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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes COM 08-01-23 Joshua Kirsh -When do you foresee breaking ground?Moriarity- Sometime in October. Drawings are essentially done. State plan release is done. Kirsh -Having gone through a previous round with this project, I don't want to see the site languish further than it has. If we could keep it looking tidy, fence upright, grass cut, etc. Moriarity-After the BZA meeting items have been worked on. Financing is done, items ready. Adam Aasen-How does this tie-up with the Main Street improvements?Kirsh- They need to speak with Mr. Kashman about that. Moriarity-When we worked on The Signature project, Mr. Kashman had a plan of Main Street that was preliminary at the time. Aasen - If this breaks ground, we will have a lot of pieces going, so looking at that plan for Main Street should be considered. A Motion made by Christine Zoccola and seconded by Adam Aasen to approve PZ-2023-00060 ADLS Amend: L'Etoile Amendment contingent on getting full Staff approval on remaining comments and final TAC approvals through Project Dox. Approved 3-0. Absent: Dierckman. 2. Docket No. PZ-2023-00097 ADLS Amend:Pearson Ford -EV Chargers. The applicant seeks design approval for an electric vehicle charging station with 12 units(chargers). The site is located at 10650 N. Michigan Rd. It is zoned B-3/Business and is located within the US 421 Overlay zone. Filed by Mark Leach of Faegre Drinker Biddle& Reath, LLP. Petitioner: Mark Leach of Faegre Drinker,Biddle& Reath,LLP March Leach- Introduces people present. John Pearson- Infrastructure for charging EV station. 12 parking spots available that were previously used for our inventory to repurpose for charging stations. 12 spots with 9 stations, 3 are Level 3 (fast chargers), others are Level 2, which are fast but not as fast. Available 24/7,well lit, with security cameras. We want to add this to the community to help with the EV adoption and infrastructure in Carmel and NW side of Indianapolis. Mark Leach -There were some comments with respect to landscape plan approvals and addressing some comments through ProjectDox. We submitted updated plans today. Comments have been addressed and we will continue to work with the Staff and with Daren for landscape plan approval. There was a question about an ADA parking space and there is an existing electric vehicle charging station on the North side of the building. Once these 9 chargers go in,then Mr. Pearson would convert the existing EV space to an ADA space. Landscaping will be put in to shield the transformer and there are some existing low-level shrubs there which will be moved to the outside,between Michigan Road and the chargers. Shrubs will be reused when possible and additional plantings will go in as well. Department Report: Rachel Keesling: The biggest item we were concerned with was where the large transformer would be placed. The concern is the adjacency of these spaces to Michigan Road. Landscaping and shielding the view of them is required. They have come back with a plan which we can support. We need to finish our official review through ProjectDox. We recommend approval. Committee Comments: Zoccola-To have it for your business is one thing,but to do it for the public is fantastic. Will there be an official announcement? Pearson -We plan on doing marketing. The hope is that it will be ready towards the end of the year, beginning of next year. Kirsh -It seems that car dealers have the propensity to barricade off their lot during certain times of the week or evening. Do you have a way to protect your lot but still make these available to the public? Pearson-The only part of our lot that is fenced off is our bullpen where customer vehicles are kept for service work. The lot is available to come through at any time. We feel comfortable, we have not had any issues there. Kirsh- Should there become an issue and you need to secure the lot, is there a way to secure lot and leave this 2 Commercial Committee Minutes 8-1-23 open to the public?Pearson - Yes,this is our main entrance, and we could block off certain areas so that our inventory is not exposed while leaving chargers available to the public. Kirsh-Explained car theft on dealerships in other areas. IA Motion made by Christine Zoccola and seconded by Adam Aasen to approve PZ-2023-00097 ADLS Amend: Pearson Ford -EV Chargers with the condition that the Petitioner works with the Urban Forester to finalize landscape approval and address outstanding review comments through ProjectDox. Approved 3-0. Absent: Dierckman. 3. Docket No. PZ-2023-00140 ADLS Amend: Aloft/Element Hotel design revisions. The applicant seeks design approval for the rebranding of the Aloft hotel to a Tribute by Marriott (Tallison Hotel). The design of the Element hotel remains the same. The site is located at 10200-10210 Pennsylvania Pkwy. It is zoned MC/Meridian Corridor and is not located within any overlay districts. Filed by Mark Eriksson of CSO on behalf of the owner. Petitioner: Mark Eriksson of CSO Architects This project was approved with a few comments left and then COVID hit. Project has been on hold for one-and- half years or more. In that timeframe, the owner had an opportunity to change the brand from Aloft to an upscale brand more suited to the Cannel area. The exterior changes very little, same windows and siding,we changed the roof feature from an Aloft feature to a branded boutique hotel from Marriot. We removed the Aloft brand colors and modified the Porte cochere slightly to step away from the Aloft color scheme. On the inside, everything is the same(number of rooms,room layouts,etc.). The furniture, fixtures,equipment, and finishes that are inside the guestrooms and lobby are changing to go with this new brand(Tallison). IDepartment Report: Rachel Keesling: The design has changed quite a bit with the reduction of color. The"swoop"which lit up at night is gone,the overall design and composition is more in tune with the design of the Element Hotel,using the same wood materials on the southwest corner of the new hotel. It is very different from the original. Same footprint, outside is not changing,paneling is the same. We are in support of this change. Committee Comments: Aasen-If it is not changing much,but it will be branded as a more upscale hotel, how is this going to work? Nash Patel-The whole thinking behind the change is that Aloft is a lifestyle brand and the Tribute Collection (Tallison)is an upscale, luxury brand. During the pandemic we had a year-and-a-half gap which gave us the opportunity to think through this project more. This is a very expensive project and we wanted to maximize what the potential of this asset could be and align it with the vision of Carmel. Initially, Rachael,the Mayor and I, as well as multiple City members had a conversation about this. This allowed us to not bring a cookie cutter Aloft design, which still would have been great. But what we were able to do on the interior of this building is hire a design company out of Chicago(Avenue Creative)and revamp this project to a luxury product. Aasen- Architecture is the same, it is the interior which will reflect the upscale feeling?Nash Patel- Yes. Zoccola-I like the look of the exterior better now. Patel-It allowed us to rebrand this property"The Tallison Hotel",we hired a firm that was the leading branding people for Starwood Hotels(Kevin Phillips)who made up the name, a combination of Taliesin, Frank Lloyd Wright's Studio, and Talisman. This allowed us to be creative with the branding experience. Zoccola- It will be great, something we don't have. This is a positive change. Kirsh-I am grateful that you have decided to do this and think it is well done. You have used some Iterminology I want to make sure I understand. Lifestyle brand vs. Upscale Luxury Brand. Patel-This is Marriott's terminology as they scale these brands on different tiers. Kirsh -Lifestyle brand is like the bronze category?Patel- You can say that, and this hotel is in the Platinum category. Lifestyle brand is geared toward younger professionals,this one is geared towards the savvy travelers. Kirsh-Thank you for making these changes to bring this project to another level. 3 Commercial Committee Minutes 8-1-23