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City Council Deferred their vote for the 7th & Tryon MOU until July 6th. Keep the pressure on City Council!
We believe that the 7th & Tryon 1 1/2 Block Proposal should include Affordable Housing within the Development. The original RFP accepted by the developer included Affordable Housing and we do not think that they should be allowed to remove this requirement. Metropolitan should be held to the RFP Requirements.
The developer made a decision when the Inlivian Land was removed from consideration. They chose to increase the MF housing on the 1 1/2 block site to make up for lost revenue. This required them to increase the height of the MF building which significantly increased the development cost / unit. This was a decision made by the Developer that made fulfilling the Affordable Housing commitment more difficult. The cost of developing Affordable Housing has not changed from when they agreed to the RFP. The 'additional funding gap' that they continuously reference is due to their decisions. (Note: It has been and will always lower cost/unit for affordable housing units where the land cost is lower, not an excuse for not building Affordable Housing in more affluent areas)
Building Affordable Housing Uptown in the 7th Street & North Tryon development is "symbolic" for the Community.
The council has recently asked and received significant Affordable Housing from the Reimagined Ballantyne Development due to your financial contribution in both TIG and CIP investments. We question why this developer is not held to the same standards. It would also be cheaper to build the Affordable Housing away from Ballantyne but the "symbolic significance" of including Affordable Housing in the Development was acknowledged by City Council negotiations.
Metropolitan is similarly asking for not less than $25M in TIG and $2-$5M in CIP public funding. We would expect you to hold them equally accountable to provide Affordable Housing.
Contributing only $3 million for off-site Affordable Housing is an insignificant amount based upon their original commitment for Affordable Housing and the Public funding requested by the developer. This token contribution does not meet the terms of the RFP or commitment to the Community.
We strongly support the redevelopment project by Inlivian. But we do not believe that the Inlivian Hall House Development should be used as an escape from the commitment of the original RFP that Metropolitan agreed to.
We appreciate your recent actions to support making substantive changes in reaction to the ongoing Protests. We believe that not requiring additional changes in the proposed 7th & Tryon development will not be consistent with your recent commitments to 'real change'. The Developer should be made to comply with the original RFP. Funding Uptown Economic Development with TIG and CIP public funding that does not include Affordable Housing should not be acceptable to City Staff or City Council.
As an additional point, we question the necessity of the high cost of the underground parking on this site. As part of the council's ongoing support of higher density near rapid transit with less parking this seems inconsistent. The number of spaces included in the project exceeds the number that should be required of the Office Building and MF housing. There should not be a requirement to supplement parking for other nearby Uptown developments.
Please send an email (see text in red below) to Mayor Lyles, City Council, City Manager and Pam Wideman requesting they adopt our recommendations. You will find their emails via this link Scroll down to the bottom half of the page.
Dear Mayor Lyles,
Recommendations for the 7th & Tryon Street Development to include affordable housing:
Hold the Developer accountable for Affordable Housing within the 1 1/2 block project. We do not believe that the $3 million contribution is adequate or consistent with your recent negotiations on Ballantyne.
Add a Minimum of 45 Affordable Units (10%) to the project per the original RFP.
Reduce the amount of underground parking for the project to reflect the council's goals regarding development near rapid transit.
Please adopt our recommendations to show your support for the larger Community. All residents should have a CHOICE to live in Uptown in the 7th & Tryon Development. Thank you Enter your name here