HISTORY:
On or about June 7, 2017, the City engaged Tom Blazejack, to prepare an appraisal, as required by Section 82-39 of the City Code, with respect to a proposal submitted by North Beach Town Center Development, LLC’s (“Developer”) for the City to convey two of its Parking Lots (P80 and P84) in North Beach, in exchange for the Developer’s conveyance to the City of a public parking garage unit or structure, which would be constructed as part of the Developer’s proposed mixed use project.
Between July, 2017 and December, 2017, the City and the Developer held various meetings to discuss the differences in valuation. As part of the appraisal discussions, the City and the Developer agreed that the results of the November, 2017 referendum regarding the proposed F.A.R. increase in the Town Center districts in North Beach could affect the valuation of the respective parcels. The decision to incorporate the F.A.R. referendum results as part of the appraisal analysis inured to the benefit of the Developer, as the Developer’s properties benefited more from the FAR increase than the City’s properties.
On December 21, 2017, Blazejack submitted its revised appraisal analysis, based on the increased F.A.R. associated with the November referendum approved by the voters. The analysis reflects, the higher overall value of the City’s properties resulted in an $800,000 variance between the City properties and Developer properties.
Between December 21, 2017 and April 3, 2018, the City and the Developer had extensive negotiations regarding the Developer’s concept plans for the Project, all of which assumed that Developer would have ownership of property the Developer currently does not own, namely the property located at 414 71st Street (the “Prima Pasta Site”).
On April 3, 2018, the owner of Prima Pasta, through its counsel, submitted a letter to the Mayor and City Commission formally advising the City that it did not have any agreement with the Developer, and that Prima Pasta objects to its property being included as part of the project.
On Wednesday, April 4, 2018, after the April 11, 2018 City Commission Agenda was released, the Developer submitted an email to the Mayor and City Commission with respect to Agenda Item R7E, stating that he is “falling back to Plan B and excluding Prima Pasta from the project submittal” and that the Developer is “no longer communicating with” Prima Pasta.
On Friday, April 6, 2018, the Developer submitted a new “Plan B” concept and proposed revisions to the term sheet recommended by the Finance and Citywide Projects Committee (Finance Committee) on March 26, 2018.
In view of the Developer’s April 6, 2018 submittal of a new proposed “Plan B” Project, the Administration recommended that any consideration of the term sheet set forth in Agenda Item R7E be deferred (his “Plan A,” involving the Prima Pasta Site) to provide the Administration the appropriate time to (1) review the new proposal, both from a Planning Department perspective and from a business/economic development perspective, (2) negotiate any business and legal issues that may arise based on the new proposed plan and terms, and (3) make a recommendation to the Finance Committee with respect to this new proposal, which is materially different from what the Finance Committee previously reviewed. The developer subsequently withdrew his Plan A proposal.
Some of the threshold issues for review of a revised concept plan and term sheet for such a materially different project include:
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Review with Planning Department to determine if there are F.A.R. implications for the new project. In order to proceed with the City garage as a “main use garage,” Planning would need to review the plan with the Building Department and the Fire Department, to determine if the new City garage is a completely separate building structure, with separate building systems, separate permit, and a separate C.O., as otherwise, there are significant F.A.R. implications; and
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Review from a business and operational perspective, including impacts on operating costs and changes to the pro forma previously presented to the Finance Committee; and
- Review of Developer’s latest term sheet and concept plan. For instance, the proposed number of Developer-owned parking spaces and City-owned parking spaces. Additionally, review issues concerning access, cross-circulation and the like, particularly with respect to the proposed ground floor and second floor layout ; and
- Review potential impacts to Prima Pasta’s operations and adjacent properties. For example, emergency egress, loading access, trash removal, dumpster location and grease traps locations for P rima P asta would need to be evaluated.
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