Memorandum

City of Lawrence

Planning and Development Services

 

TO:

Diane Stoddard, Interim City Manager

FROM:

Planning Staff

DATE:

January 26, 2016

RE:

HERE parking and intensity of use

 

This memo responds to Commissioner questions regarding that status of construction of the HERE project and the level of use that could be supported within the originally approved HERE project if parking were provided just at the garage, through valet parking, and on the street through metered parking, but not at any additional location off-site.

 

The issue arises due to a reduction of parking in the garage since robotic parking is not being installed.  As with any project that requires parking, the effect of reduced parking, regardless of the reason, requires either that parking is provided in another fashion or that the use of the project is reduced to match the remaining parking supply.

 

Status of Project

Roofing and framing for the south portion of the building is nearing completion.  Five of eight floors, including the parking levels, are framed on the north portion.  Framing on the 6th floor has begun and is expected to be completed by the end of next week.  Floors 7 and 8 are scheduled to be completed by the end of February.  At that time, the building’s shell will be completed and work on the interior will begin.  Mechanical, electric, and mechanical systems are being roughed-in as floors are completed.

 

The photo below, taken today, reflects that the south portion (right side on photo) is complete in terms of the number of floors approved with the original plan.  The north side (left side of photo) reflects work on the 6th floor.

 

 

The photo below is a close-up shot of the north portion of the building where 5 of 8 floors are completed.  Floor 6 framing has begun.

 

 

Parking  Analysis

For the HERE project, parking demand is established using both the commercial and residential uses in the mixed-use building.  Commercial retail is calculated at 1 space per 300 SF of use, restaurants are calculated at 1 space per 100 SF of customer service area plus 1 space per assumed employee, and residential is calculated at 1 space per bedroom plus 1 visitor space per 10 units.  The number of units is relevant only in that they are a function of the mix of units desired – 1-bedroom, 2-bedroom, 3-bedroom, etc.

 

The original project provided 685 spaces to accommodate 624 bedrooms and 13,561 SF of commercial space with 5,882 SF assumed to be restaurant use and the remainder retail or service uses.  This also took into account 35 shared parking spaces and a reduction of 1 required space as bonus points related to the MU district were redeemed.

 

The reduction of parking on-site due to converting from robotic parking to valet parking provides 618 total spaces (garage and on street) to accommodate the mix of uses in the building.  There are numerous possibilities to reduce the uses of the project to match the parking provided.  The table below provides reasonable scenarios that reflect reducing the intensity of uses (parking demand) to meet the parking provided (parking supply).  It holds the shared parking constant at 35 spaces, the visitor parking constant at 18 spaces, and includes the credit for 1 space per the MU standards.  All scenarios yield a demand of 618 parking spaces, the number provided in the proposed plan revisions.

 

Scenario 1 – All commercial space is non-restaurant (13,561 SF) and 590 bedrooms are provided (34 bedrooms removed from the project).

 

Scenario 2 – Commercial space to accommodate a restaurant use of 5,882 SF, the remainder commercial space as non-restaurant use, and 570 bedrooms are provided (54 bedrooms are removed from the project).

 

Scenario 3 – All commercial space is used for restaurants and 531 bedrooms are provided (93 bedrooms removed from the project).

 

The above scenarios reflect the range of mixes that could be accommodated with the parking provided in the valet garage and street.  Other mixes are possible within this range.

 

Parking Standards

Operationally, the valet drop-off would be located off of Mississippi Street within the garage.  Approximately 9 vehicles can stack inside the garage out of the traffic of Mississippi Street.  The layout of the parking garage is not typical for a garage that would anticipate patron parking.  Spaces are designed to stack horizontally as many as 5 deep but with access to aisles where it is practically stacked only 3 deep.  There are 4 rows of parking that do stack 4 deep.  The majority of the spaces scale out to 8’ wide by 20’ long on the plans, though there are several rows of spaces that scale to 7.5’ wide.  The code requires 8.5’ of width and 18’ of length for 90 degree parking stalls for a consumer targeted parking area.  The drive lane aisles are approximately 16’ wide where the code requires 24’ for two-way traffic.  Planning Staff and the City Engineer believe the design is safe and useable for the proposed valet system but would not be acceptable as a patron-oriented parking garage.  The valet attendants will need to be mindful of parking compact cars in the narrower spaces.

 

Conclusion

The building is nearing completion and there are a range of options to reduce the use of the building to match the parking provided if that is the goal.