Traverse City -- City commissioners got the ball rolling on a mixed-use complex and possible parking structure in Old Town.
The city commission on Monday night approved amended plans for the development and an option agreement to purchase land for the parking deck.
Lake Street Properties LLC, an affiliate of Hagerty Insurance Agency, requested an amended Planned Unit Development for its River's Edge mixed-use complex, located at Cass Street and Lake Avenue. The development includes high-end condominiums, Hagerty Insurance Agency, a restaurant and other office space.
Commissioners approved the PUD amendment to reduce minimum required residential units from 51 to 32, allowing developers to build more commercial buildings. Five additional residential dwellings still need to be built, according to the plan. It also calls for an increased maximum square footage, lower heights for two buildings and an increased parking requirement.
"It's time to move forward with your project, which I think clearly meets the standards (for the PUD)," Commissioner Barbara Budros said.
Scores of residents and business owners packed into the commission chambers and overflowed into the hallways. Many spoke in support of Hagerty's project.
"It is a development that is a need of the community and I really feel everything they have to go through for their PUD and the project is only good for the downtown section," said Jim Valesano, a downtown business owner.
Commissioners Jim Carruthers and Deni Scrudato opposed. Scrudato took issue with the increased parking requirement.
"We're basing it on an assumption that a parking deck is going to happen, and that makes me nervous," Scrudato said.
Carruthers had multiple objections, but was most concerned that the project should include workforce-affordable housing units.
The developers hired architects and a construction management firm to devise a cost report that estimated the housing units could not be built for affordable housing prices.
The new buildings would include additional offices for Hagerty and space for other businesses such as a coffee shop and daycare center.
Hagerty hopes some of its parking needs will be addressed with a 410-space deck on the block bordered by Lake Avenue and Cass, Union and Eighth streets. The company agreed to contribute a piece of property to the project, but wants the city to build and finance the estimated $9.1 million deck.
Residents also spoke in favor of a public parking deck.
"Surface parking and parking lots only add to the perception of congestion in our neighborhood," said Old Town resident Donald Coe. "From an aesthetic standpoint, a parking deck is an asset to our neighborhood."
A 14-year bond payment of $11.27 million could come from tax increment financing and brownfield funds, as long as a brownfield plan amendment is approved.
The price estimate doesn't include the cost of land. Commissioners on Monday authorized the negotiation of a one-year option agreement to purchase two parcels and sell a city-owned lot for the parking deck.
Figures are not finalized, but the latest prices set the two properties at $581,000 and the city-owned lot at $32,885. Hagerty agreed to donate a piece of land worth $685,000 as long as the parking structure is built.
Commissioners voted six to one to authorize an option agreement. Carruthers opposed.
"We're not saying it's going to be built tomorrow," Commissioner Ralph Soffredine said. "There's a whole lot that has to happen before that."
A public parking structure also would require zoning changes, which the city commission introduced and scheduled for possible enactment on June 16.
The amendments would rezone 115 E. Eighth St. from the neighborhood center zone to a development district, and then add parking decks as an allowed use in the development district.
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