15th and Cheyenne: More parking lots to go away

[booWorld]

^ They should be able to use the bulk and area requirements of the RM-2 district to build a multi-family development in an OM district as a special exception.

quote:from Section 604 of the Tulsa Zoning Code


SECTION 604. SPECIAL EXCEPTION USES IN OFFICE DISTRICTS, REQUIREMENTS

The Special Exception Uses, permitted in the Office Districts, as designated in Table 1 and Table 2, are subject to the minimum requirements set out below and such additional safeguards and conditions as may be imposed by the Board of Adjustment.

B. Multifamily use in the OL District shall comply with the bulk and area requirements of the RM-1 District. Multifamily use in the OM and OMH Districts shall comply with the bulk and area requirements of the RM-2 District.

The bulk and area requirements for RM-2 are in Section 403 of the Tulsa Zoning Code.

Edit:  The setback from Cheyenne would be 10 feet unless modified by the Board of Adjustment for some reason.    

Anyway, the setbacks required for any multi-family buildings ought to be much less than would be required for office buildings.  I'm not an expert on zoning, but this type of modified setback requirement would make sense in this particular neighborhood.

"I walk this empty street --- on the boulevard of broken dreams...."  

[booWorld]

quote:Originally posted by DScott28604

While I support the idea of townhouses, I was really hoping these would face Cheyenne instead of some center driveway...  I want to see REAL townhomes that line the street and have parking in the rear...

Agree -- I would prefer that the houses face the street.

[carltonplace]

Thanks for the link, I was hoping for street facing units as well. [V]

I guess its still better than empty parking lots.

[TheArtist]

While not perfect, all in all looks to be a positive development. Will indeed be a good transition buffer between the highrises and parking to the east and the homes to the west. That area is nice looking and has potential. Perhaps if this works out for him he will do something with the parking lot just to the south as well. I do like that his developments are usually contemporary, have parking garages on the first floor, and are 3 stories. Will be interested to see the elevations.

I wonder where the Bomasada people may be looking in Tulsa. In the public meeting, when Cherry Street was mentioned a couple of times as being one of the other most likely areas to be great places for that type of development and demographics, I noticed the developers body language and he kind of raised an eyebrow in quizzicle interest.

[booWorld]

quote:Originally posted by OurTulsa

Here's what's avail. on the BOA's website:

http://www.incog.org/City%20of%20Tulsa%20BOA/BOA%20Agenda/20649a.pdf

Thanks for the link.  

Here's a bird's eye view of the site with west at the top of photo.

Here's a link to the applicant's website.

Questions/Comments:

1.  Who is the architect for the project?  Since the proposal is for a 3-story development, it would require a licensed architect in Oklahoma.
2.  The site plan appears to be drawn incorrectly with the curb line of Cheyenne shown about 15 feet farther west (and closer to the buildings) than it actually is.
3.  Sidewalks were mentioned in the Board of Adjustment link.  There is a sidewalk along Cheyenne.  This sidewalk should be maintained (or replaced if damaged).
4.  Each dwelling unit appears to have only one off-street parking space.  That's 50% of what's required by the zoning code.  How many off-street parking spaces are proposed?
5.  The dwelling units will present a bleak frontage along Cheyenne with no windows.  The plans show an entry door at first floor with no other openings facing Cheyenne.  The second floor plan shows the side of a corner porch which will be open to Cheyenne.  The third floor plan shows one side of a deck open to Cheyenne.  I'd like to see some windows facing the street, even if they were along the stairways.  The BOA staff comments address this concern because the dwellings face internal private driveways instead of the public street.
6.  I think the garages and entries would work better if the plans of the 16 western units were flipped so each dwelling unit's garage would be on the downhill side of its main entry.  That arrangement would fit better with the natural grade sloping toward the alley.
7.  There should be no waiver for landscaping requirements.
8.  I'd rather see 20 dwelling units on the site instead of a parking lot.

"I walk this empty street --- on the boulevard of broken dreams..."

[dsjeffries]

Well, to show that there wouldn't be a substantial loss of the number of units if they were all street-facing, I modified their plans.  I put the garages in the rear, made them all street-facing and came up with 11 units as opposed to 15.  It actually freed up a lot more space on the property than the way it's currently set up, and allowed for 22 units to fit where they have 15..

Not really sure if it would be possible to build the second row behind the first, but I included it to show it's possible to actually fit more in with them street-facing rather than internal drive-facing.


http://www.flickr.com/photos/dscott28604/2320359928/

[TheArtist]

If it were possible to have 2 rows like you show, that would indeed look much better along Cheyenne. You could leave out two apartments in the middle along the back to add more entrance and egress options and still have just as many  units. However, if I were wanting to live there I would prefer the street fronting properties not the ones behind. The developers original option is probably best over all because the apartments create a more "friendly" and comfortable atmosphere with the fronts of all the apartments facing the neighbor across from you. Still would like to see the elevations, especially the Cheyenne facing sides to see if they engage or isolate the public street from the apartments.

[booWorld]

^ Take a look at the floor plans.  There are no windows in the walls facing Cheyenne.

[TheArtist]

quote:Originally posted by booWorld

^ Take a look at the floor plans.  There are no windows in the walls facing Cheyenne.

Your right, first floor there is a door, second a porch, third a deck.  The stairwell would be an ideal place to actually put a large window to further break up those 3 story walls facing the street. And or another way to add interest, especially with contemporary loft designs, is to have different blocks of material and color. So hopefully that is what is what is planned. A plain solid wall without any character would be awful. Surely the developer knows better and will create something lively and inviting on the street facing side.

[booWorld]

^ Of the 20 units proposed, I think I'd choose the one on the northeast corner of the development, but I'd want some east-facing windows to allows for views to the Boston Avenue Methodist Church tower, International Plaza, Ambassador Hotel, and the rising moon.

[kevinstephensdesign]

Hello: I'm the potential developer for the townhouse project on Cheyenne between 14th and 15th. I just discovered this blog and appreciate your ideas. I would like to get an exception from the city for the front yard setback to build to the sidewalk. I feel like this is an urban site and should be developed as such with the building envelope on the sidewalk. I am planning on replacing the sidewalk with a new one. We have already poked some more windows on the Cheyenne side elevation and the first floor will be block or brick with the second and third floors being a different material. The siteplan we submitted to the city with our application has not been modified, but the elevations of the Cheyenne side have been.

Regarding the Synagogue. I do not plan on tearing it down. I plan on restoring it. The restoration of the building will come after the townhouse development. I will need to use proceeds from the sale of the townhomes to fund the restoration. I would like to see it go back to some community use:

1. home theater for homeless performance groups
2. rotating visual arts shows
3. yoga studio
4. day spa
5. cafe
6. some rentable artist studios
7. neighborhood market

We have kicked around several ideas, but can't really put down a hard plan on the building until we know if we are going to get approval for the townhouse project. When we have the approvals and plans complete, we will have a hard budget and be able to look at our potential profit on unit sales then build a budget for the synagogue restoration. We also have extensive structural investigation left to do on the Synagogue, before we are able to identify what our limitations might be.

[Kenosha]

Kevin...good for you...That site, that neighborhood has a ton of latent opportunity.  If you have not see the "Uptown" Neighborhood plan, done by Dewberry back in 1999, it calls for density/townhomes/brownstones of some sort at that location, so I find what you are doing, maximizing your property, to be quite appropriate.  Of course TulsaNowers are into good urban design and good urban infil, so I think I can speak for all of us when I say, we look forward to seeing some elevations.

The sidewalk thing sounds appropriate to me.  I am all for sidewalks...I suspect if you need some vocal support at the BOA, some of us might be willing to show up...

As far as the Temple is concerned, great to hear about your efforts to restore that building.  It think the Tulsa Preservation Commission website has info on early religion in Tulsa, and the Jewish community.  I know that building is an important part of that history.  Sad that it has gotten to that state.  I've always thought it would be a great adaptive reuse project...restaurant or something like you've proposed.

[OurTulsa]

I love the density of these developments but have really been disappointed with the street presentation.  This project is great for the neighborhood and downtown however there are alot of us hoping that it will provide an urban orientation to the street.  Below is a project similar in layout to what is proposed here.  They did a little better with the street side facade (still got garages underneath but they are far less visible and don't provide that blank wall effect).  Windows on the east side of Kevin's project will go along way to liven it up.


Lair'd With Design
Recently I made a first-time visit to the Lair Condominiums, which were designed by a longtime favorite local architect of mine, Rick Potestio.

Regular readers may remember Rick from the Q&A that I did with him in February. So...Rick again? Hey, the guy has a great project out, and I'd be remiss in not giving it the attention it deserves. Any other local architect doing this caliber of work I'm happy to write about multiple times as well. (Holst, are those Clinton condo renderings ready yet? Colab, where for art thou?)

Developed and built by local contractor Don Tankersley, the Lair project was one of the last Rick designed before he joined Mahlum Architects a few months ago. (He led a 2-3 person firm previously.) It's just south of downtown in the Lair Hill neighborhood (hence the name), near where Southwest Third Avenue curves toward the Ross Island Bridge ramp, but on a sleepy residential dead-end street.

From the moment I stepped out of the car, the Lair stood out as a very impressive piece of architecture. In fact, I think it's up there with the Belmont Lofts among the very best residential buildings in Portland of recent memory.

The Lair consists of 13 units varying roughly from about 500-1500 square feet. Situated on a fairly steep hillside, it has a communal driveway in the middle that leads downward to a series of compact stalls, with the common space able to double as a courtyard. Two units connect like a bridge over the driveway entrance, unifying the two-sided complex and preserving the integrity and continuity of its front façade, where floor-to-ceiling glass windows extend gently from a Richard Meier-esque white shell.

Rick's a proud paisan, and the classical sense of proportion and soulful play with forms seems faintly Italian. At the same time, the Lair's incorporation of wood in its exterior and interior finishes is very much in Northwest tradition of modernism. I also see craftsman-like touches reminiscent of renowned local architect Thomas Hacker, under whom Potestio studied at the University of Oregon.

Watch out for this project at the next AIA design awards ceremony and maybe in a design magazine or two. This is precisely the kind of high-quality residential design we've sought in burgeoning higher-density neighborhoods but so far have scarcely achieved.

[TheArtist]

I can understand your desire for a street orientation of the development. I tried in photoshop to maneuver the buildings around in a way to get such a set up and still have the same number of units and not end up with a lot of units isolated and stuck behind the other buildings and an alley.  Needless to say, I couldnt find a suitable alternative. I think the best option is to do the arrangement as it is, but indeed do some variety of materials on the street facing side and a window or two. Often a developer has to have a certain number of units to make the cost of his investment pay a decent profit.

Remember pedestrian friendly also includes making buildings interesting. A plain blank wall is not pedestrian friendly but a building with architectural interest of some sort makes for a pleasing, inviting, street. There dont have to be entrances every few feet. Many large buildings are nice to look at, walk and drive past, are street level friendly because of their architectural interest.  The Federal Building or the 320 South Boston building downtown are nice to walk past though they are long and have few entrances, but some of the parking garages are isolating and break up the  look and feel of the streetscape. Though they perhaps have the same number of entrances, they are stark and boring, do not invite you to stay and linger or even want to walk past. This street is also not a major pedestrian thoroughfair nor is it likely to evolve in that direction because there are not the "attractions, shopping or destinations" to and from which people are going to walk. But of course we do not want it to be an uninviting street or development either. Some areas, like the Brady District, Blue Dome, etc. we definitely want to pay particular attention to and encourage street orientation. Some areas are not so critical.  

http://www.walkablestreets.com/walkingred.htm

[booWorld]

Good discussion about a project in my own neighborhood....