consistent with the TSDD requirements and the vision,” Alvarez told commissioners, noting the project also exceeds tree and open‑space minimums in some respects while committing to landscaping and LEED design.
Applicant counsel Alejandro Arias and owner/developer Alberto Perez described the project program and said they are open to staff‑recommended modifications, including internalizing trash pickup and adjusting the trash location so it is farther from the property line. Perez said typical medical building operations run roughly 7:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. and that early morning service would be acceptable for waste pick‑up.
Public commenters and nearby residents questioned tree removals and asked for stronger canopy‑forming trees on 62nd Avenue; former mayor and residents urged the developer to select species that yield shade sooner. Neighbors also pressed for design measures to limit cut‑through traffic into adjacent single‑family streets and asked that the townhome transition be built on a timetable that prevents the office building from opening with an undeveloped buffer behind it.
Commissioners negotiated and the city attorney summarized several modifications the commission would attach to approval: permit flexibility to allow a rear‑loaded townhouse option; relocate the solid‑waste pickup/internalize operations closer to the center of the site where feasible; require design elements and signage to encourage right‑turn egress on the north driveway and left‑turn egress on the south driveway; require a denser, canopy‑forming street‑tree palette along SW 62nd Avenue; and require the final plat recorded for the subdivision and at least one building permit issued for a duplex/townhome prior to final certificate of occupancy for the medical building (with the option to allow a temporary certificate of occupancy (TCO) with limited extensions to enable tenant move‑ins).
With those modifications, the commission voted to adopt the special exception and development agreement 5–0.
Staff will incorporate the conditions into the development agreement and monitor compliance during permitting and construction. The developer said it intends to begin civil work and stage construction concurrently for the townhomes and the medical building and to work with staff on canopy species, trash operations and traffic egress details.
