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Home My WebLink AboutSUPPLEMENTAL ITEM #4 KIMCO REALTY ITEM #4 COMMENTS FROM KIMCO REALTY HAND DELIVERED TO TUSTIN CITY HALL APRIL 24, 2018 RECEIVED ..� K I M C , ,�tf:rr da,t s .� APR 24' Z2018 �i EVERYbA4' 41NG- REALTY COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DEPT 2429 Park Avenue I Tustin, CA 92782-2705 April 23, 2018 Elizabeth Binsack Community Development Director City of Tustin 300 Centennial Way Tustin, CA 92780 Re: Comments to Draft Downtown Commercial Core Specific Plan Dear Elizabeth, Kimco Realty Corp. and Prudential Global Investment Management own and operate the Larwin Square Shopping Center located at Newport Ave. and First Street in Downtown Tustin, CA. Kimco Realty Corp. received notice that the draft of the Downtown Commercial Core Specific Plan was to be reviewed by the public at the Planning Commission meeting on April 10, 2018, and was subsequently postponed to April 24, 2018. We've reviewed the Specific Plan document, and wanted to send you Kimco Realty Corp's comments prior to the Planning Commission meeting. First of all, we'd like to praise the City's efforts to create the Specific Plan, and we support the goal of revitalizing Tustin's Downtown Commercial Core area with mixed-use redevelopments including retail, commercial, and multi-family residential. As we've previously discussed, in the near future Kimco Realty Corp. would like to redevelop portions of Larwin Square along First Street with retail and multi-famiiy residential mixed-use. However, we have some concerns about the draft Specific Plan which we've outlined below. 1. We don't believe that 200 multi-family residential units allocated for Development Area 3 (DA-3), which includes Larwin Square and other properties north of First Street, is sufficient. Our internal mixed-use design studies, and financial pro formas have determined that a mixed-use redevelopment of our property along First Street would require 200 - 250 apartment units to be financially feasible. If we were to develop that many residential units at Larwin Square, there wouldn't be any remaining units to allocate to the other properties in DA-3 north of First Street. Therefore, we respectfully request that the number of residential units allocated to DA-3 be increased. 2. The proposed 4-story building height limit in the Specific Plan limits density to 3 levels of residential above ground floor retail/commercial space. Our design studies show that this would only accommodate approximately 150 apartment units at Larwin Square along First Street, which is not economically feasible. We request that the City consider a 6-story building height limit which would allow 5 levels of residential above ground floor retail/commercial. This building height would accommodate 250 units at Larwin Square, which is economically feasible. The increased building r height would also make the mixed-use redevelopment of other properties in the Downtown Core more economically feasible. 3. The residential parking requirement of 2 spaces per unit for residents plus 1/4 space per unit for visitors is too much based upon current parking studies.The cost of constructing parking structures has become extremely expensive,and requiring too much parking for residential uses will financially prohibit the very mixed-use development that the Downtown Commercial Core Specific Plan is trying to create. Recent studies show that with the increased use of ride-sharing, Uber, and Lyft,the current parking demand for multi-family residential has decreased to an average of 1.5 spaces per apartment unit.We strongly recommend adopting the current residential parking standard of 1.5 spaces per unit,which will help to make mixed-use development in the Downtown Commercial Core economically viable. 4. The Specific Plan proposes to reduce the number of traffic lanes on First Street from 4 lanes to 2, with 2 traffic lanes being replaced by bicycle lanes and angled street parking.This will significantly reduce customer traffic from First Street to Larwin Square. a. We're also concerned that the reduced number of traffic lanes on First Street will increase the number of vehicles cutting through our shopping center to get from Centennial Way to Newport Avenue. b. We also have questions about how the reconstruction of First Street will be accomplished. It would be best if the City were to reconstruct First Street at one time to provide the on- street parking, bicycle lanes, bus stops enclosures,sidewalk improvements, and street furnishings within the public Right-Of-Way;to create the pedestrian friendly environment described in the Specific Plan. Otherwise, if the City intends to require the property owners to reconstruct sections of First Street,and the pedestrian sidewalk improvements along their property frontage,when the individual property owners seek approval of separate mixed-use redevelopment permits;we're concerned that First Street will be in various stages of reconfiguration and construction for the next 10 years or more. 5. Our Larwin Square Shopping Center is bounded on 3 sides by Newport Avenue, First Street,and Centennial Way. If we were required to fund improvements on all 3 streets as part of a proposed mixed-use development along First Street, it would disproportionately burden the project, and make it financially unfeasible.We would request that any redevelopment be required to help fund improvements to only the street frontage which the mixed-use redevelopment building faces. 6. The Public Improvements Funding Matrix in Section 6 of the Specific Plan proposes that 94%of the primary funding sources, and 63%of the secondary funding sources for all of the numerous public improvements, infrastructure improvements, and private property improvements described in detail for the Downtown Commercial Core will be from developers, property owners, and business owners. a. Development Agreements with the City will require developers and property owners to fund 100%of the public and private improvements along their street frontage in exchange for the City's discretionary approval of their proposed development projects. b. Assessments for public improvements through Business Improvement Districts, Community Facilities Districts, Landscape and Lighting Districts; Maintenance Assessment Districts; Parking Infrastructure Districts; and Enhanced Infrastructure Financing Districts will all be funded 100% by property owners, and business owners. c. Even 86%of the primary funding from the City is projected to come from Development Impact Fees which the City collects from developers as a requirement of approval for proposed development permits. d. We respectfully recommend that the City consider other primary and secondary sources to fund the numerous improvements described in the Specific Plan. Otherwise, requiring the vast majority of improvements to be funded by developers, property owners, and business owners will prohibit the type of mixed-use development in the Downtown Commercial Core area that the Specific Plan is trying to create, decrease the sales revenue of business owners in the Downtown Core; and decrease the sales tax revenue to the City generated by those business owners. Again, we support the creation of the Specific Plan and its goal to revitalize the Downtown Commercial Core. We appreciate your consideration of our comments and concerns, and hope they can be addressed in the final Specific Plan. I would be happy to meet with you at your convenience to discuss any of these comments. Best Regards, Mark Wendel Director of Development I Western Region 4 "Repo EVERY DA IVING- N 8 4 L T V Office: (949)252-3870 1 Cell: (949)343-1815 mwendel@kimcorealty.com Fax: (516) 336-5549 1 Cisco: 523870 2429 Park Avenue k Tustin, CA 92782-2705 Cc. Jeff Parker, Tustin City Manager Lucy Yeager, Tustin Planning Consultant