Title
Review and Consideration of a Detailed Site Plan for Apartments on 10.892 Acres out of the S.S. Callender Survey, Abstract No. 359, Located Approximately 200 Feet East of FM 157 and Approximately 750 Feet North of House Road; Spencer Long of Realty Capital Management, LP and Adam Brown of Trinsic Residential Group on behalf of Glenn Day, et. al. (DS#20-004)
Requested Action
To review and consider the subject Detailed Site Plan.
Recommendation
Staff recommends approval with the condition that the commercial component of the development will require Detailed Site Plan approval once plans are ready.
Description/History
The subject property consists of 10.892 acres located approximately 200 feet east of FM 157 and approximately 750 feet north of House Road, situated in Zone 1 of Watson Branch, a planned development that was approved in 2019. Per the planned development regulations, all zones or portions of the development require Detailed Site Plan review and approval by City Council. The senior living and single-family & townhome portions of the development (Zones 2 & 3) received approval in June 2020. Zone 1 includes the multi-family portion of the development. The applicant is requesting to build three buildings containing 350 apartments, as well as the associated apartment amenities. It should be noted that in the PD, Zone 1 also includes the commercial component of the development, which is not included in this plan. The commercial component will require Detailed Site Plan approval once plans are ready.
Site Plan
The applicant plans to develop an urban-style multi-family residential development called Aura at Watson Branch, containing 350 units. The development will include three four-story multi-family buildings with a maximum height of 55 feet. All units with the exception of ground floor units will be served by interior corridors that are finished with carpet, wood, tile, or decorative stained concrete.
Access to the property is provided via the spine road that runs through the development from FM 157 on the west to House Road on the south. Until the single-family & townhome portion develops, the spine road will include a temporary turnaround. Buildings 100 & 200 are located on the south side of the spine road and Building 300 is located on the north side of the spine road. Building 100 includes the leasing center, mail center, and indoor amenities, which take up 8,293 sq. ft. Building 300 includes an additional 396 sq. ft. mail center. Each building also includes outdoor courtyard spaces; the outdoor pool is located in the courtyard of Building 100. In addition, a dog park is located between Buildings 100 & 200.
The number of units and floor area for each building is:
Building 100: 113 units; 154,543 sq. ft. floor area
Building 200: 109 units; 139,024 sq. ft. floor area
Building 300: 128 units; 156,636 sq. ft. floor area
The density is 32.13 units per acre and the total number of units (350) is the maximum allowed by the PD.
The applicant is proposing the following unit mix:
One-bedroom (min. 650 sq. ft. floor area): 221 units (63.1%)
Two-bedroom (min. 900 sq. ft. floor area): 115 units (32.9%)
Three-bedroom (min. 1,000 sq. ft. floor area): 14 units (4%)
The units are distributed fairly evenly throughout the property, with Building 300 including a few more one-bedroom units than the other buildings. The average unit size is 1,000 sq. ft., as required by the PD.
Access, Circulation, and Parking
Buildings 100 & 200 are served by three access points off the spine road, while Building 300 is served by two access points off the spine road. All access points are gated, except for the access point on the west side of Building 100 near the leasing center, to allow for public access to the leasing center and facilitate connectivity with the commercial area once it develops. However, due to grading challenges, a direct driveway connection will not be made. In lieu of this, the sidewalk along the spine road will be enhanced with a trellis and seating area at the connection point to the commercial portion in order to encourage pedestrian access and movement between the two uses. In addition, an access easement will be provided on the south end of the property in order to allow future connection to the property to the south.
Angled parking spaces will be provided along the spine road and a public parking area will also be provided on the west side of Building 100 near the leasing center. Dedicated delivery and rideshare spaces will be provided along the spine road. Resident-only, access-controlled parking spaces will be located on the south side of Building 100, in between Buildings 100 & 200, and around Buildings 200 & 300. Some of the resident-only spaces include carports. Each building will also include tuck-under garage spaces; the tuck-under spaces are located so as not to face public streets. There will be 65 garage spaces, 119 carport spaces, 334 uncovered surface spaces, and 41 street spaces, for a total of 559 spaces, which exceeds the requirements. The PD requires a ratio of 1.5 spaces per unit, or 525 spaces.
To serve pedestrians, the development will include sidewalks on both the north and south sides of the spine road to serve the buildings and the angled parking spaces; direct sidewalk connections will also be provided to the ground floor units located along the spine road. The spine road sidewalks will also connect to the senior living, commercial, and single-family/townhome portions of Watson Branch. The western terminus of the sidewalk on the south side of the spine road will include a trellis and seating area to encourage pedestrian movement between the multi-family and commercial portions of the development. The interior of the development will also include sidewalks to provide access to parking areas, building entrances, and site amenities. A sidewalk stub on the northeast side of the development will allow for future connection to the public trail to be built with this development.
Storage, Equipment/Service Area Screening, and Trash
The applicant notes that there will be no outside storage or outside operations on the property, no parking of boats/trailers/recreational vehicles, all utilities with the exception of electric transmission lines will be placed underground, all service areas and mechanical equipment will be located and screened in accordance with the requirements of Section 7301.A of the Zoning Ordinance, and all rooftop equipment will be screened by building parapets at least one foot taller than the tallest piece of equipment. A trash compactor and recycling dumpster will be located in between Buildings 100 & 200 and trash & recycling dumpsters will be located on the north side of Building 300; these areas will be screened by enclosures and shrubs as required.
Architectural Elevations
The elevations of the apartment buildings include a mix of brick, stone, three types of fiber cement lap siding, and two types of stucco, with metal panel accents and cedar screens and soffits. The color scheme includes a mix of white, beige, black, and grey, as well as wood tones. The garage doors will be painted black and will include a paneled design that is residential in character. The elevations include numerous recesses and projections and variations in wall height along all facades. The buildings include a mix of flat and pitched roof designs, with a predominant roof pitch of 3:12 on the pitched portions.
Consistent with the PD, the front facades (those elevations facing public streets) will include a minimum of 80% masonry and a maximum of 20% stucco or hardi-board, while rear facades will include a minimum of 25% masonry and a maximum of 75% stucco or hardi-board. In addition, the leasing center portion of Building 100 will be designed in a storefront condition and awnings will be provided over 50% of the ground-floor windows facing the spine road.
The carports will include stone columns and shingled roofs with 3:12 pitches to match the buildings. In addition, the trash enclosure and trash compactor will include stone walls and fiber cement lap siding gates to match the buildings.
Landscaping, Screening, and Amenities
A Landscape Plan has been provided, showing the landscaping, hardscaping, and screening to be provided throughout the site, as well as tables detailing the planting types and quantities, the landscaping requirements, and detailed renderings for the screening devices. A 10’ landscape buffer with canopy trees will be provided along the south boundary. Canopy trees will also be provided in the interior parking lot islands. In addition, shrubs will be provided along all other boundaries, primarily to screen parking areas from adjacent properties, public streets, and the public trail. Foundation plantings will also be provided along building facades facing the spine road and the future commercial area. Shrubs and groundcover will also be provided at the main gated entry located between Buildings 100 & 200. The enhanced four-way intersection on the spine road will also include enhanced landscaping in coordination with Greystar.
A 6’ tall wrought iron perimeter fence will be provided to restrict access to most portions of the property, with the exception of the areas along the spine road and the area on the west side of Building 100. The vehicle access points will include decorative iron gates with stone columns. The dog park will include wire mesh fencing.
Hardscape amenities include benches, trash cans, and decorative street lights along the spine road, a trellis and seating area at the west end of the spine road, a dog park between Buildings 100 & 200, and outdoor courtyards for all of the buildings. Building 100 will include the pool, while Buildings 200 & 300 will include garden courtyards with amenities such as a bocce ball court and fire pit. All courtyards will also include seating areas and grilling stations.
The applicant notes that valet trash service will be provided in lieu of indoor trash chutes and the pool will include a sundeck and cabanas, but will not be saltwater as specified in the PD. In addition, indoor mail centers will be provided in lieu of drive-thru mail centers and a roof terrace will be provided in lieu of a cinema theater. A dog park, elevator access, interior corridors, two-story fitness center, yoga room, conference room, social lounge with gaming & TV, cyber lounge, gourmet coffee & hot tea bar, and outdoor grilling with lounging areas will all be provided as specified in the PD.
Sign Plan
Signage will comply with the PD ordinance. The development will include a blade sign on the north side of Building 100 adjacent to the spine road, as well as a leasing center wall sign on the west side of the building.
Summary and Recommendation
The site plan includes a multi-family development with a layout, architecture, and landscaping consistent with the approved PD, as well as abundant resident amenities, and connections to adjacent components of the development. Staff recommends approval with the condition that the commercial component of the development will require Detailed Site Plan approval once plans are ready.
Prepared By
Andrew Bogda, Planner
817-276-4287