Ann Arbor Design Review Board Meeting 7/10/24

001e e e I'm just figuring out if you have a quorum give me one second I believe you do well actually I think you'd need four voting members for a quorum and unfortunately Mr karski is non voting so I don't think would count toward your Quorum but I could check your bylaws I am adding Lori now as a oh great okay then you will be able to start the meeting then all right let's start we've got two projects to review today so we're going to be here for a while hello Lori um so I will call the meeting to order welcome to the Wednesday July 10 2024 design review board meeting public comment is by Zoom or by phone by calling 8778 852 5247 or this information is also available on the published agenda in

002the public record in the Public Notices section of the city website and on the broadcast of this meeting on CTN Channel 16 AT&T channel 99 and online at www.a2gov.org slatch CN the volunteer resident design review board appointed by the mayor and confirmed by city council Fosters excellence in an Arbor's built environment design and advises applicants on meeting downtown design guidelines first the applicant presents their proposed project for 15 minutes then the board discusses the design after that members of the public can comment for up to three minutes each so Hank if you could call the role please certainly chair Perkins here Vice chair Singleton here noting that uh board member Burns uh uh advised she would be absent in advance um William Kinley here uh me board member Mitchell here uh board member Ramson here

003and board member karski here you have a COR all right thank you for that um so between my script and following the uh actual agenda I've got so darn many windows open it's not funny okay so we are on to approval of the agenda um if I could have a motion in a second please so moved support moved by Wendy and supported by Bill uh any discussion all those in favor signify by saying I I hi hi is approved and then on to approval of the minutes these are the minutes from the June 12 2024 design review board meeting uh they're also in they're in your packet um so if I could have a motion in a second [Music] motion to approve or second whatever you need motion by Lori and seconded by dick uh

004any discussion on the minutes all those in favor signify by saying I I I those oppose same sign the minutes are approved um we are on to public comment uh Britney it looks like that's uh in your court right now do we have anybody who wants to speak yes we do give me a second and I will allow Jeff and Christine Crockett to talk could you put up a timer for us Britney please for three minutes yep doing it right now thank you hello can you all hear me yes uh I am Jeff Crockett Chris is right next to me actually I have lived in Ann Arbor since 1973 and in the old Fourth Ward since 1980 both my wife and I have I'm currently serving as a chair of the bicentennial history subcommittee which

005is currently supporting 14 Bicentennial projects by 23 volunteers who have spent many hundreds of hours on on these projects it was our committee in collaboration with destination Ann Arbor the State Street District the Kemp house and the library green Conservancy that planned and managed the an arbor B Centennial party in picnic on May 25th at Liberty Plaza so you can imagine how we felt when we learn that Brown Court an historic example of Workforce housing is being slated for demolition during our bicentennial year and replaced with luxury housing but expressing this appointment is only one of the reasons why we are speaking we understand that this project is being underr underwritten by Woodfield properties whose business has made a lot of money over the years in an arbor if W field is going to demolish

006these historic properties then as a gift to an arbor in its B Centennial year they should be building Workforce housing on this site to fill a critical need wouldn't it be nice if the employees of the people's food co-op could afford to live downtown down the street from their place of employment they can't afford to live downtown now and the people's food cough is in danger due to all the destruction construction that's going to be going on in the area but another problem I have for this site is its design and I say this not knowing if the design that was submitted is the final design or if this is just an initial concept but the drawings we've seen are monochrome and would in no way be compatible with the nearby buildings the drawing should

007be in color not only for the proposed building but the the nearby buildings these should also include the type of materials being used and without this information it's difficult for me or others in the public to evaluate the project design finally there's no assurance that the occupants will be full-time residents for a development like this it would not surprise us that the owners of these units would be wealthy outside investors who would use these units to short-term rentals during football Saturdays therefore it would be interesting to know once this project is completed how many residence will be full-time uh thank you for your consideration I await more deta or Chris and I await more detailed designs and color that would be helpful in determining whether the building building's final design is compatible with nearby buildings

008thank you uh thank you for that um we have no other hands raised at this time all right Britney thank you uh moving on to regular business then uh first item that we are looking at today is uh Dr 24-2 1209 South University Avenue um is Alexis joining us so Alexis uh and our other more senior planners have been working with our new associate planners to bring them into new aspects of um project review and development review so for this particular project uh she has handed the Reigns for this meeting to our new planner um one of two who you'll me you'll meet in today's meeting Julia shake and I will give some time for staff to promote the presenters for this item uh but while those folks are being promoted uh I'm not sure

009everyone had joined when you introduced yourself earlier Julius you're welcome to share a little bit about yourself yeah um great to meet everybody um Mariana and I and she'll introduce herself in a little bit later on uh I think next Monday is officially month three of our uh tenure with the city of an arbor in the planning department previously I lived in an arbor for a while through my PhD did my PhD and planning at the University of Michigan and then was living and working in Brazil for the past eight years working as a university professor in planning doing sustainability Consulting um for like Regional development and different things like that but uh it's good to be back in an aror and a pleasure to have you in our department and I think that your

010presenters uh have joined I'm going to miss if that is everyone if the if the council just uh makes us disappear like we've talked about in the past I'm going to miss working with these new faces so uh at any rate welcome thank you so for for the first project for today uh that we presented Dr uh 22-2 1209 South University Avenue I think we have three members of the de design and development team that be here to present um Allison Brad and M I'm sorry if I mispronounced your last your name uh and I will hand over the Reigns to them um for the presentation at this point thank you Nina would you be able to share the presentation um I'll just do a quick introduction of our team and then I will turn

011it over to our architecture team um to walk through the design um you can go to the next slide you know um but I am Alison Mills I'm a vice president at crg the developer of the project we are a national real estate development firm headquartered in Chicago but doing work all over the country um and we have a couple Partners on this project who I'll quickly introduce um locally we are partnering with Hughes properties who her team has partnered with before in an arbor they've just built Vic Village South and have operated Vic Village North for many years um also on the call with me is my colleague Mina lamb from the Lamar Johnson collaborative or ljc um they're actually inous to us here at crg as we have development architecture and construction vertically

012integrated here um and then also on the call is Brad Moore who you all know who is supporting our architecture team in the design process um next slide um and lastly we've also joint venture with shapack Partners who is a close longtime partner of ours also based in Chicago um who we worked with on several projects together over the years building unique residential and Retail experiences together next slide um and I also wanted to note that while it is early on for us in the process we do have a strong art mandate um and an art Mission here at crg these are two of the recent murals and a public sculpture piece that we actually have built over the last year um with local markets in each of or with local artists in each of

013these markets um next slide um and we do take this community engagement and feedback process really seriously this is a public exhibition um we actually just built in Madison just last month um that was the result of input over the course of a year from the neighborhood which was a really rewarding um process for us to be a part of so really just appreciate you taking the time to discuss the project with us and look forward to working with the drb in the neighborhood on ways we can continue to enhance the public realm like this so um with that I will turn it over to mina to walk you through the building thank you Allison um I have a series of slides I'll kind of quickly go through these um obviously you know the site

014is an L-shaped site located on the corner of univer South University and uh Church Street located within the uh South University zoning District overlay um the project will be developed into a 19 story resident building consisting of approximately 148 units the ground floor um universities on the south there is retail on the corner um of church and University we are showing a smaller retail along um university as well the lobby spaces are are a little bit more inboard access off of an outdoor um covered outdoor space and then there's you know we have we have bikes and and and um uh trash uh in towards the back of the building it was important for this project that um we uh really you know maximize the retail on the street and create provide that continuity of

015of retail experience so um the the covered the covered area is something that feels like we're carving out of the building and it serves two purpose the first is it creates um a more you know safe and and extended um uh area for the lobby for the residential Lobby that makes it feel more gracious it it gives um more articulation to the to the street um elevation which I will show in a in a some renderings later and the secondary um require uh thing it serves is it allows for for um trucks to access and maintain um the the waste removal per an Arbor's requirement this is level two um the building does uh go to the property line the unit start at level two however in the corner we are um showing uh residential

016amenities this space will be allow us to activate um the space above the retail uh Podium and then you can see in the back we've got some mechanical areas as well as an open space that meets the requirements for the trash removal arm this is the typical residential floor um it's it is an L-shaped um configuration at this level the building is set back by feet along univers South University as well as Church Street in compliant with the zoning requirements and then this is at level 19 the very top floor which Houses full full um full floor of of residential amenities and um has an a rooftop terrist on the corner that will be landscaped and um and and to be used you know as an as an active space towards the north will have

017um mechanical spaces and then Above This the roof area there will be PV arrays that will allow us to meet the sustainability requirements for the site this is um some sections through the building we are 19 floors and um absolute height is 195 fet on the on the left hand side we are showing the clearances required within the portal the covered portal as well as the clearances required for the um uh trash removal um uh Vehicles this is um a prospective View looking on the corner of South University in in Church Street so the building is as of right um which means that it's going to be you know it's in context with the neighboring buildings there is a distinct base middle and top the base is a twostory um expression primarily retail on the

018ground floor that is complementary to and in has a pedestrian scale similar to the neighboring um retail buildings around it um the the typical residential floor has uh two story window Baye expression the the windows are relatively small to give it a a residential uh character and scale and and the the two-story allows us to create a vertical um expression along the facade on University Street we have brakes um there are two braks they are roughly 9 feet and they are recessed 12 inches from the main facade to allow us to break the facade into three components to further emphasize the verticality and then at the top of the building there is um the the amenity space which is meant you know which is designed to be a Glass and Metal enclosure that really contrasts

019um the building below with a high level of transparency and inactivity this you know would would would help us to create an a unique identity in in the skyline with the neighboring buildings um it was intentional that the massing the the design of the massing and the design of facades be kept simple um you know the the kind of how we would want to describe this is simple calm restrained and symmetrical while but while this the design is fairly simple we've put put a lot of um attention into the detail of the building which which we will show um in some some renderings but unlike the the neighboring buildings you know we didn't want to force a lot of variation in the facade expression especially on on University where we're um it it you know

020it's it's not a for you know relatively it's not a big building it's 150 feet in in length on on University and and 50 approximately 50 ft on on church so the goal was to keep it keep it more refined and simple and um and I would even say you know quiet um so then with a little bit more detail so this is um this the the the the two-story uh base at the street level the facade is um brick with metal accents and then at the bottom of the piers we have Granite we want to you know use use quality materials but also create a lot of detail that would bring character to to this to this um part of of the street we've integrated um metal within the within the the storefronts above

021the storefronts and then on the second floor there is more like a a warehouse style window with some details there um metal accents for the canopies and the awnings to really activate um the the retail spaces and then further along the the entry portal is in this in this area and so here is a closer view of that entry portal um where the lobby the residential Lobby is accessed off of that we wanted to really activate um this space and create a a kind of a a semi um private public area as a entry uh for for the the residential and we did this um by carrying the glass of the retail storefronts around we've also introduced a sliding um gate at the back of that um space so that it does provide a backdrop

022and and um and and and uh for for security as as well we've introduced um the sorry the the ENT the the portal itself is um has is curbless it's seamless for for um throughout and we placed some ballards on the um near the entry to prevent um public vehicles from from using it the Ballers can be removed when um service maintenance Vehicles need to access um the back area this is U moving up the building this is a a typical uh residential Bay the two story Bay at the typical residential floors we wanted to show that the level of detail of the brick work as well as the metal detail on the corner that is being expressed um there is also um we wanted to study the depth the windows are pushed back you

023know six inches so that there is a shadow line and that and that it's not so flat and then this is a view um from the uh Church Street side where we're sh um the the the building elevations as they turn the corner the intent is to keep the larger glass openings on the corners and maintain that same language from University all the way to the back the the again for the tower um the facade for the residential floors are are brick and um brick on on University as well as on church and then back here there's a a faint line from from back here where we're coming back of a bay or two um the back elevations will be stitious panel I'm so sorry to interrupt Mina uh you all are coming up quickly

024on time so I just wanted to do a quick check in uh to let you know that um I I will there's a few more things I want to say and I'm going to um wrap this up the you know I'm going to go back to this it was we we we wanted to for the facade it was intentional to differentiate and complement the neighboring buildings around it and when we say differentiate you know we're doing this through um a darker and and deeper um material palette we do this with the warehouse uh window detail on the ground on the level two as well as the the rooftop amenity space we've introduced metal steel expression and then a unique Corner expression and we feel like this would different differentiate but also complement um the neighboring

025buildings around it as well as be a complimentary expression to the to the city of of of Ann Arbor um I I we submitted elevations I don't think I want to go through this and so that kind of wraps up my presentation I look forward to um your questions that the the drb has for us okay thank you for the presentation uh so at this point Mr chair if we could just see if planner Shake has anything to add from a staff perspective I'd appreciate it yes thank you um to the development team for your presentation uh I would spend a lot of time uh going through the staff report staff has identified a number of especially pertinent uh design guidelines for the downtown an arbor uh from the downtown an arbor design guidelines uh

026especially within design guidelines for context and site planning Urban pattern and form open space parking driveways and service areas building massing Street Edge entries Windows awnings materials building operational systems Su and sustainability and building elements um specifically want to call attention to the fact that um this is within South University character District uh as well and more than happy to answer any specific questions about the specific guidelines that we identified as especially perent pertinent but um just to call attention to a few um important um findings from the staff report uh the urban pattern and form in the South University character area has significantly changed the past decade the proposed project is consistent with this emerging character open space of source for the development is provided by a pedestrian alley or the walkway that was

027shown along the north side of the Church of Church Street from Church Street and a service drive through the middle of the ground floor from South University specific design treatment for the north pedestrian alley is unclear but the renderings provide provided appear to indicate the opening on South University maximizes multi-function activity and does not detract from the sidewalk experience um point three not withstanding the well-designed open space of the South University Service Drive guideline a41 recommends locating driveways and service areas to minimize impact on pedestrians the service Drive May better meet the guidelines if it was relocated to Church Street um item four the proposed to conform to the dimensional standards of the South University character overlay district and the applicable guidelines in section B design guidelines for buildings the design has a particularly strong

028base and the tower has a distinct change in the ratio of solid to void and finally uh point five the design also appears to respond particularly well to the applicable guidelines in section c design guidelines for building elements it Street Edge is Rich entries are appropriate Windows have a high level transpar Y and establish both a horizontal and both horizontal and vertical patterns awnings are proposed and are proportional to the overall proportions of the facade and building materials reinforce the massing and Architectural Concepts and character of the building and its context that concludes the the staff report for this project but uh staff is available should there be any other questions um regarding the design guidelines that we identified thank you thank you Julia okay um I think at this point we can invite uh

029board member comments so just uh raise your hand if you want to uh jump in Wendy um I guess I want to start with some questions so if we could go to um sheet seven which is the ground floor plan um I'm trying to understand uh where the property lines are and um from the elevations it looks like there's a gap on the east side I don't know if that's a right of way um and I don't know what's going on in the very back there in the far north so maybe the um the applicant can talk a little bit about what's going on to the to the the East is a vacant lot um Wendy that is owned by the neighbor to the east UT Towers is it a right of way a utility

030right of way or their property no no it's it's just a vacant lot it's just a vacant lot we are actually looked at that site in 2016 and that was going to be one of my questions so while you've brought it up Wendy I curious because that was supposed to be developed uh as a 4story 12,000 squ foot building and I don't think anything's happened with it does staff know where that project stands I checked with uh Mr Kowalski earli this week he was the planner assigned to that he said it was withdrawn and never moved forward okay thank you all right didn't mean to interrupt lendy but you hit question probably yeah it's it leaves um it leaves a little bit to be desired to keep that open there I don't know whether it's

031something that can provide access at some point to the rear um because it seems like uh it's going to be a a trick to get vehicles in and out of that um whatever we call it alley in the center of the site um but what's what's along the back there I see that there's a do like to answer your question the line is the dash line that you see there is a 6 foot n um easement at U sorry walkway to this North and then back here there's an easement to access the DTE switch um this is something something that that is a uh that was part of the the site um access and so it was we could not um ex go over that that area so it's a easement for the parking structure

032or for the apartment parking structure utility it's it's a utility easement in the back in the rear of the property the property line is the solid solid is black line that you can kind of see around so 12 15 which is owned by the same like Brad mentioned owned by the same owners as University Towers we have been trying to connect with them um about their property but it's currently under their control um right now just preserving views to from University Towers um but the current curb cut on South University is where we're showing this access just for trash no other vehicles and Midwestern Consulting has been working with the city on the maneuvering uh paths for the trash pickup trucks and uh and everything can be done in a in a t turn that

033the city and uh the private huler trucks are capable of can you show can you point out where that screen would be that you had mentioned what thisen would be would be back here it's it's slides um there there's actually two screens you know one would slide this way and another secondary one would slide this way and the idea was that when you're using when you're accessing the bikes that that you can kind of maneuver around it but but the idea was that as you're looking through the space that we're not looking into back into the neighbor's yards and that we're maintaining um you know that that Frontage on University where the public can look through and control that okay thank you that's all very helpful all right d you have your hand up yeah

034I have um while we're on the site plan a question something that comes up with us frequently is where do the GrubHub cars and the Amazon deliveries Park and come and go um yeah there there's an existing um you can see it on Church Street there where the curb Dives in and there's room for three or four vehicles right there that that is that designated space for this property so that's a no parking Zone it's just for deliveries it's loading 15 minutes that's correct it's already it's already signed that way it's a it's a loading and you can pull in you know Park your commercial vehicle there and then deliver to the lobby okay okay thank you and and I had a question uh for Julia and it's a little bit out of our purview

035so I apologize for that um then this is a project that was was given a premium for sustainability we haven't talked about that yet um but what do we do um in the case of sustainability goals not being reached but the building is built and occupied and um it it worries me there was significant premium awarded for more floors and more beds but we the the sustainability discussion at least in our package was not very thorough so are is there a commitment to reaching a certain sustainability goal or is it a desire if I could uh step in because the drb is the your board is the first stop this project has uh not even submitted a a full package for site plan review and so though that full menu of what the applicant may

036wish to provide it it could evolve yet um I'll let them speak but from the staff perspective we don't have um a uh a full set of um materials to determine whether or not they meet the UDC criteria for a bonus for a hype bonus on the base of sustainability Etc we just don't have access to that that yet but we could you know make a note that the applicant would like to work toward that and then we keep that in mind once a submitt is made yeah let the speak to I know Hank it's beyond our perview but there should be a means of monitoring sustainability goals and making sure they're met and I don't know how we deal with it if five floors have been awarded for an unfulfilled promise so so so

037I can tell you that on other projects um the uh penalties for failure have been included in the development agreements I don't know if that's the path they're they're really minor though so moving on into things that are in our purview um and I think you you really did a good job of capturing the spirit of the guidelines it it's it it's a building designed in 2024 and reflects that and we all believe should and at the same time captures the scale and the at least the scale and maybe not the massing as much but the level of interest of of what we're after the steel detailing that appears on the primary facades is really well done um I think Mina called it simple and and it's simple and it's subtle but it's it's interesting

038and um you did a nice job of it and I think it it maintains the scale that we're looking for on The Pedestrian level um so I want to commend you for that in your in your awareness of Shadow lines and depth above while at the same time keeping it simple as is a real attribute so I I think you you've understood the spirit of the guidelines and and done a good job of it thank you thanks for that feedback and Dick to just respond to your question about sustainability well it is early as Hank mentioned we have dedicated roof space for the PVS so we can make sure that we're capturing the required amount of solar panels on the roof and are also in conversations with DTE about future electrification of the entire building

039yeah it's just hard in experience tells me that HVAC controls are going to be probably individual throughout the building and it's and that's where most lead points are are gained through the hvvc system in the thermal package so it's a real Challenge and it's hard as you know um to to get all the points you would like to get and it just may be too late for the city when if it falls short then that's my concern but but we'll let the city council and Planning Commission deal with that all right uh Lori hi thank you um I concur that um I think that that you've done a really nice job executing the intent and building out the details and the m cials in a way that's both very restrained but also very rich um

040at eye level it's a seems a pleasure to walk along the street so I have very um kind of precise little comments mostly about the alley that passes through the building um and the ballards that you've shown so maybe if you could just switch to that view um probably already on your minds but I think something protecting those facades um would be beneficial even if it's just sort of like a thickened um steel mid Midway mulon or some sort of rub bar incorporated into the facade that actually protects protects that in some way I just would never trust any of the vehicles moving in and out of here to do that so thoughtfully as to avoid incident in there um I'd also say removable ballards um uh tend to come out but not go back

041in um all the time they get thrown thrown in the back of a truck or on the side of the alley or borrowed permanently so um if they are removable one thing I would recommend is actually creating empty receptacles nearby that they can slide into when not when moved out of the way and then back into this position so they always have a home in the landscape if removable is the only option otherwise possibly looking at a fold down variety that stays in place and is much more operable and friendly sometimes these get too heavy sometimes they roll around they get very banged up but um I would rethink the removable solution for those um just to make sure that that works effectively because from my experience they tend not to last very long as

042a solution so that's really it otherwise I think it's a you know it's it's really nicely done thank you Lori thank you Lori dick just a quick comment to add to Lori um we've had pretty good luck with hydraulic PDS that stay in place and our automated and can pop up and down and that's maybe what you're thinking of the other thing related to this alley is that any vehicle going going in I believe with that screen there needs to back out across South View so Julia's point about it coming off Church is a valid one but you only have 6 foot n back there no all the vehic all the vehicles will head but won't have to back out because the teacher they'll be able to head uh face out oh really yeah okay

043yeah there is it backs out here and then but when the screen is up the screen yeah the screen would be removed you know would slide because it slides horizontally and the screen will slide when that when the vehicles need to access that okay thank you Mina Lori you more to add no Wendy we should probably let John go first but I the one the one thing that um I noticed is that at the corner you have the um that brick uh column and the radius on the um the street is really tight in that intersection so um you know I don't know if there's an opportunity to do you know to shave that off or if that's a supporting column but um people tend to collect there and you know if nothing else transparency

044might be good um because of all the activity that goes on there uh um we can we can study that you know I think I think um the peers coming down are important but I I understand your point well we can study that okay John you have your hand up yes thank you um I'd like to uh applaud Allison's uh statement about an art mandate from the design team um that uh uh the Council feels likewise and as such uh actually uh changed the board to include a member of the art Commission of which I'm that such member um and so I'd like um first of all to kind of zero in uh on um two of the items that the staff uh has um uh has uh um uh identified uh and and that's

045the uh the Open Spaces and the uh Street Edge um that both uh could be improved with elements of of public art and I know this is just very early uh but I'm wondering uh what your plans might be uh for public art and uh where and how you might uh plan to do that so we it is still very early in the process but we have done in the past both public murals and public sculptures um so I think would be open to exploring with the design team um and working with a local artist um in one of those two mediums whether it's in our Alleyway in our kind of muse Area Public Muse area um there may be a good opportunity there or something more in the public right of way maybe there's

046like another sculptural element um that we can include but we would definitely um look forward to suggestions for other folks in the art community that we should continue to reach out and have those conversations with great so when that time comes the art commission stands ready to help in any way possible we have networks into that community and some experience on on what works and what could work better uh I have I have two other questions I I I want to agree with uh with with dick regarding uh how you handled the massing and the uh the shadow lines the vertical recess uh I think is uh uh is awesome I I I really like it I think it fits in it's a it looks good um that um I want to ask about uh

047two things uh and I'm not sure whether it's sustainability or um U uh building operation but uh the city is trying to uh uh get away from uh natural gas as much as possible uh so um my question uh and it kind of ties in with solar my question is are you planning to offer uh natural gas uh to um uh to residents of the building uh and uh how are you planning to um use solar so right now we have Provisions for solar panels on the roof to contribute to the electrification of the building we are still in conversations with DTE about the capacity that they have in this neighborhood which I'm sure you've heard from other projects is not necessarily ready for 100% electrification but our plan is to continue to work with

048them to try to achieve those goals as close as we can um or at least design the building to a point where it can be all electric at some point in the future Alison you you're not planning on gas stoves or appliances in the No No appliances there there shouldn't the only real capacity issue is for heating and ventilation um in the MEPS but the r es um in the units are all electric they won I I like that that's great I'm sure the council will like it as well you you might want to note that um this uh this election cycle there's a uh uh an issue on the ballot uh regarding uh an Arbor's own kind of uh utility and how it interfaces which might very well change the uh the DTE maximum

049of what you could put on on the building so just uh you know a a bookmark uh for that uh um that's all um that's all I have I like the building looks very good thanks thank you thank you John Bill hi thank you I I'll agree with all the comments that preceded this it's a nicely designed building the only thing I want to discuss just briefly and see your logic because I'm sure you have studied this to death uh why you couldn't bring in the alley uh through the the side of the building the Church Street side not in six9 is too small but through the footprint of the building because you pierced it through the front and most utility use of dumpsters and so forth are at the back corner with a reordering

050of the fire Command Center fire water pump and so forth recapturing some of that common area space coming in the loading and trash Zone wouldn't have to be as big tell me your logic of why you couldn't bring it in off church I'm concerned that since South youu uh has much more uh density of pedestrian traffic and vehicular traffic than Church Street having utility vehicles service vehicles and so forth coming in off that side is problematic maybe it's the only way you can do it this way but give me some of the logic of why you couldn't move it from that Church Street cut out through the fire Command Center the footprint not the 69 space um I'll also add and I don't know minina if you want to add anything else but what doesn't

051show on this floor plan William is uh the existing four-story apartment building um that's just to the north they're only access to um the street their only curb cut is via an easement through the existing curb cut onto South University so we cannot relocate their access goes right there that's good answer we're maintaining the curb cut as as it exists and expanding it for trash and Service as we need to but I'm trying to get all parties access in the same same location thanks for the explanation Lori yeah I want to just Channel my inner Tamera and that ask the question if there are windows in the stair um a corridor it looks as though that's a solid massing on the facade of the building and getting daylight into those stairs especially with the building

052of this height um is important for comfort and usability of that space so if am I reading that correctly that there yeah so so for for this location you know I think this is um we will want to provide a window looking into this space but I think your your question is on a typical floor if I'm not mistaken and so this this stair this stair is on the perimeter could we start to look at um windows in that stair you know I think um there it would be fire rated glass but um that's something that we would we would take into consideration i' certainly encourage the use of that especially floor to floor for students versus using elevators for everything um to make that feel like I'm more comfortable and Humane space thank you

053all right thanks Lori I had a few questions um your narrative um talks about a vibrant internal portal uh the two retail spaces being bisected by um can you talk a little bit about that so this is this is the area I I I think you're you're meaning uh this is that um outdoor cover entry area and we continued the retail around to act help further activate that space I think it's meant to to not feel like a service Drive um I don't know that answers your question I you know I think I think the the the goal was to um turn a service drive into something that looks intentional and and we did this with some of the details where where this is curbless that you know I didn't I didn't mention this when

054I in my presentation but the image on the right is a project where the team has worked on um in Chicago at chapek this is amuse obviously a different scale but um similar in character where it's activated it with um obviously here the was more height activate with Greenery activate it with uses as well as have a seamless um uh RightWay kind of look that would extend into that space does that answer question and I would just add Mina too like it's not really it's not intended to be us every day you like we don't have perking on this project and so we actually expect vehicular use is going to be quite limited you know it's not going to be like an everyday vehicle servicing this it's really going to be a pedestrian experience for

05590% of the time right thank you for that my concern is um what you're showing on the right hand side your Chicago project that to me is vibrant what I'm looking at here on the on the South University entrance that to me is not vibrant when I see spaces like this and we looked at this on a project a couple of weeks ago maybe it was back in May I'm not sure but those spaces always look to me like a perfect place for a mugging to occur and a vibrant space would invite people into it um your bike parking is back there so there is going to be so I'm not sure do the gates interfere with access to the bike parking um I just don't feel like what you're what you're projecting there at

056this preliminary stage is a very vibrant use of that uh potentially nice pedestrian Plaza um where there might be some seating out there something like that you know we we really looked at at designing the space and I'm going to share with you our wish list lighting that can extend down from the ceiling you know seating permanently located within the space um Landscaping components the the problem we have is that all of that um impacts the clearances of the trucks coming through and so they can never be permanent um you know it we didn't mention this so so it's it's it's very little um depth in that Ste you know I I think we'll get some lighting that would we we would do the best we can with this space but given that trucks need

057to move through there's nothing that that is it cannot be accessorized like the image on the right and I would just note Mina you know we're showing the rendering really for like preliminary design intent but in the site plan you could also see we had the leasing Lobby office across from the regular Lobby the residential Lobby and so what ECT that there's actually going to be quite a bit of natural you know resident and pedestrian foot traffic between the two and then with a combination of lighting our implanters and that transparency that retail a and Retail B have I I think we're we're trying to say that we can execute it like we have executed it in the past and and make it like this vibrant retail residential Lobby experience good I I mean I

058I have confidence that you can come up with something very nice there I just wanted to note that uh you know it's something that I think can really enhance the streetcape and I understand the issue of placing bar you know barriers in there to the vehicular traffic that you have to get in and out of there um second question if you can go back to one of those uh renderings of of the uh church or the University South University yeah that one so I really like the the fenestration that you have um conceptualized here um especially the idea that you're going to put cut-ups in these windows and so my and they almost disappear in other elevations are are these going to be Mion that are on the outside of I know they're not going

059to be true divided lights but are they going to be simulated so that those Mion are on the outside of the glass too um yeah it's it's very early you know the idea was to have this expression I I don't know that we can um determine the makeup of that system yet I know that's this is the look that we're looking to achieve well I really like it and I think it fits very nicely with the rest of your your design Direction um another minor thing is I I really like that Soldier course of corble brick along the top of the Second Story um it could even be nicer if it was maybe an extra Soldier course and two corales out instead of just one um maybe a little bit more of the Quasi traditional

060look that you're or feeling that you're trying to achieve but I really like I really I I like keeping it simple I don't want to see dentals up there or something like that but some but it could be a little bit more uh detailed than it is um I think that's it I'm going to Echo what other members have said I I think this is a nice building and uh I think you responded well to the guidelines and and I'm also just this is just quickly for staff i' I've made this comment in the past that staff can't do our job but I think the staff report um this week picks up on a lot of those points and it's helpful to have that review put in front of us so thank you for that

061anybody else have anything to add I I had one more I and it's not one more it's just to reinforce what Wendy said that outside corner at the intersection if that could be made transparent it's really helpful for people to see what's coming at a 90 degree pedestrian turn and um and then that's a real good thought so I just want to reinforce that bill something else yeah just one minor thing concentrating on on the truck entry there the uh the doors for both the lobby uh and the leasing office swing into that space I I could see that being a a dangerous situation and maybe if you move those recess those so they don't swing so people don't step directly from the lobby into the traffic Zone and the leasing office if you recess

062those so they aren't swinging so they aren't taking the first step out into the pathway of the vehicles at just a minor point it probably will come up in in the planning review but I thought I would at least point out it seems to me that could be a challenge long term all right thank you everybody thank you to the design team uh and to the staff and board members um if there is Mr chair we recap what we heard from you to make sure we have the right content for our summary document good idea please thanks I will pass it over to miss Shake thank you um and please uh stop me if I've Mis captur or I have not captured all the board members um uh comments or mischaracterized any board members comments

063but uh an attempt to summarize as follows uh the board has noted that the that captures the spirit of the guidelines overall and there's been comment of the inclusion of art mandate was applauded um as far as specific comments consider protecting the facades adjacent to the middle service Drive um design alternatives to removable ballards in which they remain on site such as hydraulic or empty receptacles uh could be beneficial brick the brick column and radius at the street corner is very tight um transparency might be a good because of the concentration of people at the corner um consider having windows in the stair corridors emphasize creating a truly vibrant space in the middle Corridor and that The Swinging Doors into the middle Corridor um could create a dangerous sit situation um potentially consider recessing those

064use of various systems to replicate facade elements as the building gets more distant from the ground level um as they get farther away out of the eyesight um and extra Soldier course corales or other detail elements to to enrich in the facade board members also discussed um the interfaces with adjacent lots and buildings while um uh understanding that they include easements and various uh limitations uh to those interactions and outside of the purview of the board uh the direct purview of the board but board members brought attention the importance of sustainability goals including electrification minimizing Natural Gas did anyone hear anything uh just real quickly I had made a me I had made mention of um the cut UPS in the windows uh whether those are permanent design feature um personally I'd like to see

065them stay other board members May disagree with that could we go to a slide to know what you're referring to Mr Perkins I don't have a design background and I want to make sure we capture adequately what you're referring to yeah so um if you take a look at the large um sort of square opening right um to the corner that window has some narrow cups in it yep whoever is doing the pointing you're doing a perfect job these cut offs in the windows can either be between the two layers of glass which makes them visible from the interior uh quite prominently but from the exterior they disappear because the glass is a single uh plane and it reflects the light so if they go on the outside of the glass and the inside of

066the glass then they are a prominent architectural element from both sides and God knows I'm not an architect um dick you are H how do you feel about whether they stay or whether they go I I totally agree with you and and I really like on the second floor the Chicago style with the larger few window in the middle and two flanking smaller panels that that's fitting so Jeff would would the moons in between the inner and outer pan of the thermal pan would that be acceptable or are you looking for something that projects past the glass on the outside no when they're in between the two panes of glass they PR near disappear from the outside so I would like to see them uh on the outside and the inside of the glass I'm

067not looking for true divided Light Glass here I know you can't afford that um but if it could be simulated divided light where it's inside and out um it would it would make those molans read from the outside does that explain it to you Hank it certainly does thank you so much I think that concludes um everything staff had for this presentation thank you to our presenters yeah as long as just wanted to to uh since it's my first uh time working with the the design review design review board um just want to make sure is there anything else that was either like misc captured not completely captured or mischaracterized and my sumary no I think it was good Julia thank you so much all right so thank due to the design team for that

068um we will move on to our next project thank you all right Dr 24- Tri 3 313 to 327 Brown Court um and I will turn this over to Mariana Jeff let me just make a comment I'm going to have to get off this I have to go to another event that I can't get out of but I will try to get on by my phone if I if I if I can't uh keep carry on I I would like to see the carry Town thing but I'm I'm going to have to drop off pretty quickly here so you may see me try to get back on with my phone pretty soon all right hurry back thank you all right thank you hi everyone again I'm Mariana I'm one of the new planners I started

069um with Julia just a couple months ago um and I believe I saw that we had our presenters on for 313 to 327 Brun court so I'm going to turn it over to them hi everyone this is uh Kenji with loha um we're the architect for the Bron Court project um we have also on the call lurin the principal um for the office and Brian the director pull up the drawings would you like us to come obrien as well uh yes please can everyone see the screen yes all right Lin you're muted there we go sorry and uh lur and oh her hopefully you can hear me yes great uh great pleasure great pleasure to be here uh uh to work with you and of course an neighbor in this process uh just as a

070brief overview on on our office we can go to the next slide uh we're a practice that is both uh located in U Los Angeles and Detroit we've been busy for the last 10 years in Detroit this represents uh a number of projects we've completed in Detroit the two lower images are under construction uh each of these projects represent uh larger development called brush Park which are the four images on the top uh affordable housing in the bottom right and a cultural project in the bottom left which is the East Village of Detroit which is under construction so that's a quick overview of the type of work we a 26 person firm based in as I mentioned in Detroit in Los Angeles and uh our background uh is certainly committed to housing and uh the

071importance of contextual uh architecture is also very important each of these projects you're looking at here is variety of student housing affordable housing and market rate housing uh so that's just a quick overview our work um we can now go to uh the um uh project summary so the uh today we're just gonna uh discuss a sorry so we're today we're just going to talk about a number of issues one is of course um our uh uh project uh seven story housing project it does entail 38 units uh 94,000 foot uh uh floor area and we do have 36 parking spaces 24 bicycle spaces and uh 2572 ft ground level open space in addition to that 6600 roughly square feet of balconies Terraces and roof decks which is a critical component of our project as

072you see as we start to show you images of the project we're also providing uh as I mentioned that the ratio of parking is 1: one the units are also just a quick overview uh are uh located near the heart of Cary town uh I'm sure we're all aware of Bron port and it's a the site it is a bit of a transitionary block right now between the density of downtown and the Lesser scaled uh single family neighborhood so this site isn't it's interesting it's an Hing site between those two uh conditions to the south of the site is a new six level mix building uh it's planned and it's actually under construction uh and to the north there is an existing four level uh uh town homes on the right hand side the brick

073paved streets outside lead to the an arbor farmers market and other walkable Community amenities uh this next image is uh showing the context of our building uh you see here the uh relationship to the building uh 121 East C Street which is a six-story mix use and that's under construction thus this idea of connection between different densities on the SES on the right hand side there is a for story town home on the right hand side and certainly you can see within the surrounding area number of five story buildings in the back area at the alley and certainly across the street at 303 Detroit Street is a five-story commercial and of course the an arbor farmers market right right across the street so that shows a number of context it is actually inspired about this

074idea of having a building that starts addresses issue of density but also try to find ways of breaking the mass in the building down to start to also contextually try to connect to the smaller scale buildings as well so this idea of density of the largest scale but also in the sense engaging embracing the IDE Greenery uh in the building uh brings that aspect to it so you can begin to see these Terraces and balconies the idea is not only providing these oper spaces for the the tenants but also for that matter it's a a way of connecting to the street and con the public area so that's also important now we can go to the big idea of how we were developing this so the first image on the left shows the building envelope

075it's very simple simple diagram a box showing potential building envelope with a step back for the street wall so that presents that initial step we take we always look at okay what is the building a and how do we carve away from this how do we bring scale how do we bring this idea bring light and air so each of these steps the second one is really addressing issue bringing light and air as you can see in in the diagram too so we've carved deep into the potential massing to bring light and and fresh air into the L-shaped units and to break the bulk of the massing down along the street face the third image is talking about the street wall setback and the third diagram we're also pushing a portion of the facade back

076further to create a street uh Street walk uh step back and that's awfully important you start to bring these elements within the project and start to refine the design on the fourth one you can also again see the additional stepping down to Street and the neighborhood uh buildings and that's an interesting approach when you start to carve away and start to bring these elements in the projects uh for the upper floors uh the modules come out towards the street and Kenji will show you with that curser uh one from each of the three units across the width of the building giving this facade a finer more appropriate scale that was the key to the project is how do you find this idea this hinge building this mediation between larger massing and then the smaller uh

077scale that also is in a way wedded to the uh smaller scale uh contextual projects as well next one so our sustainability diagram is critical this is something that we provide in all our projects uh the project will also place a priority on this and we are seeking a lead silver rating so that is our goal that's our aspirations so we designed uh these projects with passive design strategies finding ways to actually accommodate not only lead silver but also go beyond and that's what we do with all of our work is we do think uh the premise that architecture should always Embrace a building that has sustainability and Legacy to their projects and has to be a way of weding that idea about the planet and how we can provide architecture and buildings uh in

078place but also addressing these critical issues of sustainability the floor plans naturally allow for cross ventilation for Passive cooling you can see the small diagram in the bottom right so the nature of the units were designed in such a way that air can come in and also exit and that's the interesting aspect of perhaps the plans where if vertically one can't do it if you can't have a cross cross grain the unit but if you design the units that have these cutouts for the outter balconies and Terraces you can provide this uh flow of air which is critical to the idea of design strategies the facade will Fe feature a a durable low maintenance exterior mat material pette that's awfully important uh so those are critical issues to it on the rooftop we do have

079solar panels uh which will allow for the high efficiency which will also allow for the high efficiency mechanical equipments and they are intended to being invisible from the street so these are the components of it so the building becomes a living organism so we're trying to really Embrace that concept we also of course have the idea the bike path bike uh parking of course and storage and the EV as well um stations so this shows the big idea which we tried to bring to all of our projects and these idea of terraces and balconies really celebrate this idea of having indoor outdoor spaces uh next and here's the first uh image uh you can see how the stepping of the building inward also greatly minimizes the bul of the building from the street so this

080idea of stepping back vertically also having a ER profile uh really starts to address those issues of how you break the mass and break the scale down so the facade above the street level will be defined by these larger open windows with significant Terrace scene on the upper levels to animate the building for the street life so we do see these opportunities where there's there's a vertical connection that you start to engag not only street but the building itself as a way of connection connecting between people in the building and also of the street next and this is more of a uh the next one is from the other view so this one is also looking south from the an arbor Farmers Market the building scale back and again pulls back uh from the uh

081the the building as well there's elements of it which we think is starting to work within uh within the overall Ing and that's crucial to it so with this particular one shs had the building has been carefully designed to fit in with its neighbors as you can see the building on the left there's a scale proportional scale to it you can see the fourth story on the right hand side as well so the Ming is roughly equivalent to to to the six-story uh to the South while the north we've had we've left AV void above the three-story Street wall to bring the Ming below adjacent to the four-story town hall so you start to see these orizontal lines within the building that kind of manipulation of the building starts to engage both the context of

082the smaller four story and also the larger five story on the other side and the next one is a closeup showing the life of the street uh which is awfully important to zoom in and start to see opportunities and how you begin to see the relationship between people and the scale of building and the proportions of the windows all those play a critical role to the project so in the closeup you can see how we're continuing the town hall typy across our lower levels which will have front doors facing the sidewalk that's a very important component of the project how to engage that experience and that also in a way uh is a way of engaging the smaller scale uh residential buildings as well so those are critical to the project uh it's clearly defined

083main entrances there as well it's recess in the ground level and provides a public publicly accessible Court uh next so the material pallet that we're using so the material palette we're using is we're we're embracing the idea of white brick and we're also looking at aluminum doors and windows and in terms of the exterior uh each of these recessed Windows has this idea of the Juliet Balcony so there's a kind of depth to it and density certain of the windows but that provides this opportunity to bring Green Space up to the throughout the building not only The Terraces but the balconies but frankly the windows as well bring that density to which is really excellent so this is the white brick component equally so we have a textured sage green brick so certain elevations will

084have the green brick and then the other ones will have the white brick all those start to play a critical role to the building and also we do have of course the metal mesh guard rails on it as well so that shows you a kind of detail of the material palette among the other things the next one is just a street elevation we do have the other ones available as well but this shows components of it and here's an elevation showing the building starts to show the levels we're at at 77 feet for the building you begin to see the breaking down the massing even in the elevation the idea of showing the depth of the faade was critical to it so very important you can start to see The Terraces and large Windows among

085others which you could also see in the rendering as well now the floor plans I'm just going to talk briefly about that we do have low grade parking so we have one Subterranean parking level and ongr parking a little bit off the alley and that does provide the 36 onsite parking spaces uh at the all the parking will be concealed from the street we've also shown 24 spaces as I mentioned for bikes the trash recycling compost will provided here as well and picked up via the alley so you begin to see that how in this particular one on the on the main level you see the parking yeah go to the next image so jump the next one Kenji that shows the ram point below in this one you see what we've done in terms

086of the Town hose is it fronting it on fourth so it starts to screen the the small parking components we have in the back area and that's a very important aspect of the project so we provided the parking but also being sensitive to the street and having this idea of an engagement activation uh for these town homes that walk out to the street on Fourth Avenue so that's the key thing to that project as well within the uh above levels and I'll have uh P will go through each one of these uh as I'm talking so there's a number of them so the above levels are organized around the central spine with light Wells and even end while exter steps in and out to extend the perimeter of each unit and allows for greater access

087to V to views light and air and also the opportunity to engage the street that's all critical to so these were all provided in this overall party that we're showing for Flor plan so each of the levels are following the same idea the third level in particular above the concrete Podium has expansive outdoor Terraces and Terraces continue to step in as we move up through the building creating these private outdoor spaces um open to Sky and we end on the roof and um there will be some private roof decks up there so very important for those top units to be able to have this experience so we will be feature solar array as well uh those are the those the key plans and then the roof deck and there you can see the roof deck

088so we are providing these roof decks on on the deck as well we we do this with our work we start to think of these buildings uh building in place grounded in terms of where it is uh we look at Material concepts of it uh which we did in terms of embracing brick uh looking at also refinement of that material and playfulness in terms of not only the green component the sage color brick with the white brick these are elements that I think bring or Elevate the architecture and so the last sorry to interrupt is this your last slide and you can see the cross-section throughout the building sorry yes it is indeed uh Tim it for it should be about 10 so there you go have the overall section that shows the building shows

089the Terrace the roof decks also shows the roof residential units vertically and you can also see in a section where you have the roof decks on the top all within that 78 foot Max allowable so uh that's our presentation thank you very much looking forward to your discussion your comments and and discussion all right thank you for that um so if you uh well at this point do we have um staff comments then from Mariana available sure yes I will try to make this quick um and also the staff report is based on an earlier version of the presentation so I will try not to make any comments that no longer apply um I would quickly like to read some of the background on Bron Court um the seven buildings from 313 to 327 Bron

090Court were built from 1914 to 1918 as single family homes the houses are nearly identical with Gable front roofs and gabled wall ders in covered front porches all are stuck o clad the street of Bron Court was closed to Vehicles by 1974 and then the buildings were remodeled in the 1980s from the mid 1990s to 2020 bronc Court was the center of the lgbtq community in Ann Arbor um as was mentioned this is located in the D2 Zone and in the KY Town character district and the design does comply with the D2 regulations and Cary Town standards um except for staff has been in contact um with the applicants about some changes to the average offset at the top of the street wall but that is something that will be dealt with a little bit

091later um in terms of the downtown design guidelines some of the ones that staff found particularly pertinent um relate to Urban pattern and form open space parking driveways and service areas building massing Street Edge entries materials building operating systems and sustainability um so very quickly for the staff analysis as noted this is a transition space between downtown and more residential areas of an arbor um it is is taller than a lot of the Car Town buildings which are two to four stories um but as you can see on the drawings with the proposed new development particularly along um Catherine Street and 4th Avenue it may not be out of the height context um anymore just given the new construction that's going on the design does follow the downtown design guidelines for buildings that are larger

092larger than the surrounding structures with the facade being broken up into smaller building modules with the varying Heights and step back um the project does include open space um but it is primarily private and semi-private plazas and balconies and so staff just wants to encourage the design team to consider um as they continue developing this that they just that there will be the future residents of the building but also pedestrians given that this is located just across the street from the farmers market in the Cary Town shops and bronc court has historically been a publicly accessible Gathering space um staff also finds that the brick is in contact with the material of the area and this project as noted is seeking um the exceptions to height limits for sustainability and again that's something that will

093be discussed a little bit later down the line but that the applicant touched upon is that they are seeking lead silver rating and there will be um some sustainability aspects to the project so that is just my quick outline and I will turn it over to the board um for questions and discussions thank you Mariana board members Lori hi thanks um lots of really fun things going on here I think Ann Arbor is a community that likes some playfulness in the design of elements in the community and rarely do we get that in a way that is either not just like the random use of color but to have the form itself um and a fresh take on material provide that I think is really appropriate to a site that's brought so much joy to

094individuals I know this may not be everyone's cup of tea from an architectural standpoint because it is a very different approach um but I I personally think that it brings a flavor of kind of Distinction not quite like anywhere else um to this important site um I love the use of the town home Frontage on the street to create some Street activation going in and out of the doors versus is having all of that circulation through the rear through through the central um core in the building which you certainly could have done um but I think that brings a nice scale and um Rhythm across that the facade a couple points architecturally I've been trying to quite put my finger on is um with the push and pull of the kind of modules the third

095floor condition where there's only kind of a single story in the module yeah that kind of two those two kind of units right there proportionately just feels like it doesn't quite jive with the rest of the way you're pushing and pulling the modules like it needs to be two or three or four stories to have the same flavor something continually draws my eye to that little two those two bars that are only a single story high and I just kind of wonder if that might be something to look at or if that was intentional to stand out but it does feel very different from all of the other masses that you played with I think similarly the upper portion of four story units that are nearly symmetrical L-shaped kind of forms inside outside the symmetry

096of that actually feels a little bit disconcerting with the other pieces push it it almost wants there to be a a a more uniform approach that these kind of familiar geometries in our minds kind of almost CH create a hierarchy that may or may not have been intentional visually I'm not sure if that makes sense to you but for me I just keep going to those two things as kind of not feeling like the Rubik's cube of elements um pushing in and out and then I I know I'm loading this up with lots of stuff but the one last thing that I'll say is I would love to see in more detail I think that you've thought about it but I'm not quite sure if I'm reading it yet what happens to the facades that

097are sliding against each other and the floors that are being exposed how those are getting treated um it seems like you're kind of taking this nice clean white facade and then and then what happens on those other sides is sort of like the Abad from that movement of pushing and pulling so I'm really curious about what those seams look like and how what what your um thinking is on how those seams between those kind of sliding forms are are being treated and finished because I think that'll be an important part of how we read and understand it in in real space thank you okay no thank thank you for your comments uh yeah I I do think uh the nature of being able to bring color and this the vibrancy uh and we'll refine refine

098the sage color but the idea returns it's a way of dealing with color where it's more in a sense a Clarity of an idea that on one on one orientation it's white and you turn the corner so that detail how we transition from the white to The Brick is something we've done in the past and we're looking forward to continue to develop that with regards the actual uh component to singular for in a way we if one looks at the the push pull ideas the big idea in a sense one choreographs this or like music where there might be certain other notes so they are a way of playfully allow that to happen so there is a proportional aspect to this project that uh is what led to that idea that singular pain that came

099over and then uh the volume above it which is all actually all recess back so um but we absolutely will take your comments and review them and um absolutely we'll uh have a look at that some of the comments you made thank you Lori uh anybody else dick thanks jef um so you you've obviously seeing all of our Earth Tones in ant Arbor and the dark Browns and the Reds and uh in an area where the sun may not Shine for a month in the winter then this is a real fun relief but did did your thinking go beyond that ju Just to Beyond just creating something that stands out and is unique color-wise to an arbor is there more to it than that um I think the idea of the sage was this opportunity

100have a number of balconies and Terraces that bring Green Space vertically that was a way of marrying the building the color material of the building with green uh sustainable strategies because of course cleans is the cleanse of air among others as by bringing the landscape vertically the building the sense in a way Weds that idea so that's what led to it it was something very much connected to the two so uh we looked at a variety of different colors and others but I do think when one works with color it has to be singular a Clarity in it so uh the idea of having the White and the Green in terms of the different orientations made sense to us uh that's what what drove the project what was about landscaping and then the color of

101the building thanks um staying on this bad um you you talked about the Juliet uh balconies up above and there are other similarly sized window openings above and below that one where the cursor is that appear to be floor to ceiling sliding Windows am I right about that they'll be tempered obviously from to a certain height and then they'll be they're not they're not sliders they'll be they're not sliders okay but they won't be sliders well yeah I I I sure we the guidelines talk about uh Shadow lines and depth and it it would sure be great the more Juliet balconies the better and the larger if you could do more of that I think it would really enhance the project um the guidelines also talk about the main entry being identified and that that

102main entry right in the middle yeah right where you're pointing is 22 or so feet tall and maybe a little bit less deep so I I think you lose the human scale and the transitional space going from light to dark because it's so tall so if there would be a way to uh incorporate maybe a slotted that sunlight would get through projecting a canopy there that would also reduce the ceiling height for people entering the lobby you you might be able to create more human scale there and we we do talk about that in the guidelines that the main entry should be obvious and clear and use canopies where possible um oh and the the street wall um kind of gets lost in the northern half I I see it on the southern half but

103north of the main entry you you sort of lose that street wall and and I don't I it doesn't bother me I just want to point it out that we've got it in the guidelines in this context with the four-story building next door it it may work just fine um that's that's it thank you okay thank you thank you dick Wendy yeah I think um both Lori and um staff pointed out that this site has been used by the public um but now with the townhouse entries um I imagine that those folks will not be so wild about people walking across uh so close to their entries so um in situations like that often there's a a a step or a stoop or something to provide some differentiation between the private space and the public

104space um or little um Courtyard areas is there something that you've considered for that so that these don't become just kind of an extension of the sidewalk for people to walk on yes we do have that in in mind and we've been developing that so we do want to provide that sense of Separation but also uh openness so it's we will certainly continue looking at that okay uh I had a couple of comments first of all I like this building it has a very I don't know European Scandinavian feel to it um I really like the punched openings and uh you know the the sort of the square geometry of them and then of course the mixture of Juliet balconies that are recessed in in the ones that are just Windows um from a construction

105standpoint um you've kind of designed a real leaker here so I hope that when it comes time to detailing and specifications real attention is paid to the transitions between these vertical walls and and the horizontal conditions decks and balconies well not balconies but deck areas particularly I mean we've had some examples in an arbor of buildings that have gotten built and they're plagued with leaks in those kinds of situations uh the right kind of detailing and uh specification of materials can take care of that um it's just something to note when you get to that uh to that stage and then you know watch ing the contractor uh making sure they execute accordingly um one of the things that's a question in my mind having to do with the masonry is when we look at

106the example you showed us of the brick detail um and I understand that you know prospective renderings are somewhat conceptual but when I look at the masonry in the renderings it almost looks like and it's not brick it's uh some kind of textured block or something like that which I certainly wouldn't want to see um so if you can talk a little bit about that are are these modular bricks are they jumbos are they real clay masonry or are they uh are they cement bricks if you can our intent is to um have brick yeah yeah are they pre luring or or built in place right now it's built in place quite obviously as the project evolves and Brian you could jump in as well we've been researching this you can jump in Brian as

107well uh we're looking at a number of different iterations but I mean have to get back to your original question you know I mean I think that's just a graphic reading um issue we we intend to use standard sized break I mean which is a modular size but it's not a a larger size it it'll match the texture that you see in the area Okay um and then I had a quick question for staff I must have missed the meeting because I don't recall and I hadn't been down in this neighborhood in a while but um you've talked about a building under construction at the corner and did that project come in front of us Hank or do other board remembers boarders remember seeing that remember that that was the Housing Commission project and we

108see Katherine project is yeah that the one you're referring to 121 Katherine that doesn't look like what we saw though for that project if I remember correctly we did see it but that doesn't look like what we saw what we saw more compatible with this actually than that even maybe some artistic license in these renderings I can point you to where the stream uh per our permitting an application portal is for uh the Katherine project if you'd like to see their materials in site plan to refresh your memory yeah if you would send me that after the meeting Hank I I'm just curious about it because I I must have missed that meeting um and that's uh that's on me I do actually have it in front of me if you would like all of

109the materials should be linked under mix-pr OJ 24-14 and I can follow up by email with that I appreciate that thank you no problem um yeah I I like the mixture of the white M masonry with the sage um I I think that's brilliant um so o overall I like the building I'm concerned about um details of construction um so just watch those and um otherwise that's that's the extent of Me John you have your hand up yes thanks Jeff um as i' I've mentioned to um to other uh petitioners uh I represent the public art commission the uh um city council uh wants to uh really see public art in projects and they've changed the makeup of the board to include a member of of the art commit Mission so um I would be

110remiss if I did not ask specifically uh staff has um identified um two places where public art could go and that was the Open Spaces uh and uh the um uh the um uh the street Edge uh can you tell me whether you have any any plans for public art where it might go and and what kind and how you plan to sort of uh develop you know you know John that's a that's a really good question and I would like to defer it to a representative from the development team if they are on Jeff are you uh on the call and able to join to speak to John's question is here so we will promote Britney if you could do that please [Applause] can you hear me hello yeah we can hear Jeff uh

111uh the answer is yes we uh certainly have intent to that we have not uh yet figured out exactly how to do it we have actually a several sort of communitybased initiatives we're looking at uh to celebrate in some way the history of bronc Court um and the neighborhood uh and we are going to work that element in I can't from a uh design uh aspect right now tell you how but it's definitely something we're going to be working on uh in in plan to include in the project it's a you know I'm you know I've been working and living in the KY Town neighborhood for most of my life so uh we're well atuned and we have done a lot of projects with the Art Association over the past uh five six years in

112the mural space uh and and some other projects so it's definitely something uh well on the radar excellent and the art commission stands ready and willing to help in any way that we can uh we have extensive networks into that creative Community uh so thank you um that I also want to ask about uh solar I see the solar panels are are on the on the building and um and what about natural gas uh can you say that you are limiting natural gas uh uh um for residents we would certainly say yeah we're going to minimize it as much as possible um whether or not we can eliminate it completely I think is like unknown at this time I mean Jeff I don't know if you want wanted to add any color on on that

113one yourself uh you know I I I you know reiterate the same thing the intent is to uh build as fully an electric building as possible um you know you know there's always uh you know sub subject to capacity of the electric companies uh utility companies and um you know we haven't got into the MEPS yet it's we're we're engaging that shortly but uh we are going going to be moving uh as close as we can to that end excellent well you'll get this question at Council I can assure you um that um I have to uh uh take the unusual step of of separating myself a bit from uh the uh my board members um that um uh I'm not so sure that the the white brick and the uh fit into the area

114I guess I could consider it a giant Louise nevelson sculpture but um I um I I think uh you're going to get more than my push back uh particularly from the you know the uh historic uh uh Foundation uh Jeff Crockett was on earlier complaining about uh the rendering um and uh that I think when he sees this I'm not so sure that he's going to be as excited as my colleagues on the board I'm I'm glad to hear that uh that my colleagues do like this uh they have more experience I'm just I'm just offering my feedback visually I must say I love the massing and and and so I I love the variety in there I think you've done that uh uh in in in my viewpoint uh elegantly uh it's Unique it's

115creative uh so I like that um I like the idea that you're considering uh U sort of adding U sort of some kind of uh historic uh storytelling uh on some of your walls which could be a kind of of public art as as well um so with with that uh I don't I don't I don't like the color you know um but um I'm just one of several on on the board so thank you very much thank you John Lori yeah I just wanted to Note One Thing particular color versus particular color I do find that it's it's interesting that part of what has made Ann Arbor interesting the word eclectic has been used over the years the ex uh expressive what that over the years hasn't meant is copying the things all around

116you and continuing to do them all in the same way it actually is about bringing something fresh and thought-provoking to the urban landscape and so I just would like to kind of Express that traditional an arboris isn't traditional architecture and in in that sense and that will mean tension points between what one likes and what one someone else likes and I think in this particular location in this particular Community that's especially challenging to kind of make everybody happy in that regard but I think the the history of it is that it didn't always make everybody happy it really was about the element of surprise and and joy that comes from the creative expression so um I just I would like that to be on on the record a little bit that I think it's important

117that we are willing to push our own boundaries of what's expected What's um traditionally what's traditional what's contextual and what that actually means from um appropriateness standpoint and and not to be too bottled up about it because it that these are the moments that well they can certainly go Ary but but those opportunities are also the moments that things really get special um and we just need to kind of be prepared for a little bit of the tension that comes from what when that happens I think sometimes we have things that are are presented to us that are just not very well thought through or done without a lot of passion and care and I I I would just say I think this team has clearly um developed this with a lot of of care

118in how it can be executed and it's it's evident and it stylistically it's probably not very Universal to everybody's tastes and that's that kind of comes with the territory thank you uh from my perspective you saying that very well said Lori um th those are all points worth considering and uh I know there's a lot of fondness for Brown court but you know I don't personally think those houses were particularly significant in the first place they were made out of a stuckle material that doesn't fit other parts of an aror and so um I I think the idea that different things can happen and there can be that sort of uh accommodation is good so I think you expressed it quite well anybody else all right well Mariana if you are so inclined if you

119can if you've been able to jot down and summarize what we've uh had to say um I will start with some of the likes um overall the board likes the colors and the tones of the materials though not all members agree um generally the board likes the massing and the variety of the building the punched openings the Julet balconies and the square geometry um board also likes the entrances off of the street rather than at the building core um but cons maybe a consideration will be a stoop or some kind of differentiation between the public and the private space other things to consider are that some elements of the facade feel different to the overall push and pull of the modules specifically the on story portion at the center third floor and some of the

120symmetry of the upper levels um also the main entrance should be identified um maybe thinking about ways to get light in because that entrance is so tall to accommodate the human scale uh maybe the street wall gets lost on the North of the building there should be some consideration of the transition between vertical and horizontal elements to avoid leaking um and adding a public art element to the project would be appreciated maybe something that has an element of historic storytelling also though out of the direct purview of the board encouraging moving towards minimal or no natural gas and then finally for the record that with this project there may be tensions between what some people like and other don't um due to the eclecticism of the city and that kind of push and pull is

121that generally accurate or are there things that should be added or taken away I I had one um and it was during the discussion of the entry my my thinking was an element that filters the light and and actually reduces the scale as a transition when entering so my thinking was not to bring more light in it was start to filter the light as you go from the street to the building so it's thank you L you have your hand up I didn't mean for you to take it down I'm just wondering if something to say no I think it was just left of from the last time thank you all right is that all for the staff summary uh it it sounds good to me if anybody else has anything that they think got

122uh needs to get included um say so thank you if not thank you to the development team for that presentation you're welcome thanks thank you everyone thank you very much greatly appreciate it thank you very welcome thank you good night uh going on to unfinished business um nothing on our agenda uh I just would quickly like to mention that the memo that we discussed at our last meeting is going on to coun there were some questions about it and H clarified that so it is on their it is in their packets um for July 15 yeah so thank you for that um I guess we can't force them to read it but I hope they do um so thanks for taking care of that Hank and for letting us know um Jeff um I did

123get a question from someone who asked me um whether we could get a copy or that they could get a copy of that previous self- evaluation and I could not find it on the legister site so I don't know if that's something that any of you have or know where it can be found are you talking about the memo that dick drafted the memo that we sent to council references an earlier self- evaluation that was done a few years ago oh and I don't know I could not find that I could find something where the planning D the planning manager had put forward a proposal to hire a consultant to do it um but I could not find anything after that yeah it was Tamara who found that and she sent it to me and

124I forwarded it on so I think I have it Wendy and I'll send it to you okay if I do great dick you are our excellent archist arist well we'll we'll see uh Communications uh there were several in the packet I hope everybody had an opportunity to read those uh some of them pertain to the South University project and uh one of them or a couple of them pertain to this one so those are duly noted uh and now we are at the second public comment section Britney do we have anybody nope sorry um so far we have no hands raised at this time oh you're muted Jeff sorry uh thank you everybody for your participation today I hope everybody's having an excellent summer uh we just got the tail end of uh of barrel

125uh barreling through our uh our location um on a side note my wife has every year for the past 5 years gone down to a villa on Kaku which got wiped out um there's like very little left of that tiny little island and we just got the tail end of it so I hope that's the end of it for us so again thank you all I hope you're having a good summer and uh entertain a motion for adjournment motion to adjourn support moved by Lori and seconded by Wendy any discussion all those in favor signify by saying I I those oppos same sign we are adjourned thank you very much everybody thank you thanks see you guys reporting stopped thank you everyone for