DRAFT 171ST STUDY 04-27-2009 - Laserfiche WebLink

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PRELIMINARY CONCEPTS OVERVIEW Long-term market assessment: • Easiest: senior & rental housing, industrial • Moderate challenge: o f fice, residential condos Tough: retail (interchange would impact this), strict eco-focused industrial » Absorption o f the amount o f o f fice shown in some concepts would belong-term (more than a decade) » Existing and adjacent uses make the study area an opportunity for "eco-focused" development -especially eco-industrial. Even as few as 5 synergistic uses would be a great success. » Need to think about development that could occur on the river-side o f Highway ~o in order to put the study area in better context. » RDF plant could be bene ficial use. Its visual character should be revamped. » The study area seems like a place that could play to the market niche o f low impact, eco-based. » Maybe two development scenarios need to be explored, one that assumes rapid economic recovery with business as usual in real estate development and another with protracted recovery and an altered real estate/transit climate. Amenities: » Rail station will be a residential and commercial development marketing bonus. » It will be in the study area's best interest to get more reverse-commute trains. » Excess steam from GRE could stimulate commercial market interest. » Creating a pedestrian environment and trail/sidewalk links will be critical. Finance: » City will likely need to subsidize development in some form. » In today's dollars, a new Highway ~o interchange budget would be roughly $~5 million. This would likely need City financial involvement to occur.