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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPN_Urban Center Design Overlay District Report_210416_v1.pdf Sunset Gardens URBAN CENTER DESIGN OVERLAY DISTRICT REPORT Our site is located in within “District ‘D’: All areas zoned Center Village (CV)”. (4.3.100B 1B IV) PEDESTRIAN BUILDING ENTRIES: The building has two primary entries along NE 10th Street: one to the Renton Housing Authority (RHA) offices and another to the residential lobby. The Renton Housing Authority’s primary entry is located adjacent to a corner plaza at the SW corner of the site and is accessed via an accessible walkway from the public sidewalk. Additional entries to the Renton Housing Authority’s offices are located to the northwest along Jefferson Avenue NE. The residential lobby’s primary entry is located east of the RHA entry for added privacy and also accessed via the same accessible pathway from the sidewalk as the RHA entry. All building entries along the rights-of-way are provided with canopies to indicate entrance areas. Secondary building entries are provided from the parking lot to the RHA offices and the residential lobby on the east and north facades. TRANSITION TO SURROUNDING DEVELOPMENT: The scale of the building transitions from four-stories above grade to three-stories along NE 10th Street as the topography rises to meet the eastern portion of Jefferson Avenue NE. The building mass is further broken down to a more human scale through the modulation of siding. Each step is distinguished by separate materials, textures, and colors to create the feeling of multiple buildings in place of one large mass. At four- stories in height the development’s roof will approximately match the apartment building to the east that are up the hill in relation to the project site. The development will be taller than the one story commercial buildings to the west of the project site. LOCATION OF PARKING, DESIGN OF SURFACE PARKING, AND/OR STRUCTURE/GARAGE PARKING: To reduce the visual impact of the surface parking, the parking is placed behind the building away from both the pedestrian environment and the main streets as much as possible. The parking is screened by the building along NE 10th Street and to the west by Jefferson Avenue NE. The rise in topography along the north and eastern sides of the site creates a visual barrier along the remaining portion of Jefferson Avenue NE to the east. The surface parking in this location is setback approximately 15’ from the property line to allow ample landscaping for increased screening. The parking garage adjacent to NE 10th Street is set back 15’-20’ away from the pedestrian sidewalk and covered primarily with the rising topography. The remaining visibility of the garage wall is screened by terraced landscaping and vegetation. VEHICULAR ACCESS: Vehicular access to the site is provided by a single driveway entered to the west of the site off Jefferson Avenue N. Vehicle access is limited to one point on the site to maintain a continuous pedestrian sidewalk along the primary streets . The same driveway is used to access the service elements, and both structured and surface parking. PEDESTRIAN CIRCULATION: All primary pedestrian circulation is located along the perimeter of the site at the primary streets which further link to sidewalks beyond the site to embed within the City’s greater pedestrian network. Accessible pathways are provided from the sidewalks and parking lot to the building. Pathways from the parking lot are delineated with a change in texture. Sidewalks are 8’ wide along NE 10th Street and 6’ wide along the western portion of Jefferson Avenue NE per City of Renton standards. Interior to 2 the site, an accessible pedestrian path through the parking connects the building to the trash enclosure. COMMON SPACE: A second level terrace and adjoining common room provide 4,609 square feet of multi - purpose common space for residents. The upper terrace faces east to capture the morning sun and provides a variety of vegetation, tenant gardening, and seating areas. An additional open space is provided through a Memorial Garden on the ground floor including a central focal element and seat walls. LANDSCAPING: The planting on site will be drought tolerant, native or adaptive, plant species. Proposed street trees, planting strip, and on-site landscaping consisting of trees, shrubs, groundcover, and bioretention planting, enhance the pedestrian environment throughout the site. The corner plaza features a seat wall, benches, bike racks, and raised planters to provide pedestrian amenities. The Memorial Garden also features seat walls, special paving, and a focal element, with mounded landscape areas to create a more intimate space. On the second level, the outdoor terrace provi des a space dedicated to the residents, with raised planters, different types of seating areas, and tenant gardening planters. BUILDING CHARACTER AND MASSING, ROOFLINES, AND MATERIALS The building features a roof line with extended parapets varying in height above the roof level. Emphasis is placed at the southwest corner with a high parapet, deep setback, and bold colors. Modulated bays are provided on all right-of-way frontages. Each bay, with exception of the corner, sets back 2’ from the main body and extends the full height of the building. The building utilizes various textural and color variations between patterns and treatments of the materials, a contrast between dark and light tones, and vertical and horizontal elements within the treatment of the façade. High quality materials are planned to include a brick base with fiber cement panel upper levels and fiber cement plank siding at insets. All sides of the building are unified through material detailing, rhythm, and color to supplement the visual interest of the design within the neighborhood. The brick at the commercial floor breaks the building down to a human scale and makes the building feel shorter as well as differentiate the commercial floor from the upper residential floors.