Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutStaff Report 202-09I TO: HONORABLE CITY COUNCIL FROM: CITY MANAGER DATE: APRIL 13, 2009 REPORT TYPE: CONSENT DEPARTMENT: ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES CMR: 202:09 SUBJECT: Adoption of a Resolution Designating 2300 Wellesley Street, Known as the College Terrace Library, to be Eligible as a "Sender Site" in the Transfer of Development Rights Program and Approval of Revision to Policy 1-46 Concerning the Procedure for Sale/Transfer of Development Rights for City- Owned Property RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends that Council approve the attached Resolution designating 2300 Wellesley Street, known as the College Terrace Library and Palo Alto Child Care Center (College Terrace Library), to be eligible as a "Sender Site" in the Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) program. Staff also recommends that Council approve the attached change in policy concerning the Sale/Transfer of Development Rights for City-owned property. BACKGROUND The College Terrace Library was built in 1936 and is approximately 4,860 square feet. It houses a branch of the Palo Alto Library system and a satellite site of Palo Alto Community Child Care (PACCC). The College Terrace Library is significant for its association with a prominent local architect, Charles K. Sumner, and a well-known local builder, George B. Moore. Since the time of its construction as a branch library in 1936, it has played a significant role in the College Terrace neighborhood community by serving not only as a library, but also for many years as a community center and meeting place. In addition, the library retains a high degree of material integrity. On April 7, 2008, Council approved the reclassification of the building from a Category 4 to a Category 2 historical structure in the City's historical building inventory (CMR: 192:08). The building has never been seismically upgraded, and major electrical and mechanical systems are approaching the end of their useful lives and need to be replaced in order to maintain uninterrupted service. On February 5, 2007, the City Council awarded a design contract for the College Terrace Library and Child Care Center Improvements (Capital Improvement Program CMR: 202:09 Page 1 of5 Project PE-05010) to the KPA Group, Inc. (CMR:11O:07). This project will upgrade the College Terrace Library and adjoining child care center, including seismic reinforcement, electrical, mechanical and accessibility upgrades, painting and landscaping. There will also be minor changes to the interior layout of the library in order to accommodate accessibility and structural upgrades. On January 21,2009, the Historic Resources Board (HRB) reviewed the plans and the Historic Structure Report (required for the project to participate in the TDR program). The HRB supported participation of the College Terrace Library project in the TDR program and unanimously recommended approval of the design plans as complying with the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation, subject to conditions. On January 26, 2009, Council approved a contract with Nova Partners for construction management services for the College Terrace Library project (CMR: 119:09). On February 7, 2005, Council approved revisions to the Zoning Code to allow eligible City- owned historic properties located in any zone district to be "sender sites" under the Transfer of Development Rights ordinance, transferring historic or seismic rehabilitation floor area bonuses from these sites to eligible "receiver" sites located in the Downtown CD Zone District. As a Category 2 resource, and with the planned historic rehabilitation of the building, the College Terrace Library would be eligible as a "sender site" for a 2,500 square foot floor area bonus. The Transfer of Development Rights program would allow the City to sell the floor area bonus from College Terrace at market rate at the optimum time when the real estate market improves. In addition, a change in procedure to eliminate the need for the Council to review the Requests. for Proposals for the purchase of Transferable Development Rights is also proposed. See Attachment B. DISCUSSION A. College Terrace Library Project The purpose of the TDR program is to encourage and support the rehabilitation of historic buildings. The program provides a floor area bonus for the qualified rehabilitation of Category I and 2 historic buildings and Seismic Category I, II, and III buildings which are either owned by the City of Palo Alto or located in the Downtown CD zone district. The size of the bonus is 2,500 square feet, or 25% of the existing building, whichever is greater. Floor area bonuses may be transferred (sold) from eligible "sender" sites for use on eligible non-historic "receiver" sites in the Downtown. For City-owned property, floor area bonuses from eligible sender sites may be sold by the City on the open market through a public bid process. Funds from the sale will be used to rehabilitate eligible City-owned historic buildings. Provisions for eligible City-owned buildings to participate in the TDR program are outlined in Chapters 18.18.080 and 18.28.060 of the Palo Alto Municipal Code (PAMC). First, the Council must designate by resolution City-owned buildings that are Category I or Category 2 on the City'S historic inventory or Category I, II or III on the City's seismic hazards identification list as eligible to participate as a "sender site" in the TDR program. As noted in the attached resolution, the College Terrace Library, located at 2300 Wellesley Street, Palo Alto, is a Category 2 historic building on the City of Palo Alto Historic Inventory and as such qualifies to be a "sender site" in accordance with Chapter 18.28.060(d). The resolution also notes the Palo Alto Historic CMR:202:09 Page 2 of5 Resources Board (HRB) review and recommendation on January 21, 2009, for approval of the College Terrace Library project design, and the October 2008 College Terrace Library Historic Structures Report. The College Terrace Library Historic Structures Report fulfills the requirement to prepare a historic structures report in accordance with the standards and guidelines of the Secretary ofthe Interior's Standards for Historic Rehabilitation. B. Revision to Policy and Procedure 1-46 The public bidding process for selling bonus floor area development rights is contained in policy and procedure 1-46. Because the Council is already involved in the TDR sale process when it designates a site as a sender site and subsequently approves or rej ects bids, staff is proposing to eliminate the provision requiring the Council to approve the RFP on its Consent Calendar prior to its release. This change will eliminate a procedural step for staff and the Council while preserving the Council's discretion to designate a site as a TDR sender site, and the ultimate decision to accept or reject bids for those TDRs. In accordance with item 2 in the attached Policy & Procedure, staff intends to prepare and release an RFP sometime in the next several months should the economic market conditions improve the demand for TDR's. If the demand remains weak, staff will hold off on advertising and releasing the RFP until the demand increases as the economic conditions improve and the demand for TDR's increases. Upon release of the RFP, and receipt of responses, staff will forward the results of the bidding to the Council with a staff recommendation. The Council may accept the bid, or a bid which in its opinion best serves the public interest, or reject any and all bids. TlMELINE Staff will return to Council in the future with results of the bids received in accordance with the release of an RFP and a recommendation for acceptance of a bid or rej ection of all bids. In the meantime, the College Terrace Library renovations will start in the summer of 2009 and take approximately I year. RESOURCE IMP ACT Approval of the attached resolution satisfies one of several provisions required prior to the sale of the transferable development rights for the College Terrace Library. Sale of these development rights will eventually result in revenue funds to be returned to the Infrastructure Reserve of the General Fund. A recent example of this type of transaction was in 2005 when the bonus 2,500 square feet (from the Children's Library rehabilitation) was sold for $237,500 ($95 per square foot). An upcoming sale of TDRs will occur with the release of an RFP for the sale of the TDR from the former Sea Scout Building (CMR:171:09). The release of that RFP is anticipated for sometime in the near future with an expectation that the market conditions will improve. The bids received from that sale will help staff determine an estimate of value to place upon the TDRs for the College Terrace Library. The minimum bid to be set for the Sea Scout Building will range between $80 to $IOO/sf. Based upon these values, and assuming bids are received within these ranges, staff will set a minimum bid price in a similar range and anticipates that the 2,500 square feet of bonus area proposed to be sold for the College Terrace Library may CMR:202:09 Page 3 of5 result in the addition of funds in the range of $230,000 to $250,000 into the General Fund's Infrastructure Reserve. POLICY IMPLICATIONS This recommendation is consistent with existing City policy. ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW Designation of the College Terrace Library site as an eligible TDR "sender" site is Categorically Exempt from California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) review under CEQA quidelines section 15305, Minor Alterations in Land Use Limitation. The rehabilitation project is Categorically Exempt from CEQA review pursuant to CEQA guidelines section 15331, Historical Resource RestorationlRehabilitation, as a project limited to maintenance, repair, and rehabilitation in accordance with the secretary of interior standards for historic preservation. ATTACHMENTS Attachment A: Attachment B: CMR: 202:09 Resolution of the Council of the City of Palo Alto Designating 2300 Wellesley Street, Imow as the College Terrace Library, to be Eligible as a "Sender Site" in the Transfer of Development Rights program. Procedure For Sale/Transfer Of Development Rights For City-owned Property Page 4 of5 PREPARED BY: MARTHA MILLER Manager, Real Property DEPARTMENT HEAD APPROVAL: CITY MANAGER APPROVAL: CMR: 202:09 LALOPEREZ Director/Administrative Services JA KEENE Ci~er (j Page 5 of5