AgdaPkt 2003-04-14 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Proiect Schedule In order to accommodate a project opening in 2005, the design of the integrated project needs to be completed quickly so that site excavation can begin by September 1 and be completed before the winter rains. To meet this schedule, the design team is in the late stages of Design Development, including structural engineering, for the integrated project. The project amhitects have indicated that a redesign of the parking entranceand method " of construction of the garage at this stage would "entail a complete re-do of the Design Development phase" and '~vill add approximately three months to the project schedule, due to the complicated nature of the project and the many constraints (such as theater exiting) that need to be accommodated in the building".2 Because of the need to complete the excavation before the winter rains, a three-month delay in the completion of the design could trigger an even greater delay in the overall project. Proiect Feasibility The developer of the private portion of the project has indicated that the delay for a redesign of the garage could put at risk his executed leases with major tenants. The delay could also jeopardize the project's equity financing with Buchanan Street Partners (CalPERS).3 Urban Desiqn Issues Urban designer Michael Freedman has indicated that placing the garage entry at the Middlefield/Theater Way intersection, as Mr. Watry proposes, would have a negative impact on the planned outdoor dining and pedestrian area along Theater Way, which is an important element of the overall project. In the architect's presentation of the design of the Cinema Project, it was recognized that the portion of the building at the MiddlefieldFFheater Way intersection was one of the four most prominent corners and that it should receive special architectural treatment. The Watry proposal would place the garage entry, a less attractive portion of the project, at this prominent location at the end of the view corridor from "Depot Circle" to the Cinema. A person walking from the train station to the cinema would then have a view of the garage entry, rather than a more attractive portion of the building That location for the garage entry could also interrupt the street system and pedestrian environment adjacent to Block Two and interfere with access to the westerly end of Block Two, which has been seen as a possible hotel site adjacent to a future "Depot Circle." Placement of the garage entry on Block Two and relocation of the storm drain culvert further onto Block Two (as one of Mr. Watry's proposals suggests) could have a negative impact on potential future development of Block Two, which is a key element of linking Sequoia Station and the Caltrain tracks into downtown. This relocation of the garage entry and culvert could also preclude underground parking in this portion of Block Two, an option that should not be closed off at this point. Field Paoli Memorandum dated 3/31/03. 3BHV Innisfree Ventures I, LLC Memorandum dated 4/03/03. F:Atty/CD/Agenda.JeffersonGarag e 2