A bill for an ordinance changing the zoning classification for 2000 Blake Street in Five Points. Approves a map amendment to rezone property from PUD 329 and B-8 with waivers, UO-1, UO-2 to C-MX-8 (planned development to mixed-use, 8-stories), located at 2000 Blake Street in Council District 9. The Committee approved filing this item at its meeting on 12-7-21.
All speakers should begin their remarks by telling the council their names and cities of residence and if they feel comfortable doing so, their home addresses. If you have signed up to answer questions, only state your name and note that you are available for questions of council. Speakers will have 3 minutes. There is no yield enough time. If translation is needed, you will be given an additional 3 minutes for your comments to be interpreted. We will alternate between in-person and virtual for efficiency by calling in-person participants and then alternating to virtual participants. Speakers must stay on the topic of the hearing and must direct their comments to the council members. Please refrain from profane or obscene speech. Direct your comments to council as a whole, and please refrain from individual or personal attacks. Councilmember Clark, will you please put Council Bill 21, Dash 1455 on the floor for final passage? As Council President, I move that Council Bill 21 dash 1455 be placed upon final consideration and do pass. Thank you. It has been moved and seconded the required public hearing for Council Bill 21 Dash 1455 is open. May we please have the staff report? Good evening. My name is Anthony Barnes. I'm with CPD before you. Today, we're looking at a map amendment for 2000 Lake Street. It's currently zoned debate and the request for CMCs eight. So the subject properties are located in Council District nine in any suitable district and it's located in the Five Points neighborhood. Subject property is located on the eastern corner of 20th Street and Blake Street and it consists of two parcels. There are approximately a third of an acre. The request is for a urban center mixed use up to eight stories that would allow for a variety of residential, civic and commercial uses on different building farms from townhome, general shop front drive thru services and drive thru restaurants. Now the existing zoning is a holdover from former Chapter 59. The northern part northernmost parcel is under a par 329, which was adopted in 1993 and allows for mixed use commercial and residential development with active uses at street level as well as an electrical substation. The rezoning would only affect one of many parcels under this beauty. The southernmost part of the parcel is on B eight with waivers with the use overlay one and two. The B8 is intended for activity centers that allow for high intensity commercial and residential uses. The use overlay one district allows for adult uses. However, the waiver precludes them, so it is not allowed. The use overlay to district allows for billboard uses and the applicant does not propose to retain either. Overlay the surrounding zone districts to the north is i-8, which is a light industrial to billboard. There are several TMX eight with and without the billboard use overlay. And then to the south you can see the downtown core and lower downtown districts with the adult use overlay. Now in the immediate vicinity. The area's land use is a mix of commercial office, multi-unit, residential and vacant land in course field shown in the top photo is is the north of this is it the north of the site? In this considered entertainment cultural use the surface parking lot on the subject property is shown in the middle and the existing commercial development south of the site is shown on the bottom of the photo there. Here at the top photo shows the adjacent surface parking lot, which is currently undergoing a rezoning process to allow for Iraqis Plaza, which would host game day events as well as non-game day events. And the photo at the bottom shows a street view along Blake looking southwest. Um, so this has gone before the planning board back in November 17th and it was approved, approved unanimously. Uh, concurrent with this rezoning, the applicant has worked with the Department of Housing Stability as they intend to provide 12.5% of residential units at 80% ami with a voluntary housing agreement, affordable housing agreement, and as described in the applicant's revised narrative that they submitted, they conclude they conducted extensive outreach to City Council members Arnaud's and multiple neighbors. And to date, staff has received three letters of support from the local district, the Lower Downtown Neighborhood Association and the Ballpark Collective, stating that the proposed mixed use development replacing an existing parking lot would improve the streetscape. Right before the proposed City Council meeting back in January of 18, there was two letters of concerns that came from the Laurel district as well as Rockies, and those concerns were along design standards and engagement. And so since then, the applicant has done extensive outreach to the District and Rocky, and they have come into a memorandum of understanding agreement. And in that agreement, a lot of district and the Rockies provide their support. Now moving forward to the, um, the Denver zoning review criteria. Um, it must be found that the request map amendment is consistent with the five review criteria. And as a reminder, staff only evaluates the proposed zone districts and not a specific development. So when we're looking at the first criterion to see with adaptive plans, we're looking at four plans, which is Comprehensive Plan 2040, Blueprint, Denver 2019, the Northeast Downtown Neighborhood Plan of 2011 and Downtown Area Plan of 2007. So as stated in the staff report, the rezoning is consistent with several goals found in the comprehensive plan, particularly as they relate to increasing housing units close to transit and creating mixed use neighborhoods such as Equitable, Affordable and Inclusive Growth Strategy to increase development of housing units close to transit. It makes these developments connected, safe and accessible places. Strategy B Promote transit oriented development and encourage high density development, including affordable housing, near transit and support ridership and environmental resilient. Go strategy b encourage mixed use communities where residents can live, work and play in their own neighborhoods. Now jumping into blueprint timber under the future neighborhood context. The proposed rezoning is consistent with the downtown neighborhood context defined in Blueprint Denver. This context includes the most intense mix it uses in the city with large scale buildings that frame the street in the greatest and the greatest access to transit. The zone districts in the zoning codes downtown neighborhood context have generally been applied to location specific areas such as the theater district in Arapahoe Square, with urban center zone districts, including the eight, are prevalent in other areas of downtown context, including those north of 20th Street and west of Lawrence Street. And the urban center districts are appropriate in the neighborhood context. Additionally, Blueprint Denver allows the boundaries of context to be interpreted with limited flexibility. If the if the request furthers the goals of Blueprint Denver and is consistent with the overall intent of the neighborhood context map. So since the proposed district allows for a mix of uses and building terms that contribute to street activation and the proposed rezoning to CMC is appropriate and consistent with this plan. Now looking at the future place type, it's classified as high residential, which typically has the highest intensity of residential uses and taller mixed use buildings are common . Both like in 20th Street are downtown arterials, which are surrounded by intense pedestrian oriented land uses. The IMX is consistent with the future place and street types as it allows for a mix of uses in an eight storey building with with siting and design requirements that will help create an engaging streetscape. Now within the growth of your strategy, do you think the city city generate directs to key centers, corridors in high density residential areas that align with transportation options? In this case, the future growth of the area is categorized as high and medium high, medium residential areas in the downtown and urban core context, which anticipates 5% of jobs in 15% of new houses within 2048, will help achieve this goal. Furthermore, the proposed rezoning helps implement blueprint members policy relating to converting former former Chapter 59 zoning to a Denver zoning code. Now when we're looking at the northeast downtown neighborhood plan, the subject properties are classified as a mixed zoning with a maximum height of eight stories , which is consistent with this plan's recommendation. Um, uh. And then the plan further redefines height at this location by identifying it as part of the coarse field context area, where it is recommended that the building heights not be allowed to exceed the height of sports fields and to prevent use into the ballpark. So as shown in this graphic provided by the applicant, a six foot tall person standing at the top of a 110 foot tall building across Lake Street would not be able to see Intercourse Field. So just wanted to show that illustration. Now when we're looking at the downtown area plan the plan for the redefines height guidance at this location by of. The downtown planner recommend that the ballpark sub a provide distinct ground floor retail and other active uses along the street edge and pedestrian improvements near 21st. So the proposed TMX eight zone district enables street level active uses in a vibrant pedestrian realm and is consistent with these plans recommendations. The rezoning is consistent with review criteria two, three and five as specified in the staff report. In regards to Theater four, there are two applicable justifying circumstances, including the fact that the city has adopted several plans since the subject property has was zoned under former Chapter 59 and it retained former Chapter 59 zoning after the city adopted the current Demery Zoning Code of 2010. Therefore, CPD recommends approval based on all the findings that the review criteria have been met. Staff is available for any questions. You may have the opportunity here. Any questions as well as. Andrew Johnson. The House is here for any questions you may have. Thank you. Thank you, edson. We have nine speakers lined up to speak this evening. I'm going to call the first few speakers in chambers and then we'll go to those online virtually. Our first speaker is Gerry M in person in chambers. Jerry M. Okay. We're going to go ahead and move on then. Paul, the Journal in Chambers. And I might have mispronounced your name, so please correct me. Good evening. I'm Paul DiGiorgio in the Summer Capital Partners with the developer for this exciting project. And I want to introduce a couple of our folks here this evening from Miller Capital, Mr. Ron Silver, who's our CEO, and Mr. Mike Harrington, who has spearheaded the project for the last year or so. And it has been a thoughtful process and with which we appreciate and we're respectfully here this evening seeking approval. And with that, I'll turn it over to. You're next in line. Okay. Thank you. Our next speaker in chambers is Tobias Stroh. Good evening. My name is Maestro. I reside in Lakewood, Colorado, an office in Denver, Colorado. I'm with Janus Architecture and Design. We were the architects on this project and working with our client to come up with a solution that is appropriate for this location in our in our hometown, our city here. And we appreciate the opportunity to be here tonight and look forward to continuing to work on this project. May make it come to fruition. Very, very good. Thank you. We're going to go ahead and go virtually. Our next speaker is Jesse Perez. As members of council. May I be her? Yes. Yes. My name is just. There's no margin for Black Star action movies for self-defense, positive action come Mafia the Chains, as well as the Unity Party of Colorado, the East Denver Residents Council and Frontline Black Knows and I'll be there next November 2023. I'm against rezoning tonight. From what I've heard from the presentation, 80% Armani that is not affordable. So they said that this affordability clause or or neighborhood agreement, A-minus is not affordable. I don't care how you slice it. It's just not affordable to buy out of this area and. It's just going to feel more than just nice. So if you guys approve, this looks more likely will approve it because it meets all the criteria to see what it plans. Uniformity of district regulations for this public health, safety and welfare. Testifying circumstances and consistency with neighborhood context zone district. Purpose. In that sense, there's nothing I can say is going to change your mind on this. I just want to be cognizant of the unintended consequences that will result from having an eight storey building, right? HORSFIELD That is not affordable. Thank you. Thank you. Our next speaker joining us virtually via zoom is Richard Farley. Thank you, Madam President. Members of City Council. Good evening. My name is Richard Farley. I'm live at 2500 Walnut Street, Denver, Colorado. I'm speaking on behalf of the Loto District Inc registered neighborhood. Organization as a LoDo District Board member and co-chair of its Urban Design Committee. Regarding this 2000 Blake rezoning. The local district fully. Supports the rezoning of. 2000 Blake Street. Based on extensive negotiations with the developer. Fillmore kept for Fillmore. Capital and Partners, which has resulted in a. Memorandum of understanding between the developer and the local district R.A.. The ammo used satisfies the LoDo district's concerns. We commend the Fillmore Capital for spending the extra time and energy in working with us. Thank you. Thank you. Our next speaker is Matt Ben, 16. Good evening, counsel. Thank you, Madam President. I Mat Van Sustain. I'm the executive director of a ballpark collective. The R.A. that is this property is the key corner of this, the area that we represent. I live a few blocks away at 2127 Larimer Street. We have been communicating with Fillmore for a few years now on this project. They communicated early and often. They've been very responsive to feedback. They recently stepped back to to work some things out with the Rockies and LoDo and kept us in the loop. We believe that they're going to be a great neighbor and this is going to be a positive activation that fits in well with the project that's coming that the Rockies have proposed, and it's going to activate a very dead corner. In a very key spot. So we we support the rezoning of that property. Thank you. Thank you. Our next speaker, we're going to transition back in chambers, Ron Silver. Good evening, Madam President. And Chamber. I'm Ron Silva. I'm from San Francisco, California. And I came here to support our project today. And to introduce my team, which has already been introduced. But Mike Harrington here. On my left is really the person for the last four years that has spearheaded this project along with. Janus, our our distinguished architectural firm. And I think although we can't show our pretty pictures. We have really. Designed a very beautiful building for a key location. In downtown Denver that we would like to see go forward. And if you do approve it, we will move it forward as expeditiously as possible. Thank you much for your time. Thank you. Our next speaker is Joe Veena Amar. Good evening. I'm Jovenel Moise and I reside on 660 Layton Street, Denver, and I work for Johnson Nathan Steel Architects. And I'm here to answer any questions that you have of the architects. We've been working with the clients over the last couple of years and the community. And thank you for your time. Thank you. Our next speaker is Mike Harrington. Good evening, Madam President. Chamber Thank you for your time this evening. I just want to rehash, I think Edson did a fantastic job, so there's not a lot to cover here, but just wanted to make a few points on our commitment to the community and neighborhood that we are excited to be part of. We currently own and operate three restaurant brewery entertainment concepts just across the street on Market Street, which we renovated and opened late last year. So we really view 2000 Blake as the next step in our further engagement and investment in the community. As mentioned, we did work with host Andrew to draft and execute a voluntary affordable housing agreement to provide five and a half percent of the units at an 80% AMI for all residential units. And and just lastly on our outreach. It's been a long process for us. We, I think, all told, met held 17 R.A. and community neighborhood meetings. We were granted meetings with eight city council offices. We did receive letters of support from the District Ballpark Collective and from the Lower Downtown Neighborhood Association and a vote of support from CDP. And as it's been mentioned, we did take a little extra time to work with the Rockies and the lower district to address some of their concerns. And we're very pleased that we were able to come to an agreement and sign animal you. So thank you for your time. Thank you. That concludes our speakers this evening. Questions for members of Council on Council Bill 21, Dash 1455. Councilmember Flynn. Thank you, Madam President. Edson, could you help me out a little bit on the current zoning pdf? 329 I think it was. What? It's very unclear to me in the staff report what entitlements exist under that PD other than an Excel substation. What are the other entitlements and how do they differ from the new zone district request? So under the PD, commercial and residential uses are allowed and they do allow active uses but doesn't have great design standards like the CMC would. And in this instance they are at, I believe, the hours of to, but the maximum they can go up to here is five storeys. That's why the applicant is trying to go up to eight. That would be consistent with the neighborhood plan as well. And so, um, those were some of the uses that would be allowed. Okay. Make sure I understood correctly the FDR under the PD. Wow. That's the floor area ratio of. Floor area. Ratio. Unit development for those playing acronym bingo out there is 2 to 1. Did you say? I am making sure right now 2.5 with the maximum of five stories. Correct. Okay. So that would imply. Okay. I see. And then this would allow up to eight stories. Correct. Thank you. This pod was in 1993. Correct. It's the same year the course field got under construction, if I recall. Correctly. I am not sure. That or slightly before that. Well, that's the year the Rockies came to town in 93. All right. Thank you. That helps put in a little context. Thank you, Madam President. Thank you, Councilmember Flynn. Councilmember Hines. Thank you. Council President. Um, despite people the I was probably for the applicant. I am a strong proponent of the 50 to 80 trail. It's a 5.280 pedestrian and cyclist loop around the city center. I think it's a transformative project, and I think that it will significantly improve the public health, safety and welfare of our our city center. Um, I, I'm curious because this is along the route of the 50 to 80 trail. What your thoughts are for this development and its integration with the trail. Yes. We're extremely excited to potentially become another amenity along the trail. We agree it's going to be an exciting asset to the city. This being a prominent corner will obviously require very thoughtful, pedestrian accessible design. We feel there's a real opportunity here with the Lake Street closure of Lake Street on 80 plus days a year to really create a vibrant pedestrian experience and create a landmark corner along the trail. I'm not sure if that answers your question or if there's something more specific for me to get into in terms of design work. We're still in the conceptual, conceptual stage, but this is absolutely top of mind for us due to the real asset. Sure. Well, thank you. I also think it's a huge asset. Um, so. And. Certainly understand why you might you might want a more specific question. The my thought with a 50 to 80 trail is, is just as you said, a place. It is it is an opportunity to connect places like Coors Field or like the art museum or something, Gardens Park, where the kind of movement was centered in the, you know, a few decades ago. And and I see an amnesty capital and so many other locations that are that are along the trail. I want to make sure that as as you say or as I said, public health, safety and welfare is preserved. And in the 81 game days. Outside of playoff games, I can understand that we want to make sure that that cyclists don't plow down pedestrians. But in the other days I could see that. But it would definitely be beneficial to to make sure that the pedestrian and cyclist loop is preserved on the non-game days. And so I guess perhaps you mentioned it's in the conceptual phase. I like what you're saying about having it be another destination along the trail. And I recognize that on game days, that MacGregor Square conversation that we had a few months ago brought that up as well. And on game days, I recognize that we don't want cyclists going, you know, in an unsafe fashion around pedestrians. But in the non-game days, perhaps, have you considered the concept of of allowing cyclists to remain cyclists? And I'll mention one other thing, that the concept of the 50 to 80 trail and I believe this and want this to occur is for tourists speeds along the trail for for cyclists so the spandex riders that that bomb down Cherry Creek path great for them stick to the the jerky bike trail this is meant more as a as a community type type event. So with that context, perhaps you could tell a little bit about the your concepts. Absolutely. I also agree that nobody was setting tires on on Blake Street during this timeframe. But, you know, our initial concept for the for the building is going to consist of two floors of commercial space at ground level, light and airy and open. So I mean, I think the idea of slowing traffic down, allowing cyclists, encouraging pedestrian traffic, I mean, that is that is what we're aiming for. I mean, we want this to be a destination where people don't just say, oh, that's a nice building and continue on, but this is a destination along the trail that we're going to make a stop at. And I think so. I think by design and use on those two ground floors, that's really going to be the draw. And I think that will lend itself to, you know, slowing cyclists and creating a real safe and friendly pedestrian and cyclist environment on the street. So it's absolutely a priority for us. Okay, fair enough. I hope that you continue to to to follow the 50 to 80 trail as it goes through its discussion and implementation. And and if if I can be a resource, please let me know. And I like what your what you're suggesting. Thank you. Council President. Thank you, Councilmember Hines. Mr. Harrington, would you mind introducing yourself for the public record? Mike Harrington Fillmore Capital Partners. Great. Thank you so much. Council pro tem to. Thank you. I think my questions are probably for you and I'm just trying to understand I know that it was language in the neighborhood plan about not being able to see the field from surrounding buildings. Is that a legal requirement or is it a kind of a neighborhood preference based on that relationship with course field? Is there something else behind that? That's a great question. I don't think it's a legal requirement, but it is a recommendation from the plan specifically. In the northeast downtown neighborhood plan. It gives height recommendations, but then it has an awful context area limiting height no higher than the stands. And so it's a recommendation that's that's tied to height. And this is different from the view plane that's down there, right? Correct. And this site does not have a view plane. It is not okay. Mm hmm. But there's a view playing near there. It doesn't. Yes, it doesn't. Okay. All right. I have a stadium in my district, so I'm just trying to make sure I understand what's going on. Thank you. All right. Thank you. Counsel pro tem tours and seeing no other questions from members of council. The public hearing is closed. Comments by members of Council on Council Bill 21, Dash 1455. Council Members State Abarca. All right. I don't see anyone else in the queue. And so I will go ahead and finish up the comments. I do believe that this meets all of the rezoning criteria and we'll be supporting it tonight and asked my colleagues to do the same. Madam Secretary, roll call on Council Bill 21, Dash 1455. Please sit. Abarca. Clerk. I. Flynn. I. Herndon, i. Hi. Cashman. Kenny Ortega. Excuse me, i. Sandoval, i. Sawyer, i. Torres, I. Black I. Madam President. Hi, Madam Secretary. Please close the voting and announce the results.