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HomeMy WebLinkAboutDepartment Report 02-07-23 9 Carmel Plan Commission COMMERCIAL COMMITTEE Tuesday, February 7, 2023 Department Report 4. Docket No. PZ-2022-00238 ADLS: Tru Hotel Carmel. The applicant seeks design approval for a new, five story, 126 room hotel on 1.13 acres. Development plan approval was granted under Docket No. 19060018 DP and Use Variance approval was granted under 18050007 UV. The site is located at 12164 N. Meridian Street, immediately north of the Ritz Charles. It is zoned MC/Meridian Corridor and is not within any overlay district. Filed by Nathan Winslow of American Structurepoint on behalf of the owner, Dora Hotel Group. *Updates to the Report are written in blue Project Overview: The Petitioner proposes to construct a new hotel, whose general location and use was approved previously as noted above. It is directly north of the Ritz Charles, zoned MC. North of the hotel site is the Carmel Medical Arts Pavilion. West across Illinois Street is the Spring Lake Estates neighborhood zoned S-2/Residential, and to the east across Meridian Street is the Wagner Reese office building, also zoned MC. Please view the Petitioner’s informational packet for more detail. Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) Standards this project MEETS: MC/Meridian Corridor: • Permitted Uses: Hotel (through UV approval) • Minimum Front Yard setback from US 31 for buildings and parking – 50’ required, about 67’ proposed • Minimum Side Yard (south) – 15’ for principal building required, 24’ proposed • Minimum Rear Yard (west) – 0’ for all buildings and surface parking if cooperative agreement is in place, about 110’ proposed for hotel, 6’ for parking • Maximum Lot Coverage – 80% allowed, about 68% proposed • Minimum Building height –3 stories required, 5 story hotel proposed Previous Variance Approvals on Oct. 29, 2019: • Docket No. 19090015 V: Minimum Side Yard (north) – 20’ for surface parking required, 5’ proposed in one area, 30’ proposed in another • Docket No. 19090016 V: At least 2 primary buildings required for wide lot width covering at least 75% of the lot’s width; 1 hotel and 1 office building proposed at about 45% lot width coverage • Docket No. 19090017 V: Not meeting the Parking lot setbacks/bufferyards along future shared property line between buildings. • Docket No. 18050007 UV: UDO Section 2.39 Hotel Use on upper floors only allowed, hotel use proposed on ground floor. Approved by BZA on June 25, 2018, 4-0 with a Condition* that the site plan was not finalized and including attached residential dwelling units are a possibility. (*Background info – the residential component was desired when there was a parking garage proposed as part of the project. Surface parking is now proposed instead of the parking garage.) UDO Standards NOT MET, therefore adjustments or variance requests are needed: • 5.07.C.1. – Architectural Facades: All facades shall be a Primary Façade, meaning architecturally significant and detailed with ornamentation or other character-building materials. Standard brand design proposed, lacking details • 5.07.C.2. – Ground floor facades require 60% clear glazing, percent unknown • 5.07.C.3. – Upper floors shall be designed to reflect character of an office building, not achieved • 5.07.C.4. – Corner Architectural Feature not provided • 5.07.C.6 – Building materials – high quality, durable, materials are required for all aspects of the building facades. EIFS proposed for floors 2-5, rather than brick or stone, which are considered high quality and durable materials. • Trash enclosures must be architecturally compatible with principal building – design not yet provided • 5.33 – Number of Parking spaces – 123 spaces now provided for the hotel and the office building (84 spaces on the medical office parcel and 39 spaces on the hotel parcel). This is 10 less spaces from original site plan. Shared 10 parking with Ritz Charles site previously approved – can 10 more spaces be added to that agreement? o Hotel requires 1 space per room (126) and 1 per employee per largest shift (25) – 151 required Site Plan, Parking and Engineering: The Petitioner is now back to seek design approval for the hotel building. It is still oriented west/east, fronting onto Meridian Street. The vehicular drop off area has moved from the original plan (on the north side of the building) to the west side of the building. The overall development plan (DP) and construction of the 3-story office building provided the stormwater management, utility infrastructure, some parking/sidewalks, and access drives. An access agreement with the Ritz Charles to enter the site from Illinois Street to the west is in place. Staff has been working with the Petitioner to enhance the site circulation, which has improved from initial submittals. The MC district requires 1 space per unit plus one space per employee on the largest shift for hotels. 151 (126 rooms and 25 employees) spaces are needed for the hotel. The MC does allow for off-site parking to count towards the total number of spaces for a site. A shared parking agreement was reached with the Ritz Charles at the time of the DP approval. The office and hotel uses proposed for this site have compatible off hour parking needs. Staff concluded that the 133 proposed parking spaces for this site, along with the shared parking agreement of the Ritz, would be sufficient. The new site layout removes 10 spaces from the original plan. Petitioner, are these lost 10 spaces able to be added to the agreement with the Ritz? Active Transportation: Sidewalk along the frontage road has been installed with the overall development. Additional sidewalks will be added around the proposed building and will provide connections to the Ritz Charles building to the south. Bicycle parking is required within 50’ of the front door, however, has not yet been shown on the site plan. Four short term spaces and 9 long term spaces are required. Architectural Design: The Petitioner has provided updated elevations for review and consideration. There are a few areas around the building that project out from the rest of the façade. These areas now have fiber cement siding as the exterior material, rather than EIFS. This is a step in the right direction of reducing the use of EIFS; however, in the many brand approved versions of other Tru Hotels, these areas have brick. We would like to see more brick used on the building in this location. End cap material revisions state metal or fiber cement panels. Staff would like to encourage the Petitioner to choose the metal panels, as the longevity and modern appearance will suit the overall design aesthetic of the building. Lighting: Site parking lot lights are existing. Building accent lights are proposed around the hotel on all facades. Petitioner, please provide more information regarding these lights, and if they will be directed up or down, as well as if any other lights are proposed for the building. Landscaping: Landscaping is provided all around the building base. Parking lot islands will have trees in them, as well as the long island separating the drop off area. The Urban Forester has reviewed the landscaping plan and made comments regarding changing the proposed tree species chosen. Signage: Large wall signs are now proposed only towards US 31 – on each side of the “wedge” architectural feature. They will be back lit instead of internally lit. The back-lit style is preferred over the previously proposed cabinet style full internal illumination. Directional signs are proposed at 5’ tall, which is over the 3’ height allotment. Modifications are still needed to avoid variances. January 17, 2023 Plan Commission meeting recap: The Engineer and Architect presented the project to the Plan Commission. The brand design calls for strong bold, clean lines, and asymmetrical features. It is a simple, economic hotel. They are here to listen to feedback and go back to make revisions. The Plan Commission members had concern about the quality of the hotel, concerns regarding parking, could 11 the number of floors be reduced, use this as an opportunity to create something unique and attractive. Plan Commission members voted to have this item go back to the Full Plan Commission for final approval. DOCS Remaining Comments/Concerns: Even though changes have been made to the exterior of the building, the primary materials are now EIFS and fiber cement panels. Slow progress is being made on updating the elevations. However, we still believe that there is more that can be done to improve the appearance of the hotel. In researching the Tru hotel brand, Staff found many examples of unique applications of the brand colors – such as colored window walls, murals, and wall wash lights to feature the bright colors. These inspiration images and ideas were shared with the Petitioner; however, no significant changes to the building were made. Staff does not believe the building design in this proposal is “up to par” with the other hotels and office buildings approved and constructed recently within the US 31 Corridor. At the time of this report’s publication, only new elevations had been provided to Staff. Responses to review comments from other TAC members have not been submitted, nor the official task sent back to Carmel to continue the next round of reviews and edits. Staff will provide an update at the committee meeting regarding the status of the overall project review. Recommendation: The Department of Community Services recommends the Commercial Committee discuss this item, then continue it to the March 7, 2023 Commercial Committee meeting for further review. Please note, the Plan Commission voted to have this item return to the full Plan Commission when it is ready for a final vote.