The City holds a right of way dedication to a 20 foot wide public right of way alley known as Alton Court (hereinafter referred to as the “Alley”), running parallel and between Alton Road and West Avenue, between Lincoln Road and 17^th Street.

BH The Alton LLC (“BHTA”) owns those certain properties known as 1656, 1664,1676,1680 Alton Road and 1677 West Avenue and identified by tax folio numbers 02-3234-017-0160, 02-3234-017-0170, 02-3234-017-0180, 02-3234-017-0190, and 02-3233-017-0050 (the “BH Property”), Alton JAL Inc. (“ALTJ”) owns those certain properties known as 1209 and 1245 Lincoln Road and identified by tax folio numbers 02-3234-017-0150 and 02-3233-017-0100 (the “AJ Property”), Mitchell Property Investments LLC, (“MPI”) owns that certain property known as 1661 West Avenue and identified by tax folio number 02-3233-017-0090 (the “Mitchell Property”) and 1681 West Ventures, LLC (“1681West” and together with BHTA, ALTJ and MPI, collectively, the “Applicant”) owns that certain property known as 1681 West Avenue and identified by tax folio number 02-3233-017-0040 (the “1681West Property” and together with the BH Property, the AJ Property and the Mitchell Property, the “Property”) as reflected in the Site Plan attached as Exhibit “A”.

The City Commission has expressed an interest in diversifying the economy for the benefit of the City and its residents, particularly by making a concerted effort to attract the financial services and technology industries. The City Administration believes that to achieve this objective, there is a need to increase the inventory of Class A Office space throughout the City.

BHTA intends to redevelop the Alton Road folios that form part of the Property as a Class A Office development (the "Proposed Development").  BHTA has requested that certain portions of the Alley, not to exceed 6,500 square feet, be vacated and certain parcels the Applicant’s Property be joined via a covenant in lieu of unity of title following the effective date of the vacation, so that the Proposed Development can be improved as part of a unified development site.  This would give Applicant the ability to transfer Floor Area Ratio (“FAR”) from Applicant’s West Avenue parcels to Applicant’s Alton Road parcels to allow for additional Class A Office space within the Proposed Development.  BHTA has also expressed an interest, if the Commission is agreeable, to utilize the FAR associated with the portions of the ROW being vacated.

In accordance with Article II, Sections 82-36 through 82-40, of the City Code, prior to approving a request for vacation, the following requirements must be satisfied: (1) the title of the Resolution approving the proposed vacation shall be heard by the City Commission on two separate meeting dates, with the second reading to be accompanied by a duly noticed public hearing; (2) the proposed vacation shall be transmitted to the Finance and Economic Resiliency Committee (FERC) for its review; (3) the City's Planning Department shall prepare a written Planning Analysis, to be submitted to the City Commission concurrent with its consideration of the proposed vacation; and (4) the City shall obtain an independent appraisal of the fair market value of the property proposed to be vacated.

Pursuant to the requirements of Section 1.03(b)(4) of the City Charter, the proposed vacation was heard and approved by a majority of the members of the Planning Board at its June 21, 2022 meeting. The Planning Department’s analysis and favorable recommendation of the vacation, pursuant to Section 82-38 of the City Code are attached as Exhibit “B”. 

The proposed vacation was heard before the City Commission on June 22, 2022, at First Reading, with a recommendation to refer the item to its next Finance and Economic Resiliency Committee.

The Public Works Department received an appraisal report on June 23, 2022 (the “Appraisal Report”) that includes fair market valuations of (a) the ROW with all appurtenant rights, (b) the contemplated perpetual easement, (c) transferable FAR and (d) an investment value premium associated with the contemplated vacation.  The Appraisal Report is attached to this Memorandum as Exhibit "C"

PROPOSED PUBLIC BENEFIT

The Public Works Department has calculated that the following amounts would be appropriate monetary contributions to be proffered as a public benefit in connection with the proposed ROW vacation:

6,500 Square Feet including associated FAR         $4,594,707

6,000 Square Feet including associated FAR         $4,241,268

6,500 Square Feet without associated FAR            $1,641,432

6,000 Square Feet without associated FAR            $1,515,168