TITLE: Title
Public Hearing for the 203 South Greensboro Project - Consideration of Site Plan and Design Development Cost Estimate
PURPOSE: The purpose of this item is to hold a public hearing on the site plan for the 203 Project and design development costs for the project as well.
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DEPARTMENT: Town Manager, Planning, Finance
CONTACT INFORMATION: David Andrews, 919-918-7315, dandrews@townofcarrboro.org <mailto:dandrews@townofcarrboro.org>; Patricia McGuire 919-918-7327, pmcguire@townofcarrboro.org <mailto:pmcguire@townofcarrboro.org>; Arche McAdoo, 919-918-7439, amcadoo@townofcarrboro.org <mailto:amcadoo@townofcarrboro.org>; Ben Schmadeke, 919-918-7424, bschmadeke@townofcarrboro.org <mailto:bschmadeke@townofcarrboro.org>; Marty Roupe, 919-918-7333, mroupe@townofcarrboro.org <mailto:mroupe@townofcarrboro.org>
INFORMATION: Work on the design development phase of the project is nearing completion and Town Council is asked to consider approving the site plan for the project as well as design development costs for the project.
Site Plan Information:
The site plan for the project has been reviewed and found to comply with applicable Land Use Ordinance regulations pertaining to permissible uses, supplementary use, density and dimensions, streets and sidewalks, utilities, stormwater, and parking. A few topics follow that Council is asked to endorse by way of approving the site plan for the project:
-Flexibility in administration of the screening requirements is requested. Specifically, the presumptive required screening from the parking deck portion of the site adjacent to a public street is Type B. The plans indicate a Type C screen instead along Carr Street, and a vegetative area along Maple Avenue that will include plants but may not constitute a Type C screen. The consultants have indicated to town staff that putting a Type B screen in place along Carr Street seems to run contrary to civic and welcoming nature of the building itself, and the proposed trees along Carr Street will provide substantial screening. A mural is indicated for a portion of the façade along Maple Avenue as a way to soften and mitigate the visual impact of the parking deck. Other included design features such as the access point for refuse facilities prevent full compliance from being achieved along Maple Avenue. This flexibility is authorized under LUO Section 15-309.
-The tree canopy coverage portion of the ordinance is being substantially achieved by providing 8 percent of the 15 percent requirement. This flexibility is authorized under LUO Section 15-319(b) by way of provision of improved stormwater management.
Also of note:
-Brick edged sidewalks, common in parts of downtown Carrboro, are not included in the project plans at this point. This is not required by the LUO but is noted here in case Town Council would like to ask the consultants to add this element to the project.
-A meeting of the Appearance Commission is being scheduled now for a final review of the architecture, in accordance with LUO Section 15-178(b)(1).
-South Greensboro Street will be constructed with a fourteen foot travel lane painted with a bike sharrow symbol in lieu of the small portion of bike lane previously shown on the site plan.
-Final details regarding the lighting plan are still under discussion and review. The final plan to be approved by staff will comply with the applicable LUO regulations.
-The formerly adopted Roberson Street right of way plan is not being utilized in favor of an updated streetscape plan for the project.
Budget Update / Design Development Status:
Barnhill Construction Company provided a construction estimate of $27,249,733.00 to the Project team on May 2nd. This estimate was based on the Design Development (DD) drawing and specification document set completed by Perkins & Will staff in April. Barnhill largely used subcontractor pricing to develop the construction cost estimate, however some items were estimated using metrics and recently completed project data. This estimate is approximately $3.4M over the previous estimate based on Schematic Design (SD) documents. The reason for this large increase has largely been attributed to material and labor escalation and the increased detail of the project documents. Through a Value Engineering (VE) process, the project team has been able cut approximately $1.2M from the project cost.
The current construction estimate after VE is $26,071,297.00. Including costs for professional services, the project is estimated to be approximately $1M over the current project budget of $27,638,255.00. The shared cost of this amount is roughly even between Orange County and the Town.
Staff from Carrboro and Orange County as well as consultant team members from Barnhill and Perkins + Will will be available to answer questions.
FISCAL & STAFF IMPACT: As described, the current DD plan set cost estimate exceeds the project budget. Value engineering review continues. The final project cost will be determined through and in the construction bidding process.
RECOMMENDATION:r Staff recommends that the Town Council receive comments and questions. A resolution of approval will be provided on the consent agenda on June 22nd.