Thread by @shayshinecastle

Last item (the one I forgot): Alpine Balsam update. Staff presentation: www-static.bouldercolorado.gov/docs/Alpine_Ba…

We have not talked about this since Jan. 2020. I think the last official action was OK'ing land use, zoning changes for the old hospital site (but not the surrounding areas) boulderbeat.news/2019/08/30/ami…

Reminder: The city bought the former BCH hospital campus in 2015 for ~$40M. Reasons twofold: to prevent redevelopment and to possibly consolidate city offices there.

The county was going to co-locate there, but council decided not to do so. Now that parcel will be housing and city offices, dubbed the "Western city hub"

The city does need to consolidate, as two buildings are in the flood zone. There also was a $1M lease for another, but that was cancelled during COVID.

I'm interested to see how COVID's long-term impacts on office space impacts plans for this area.

Lots of good background on this site at BoulderBeat.news. I've written on it many, many times.

But for now....
Alpine-Balsam progress in 2020:
Deconstructed interior of Pavilion building - 740 tons of materials diverted from the landfill (43%)
Of this, 30 tons (2%) went for reuse

Reminder: This is a "green" deconstruction, which means SLOW and EXPENSIVE.

Other 2020 progress:
Consultant hired to design flood mitigation to take site out of 100-yr floodplain

Land use, zoning changes adopted as part of BVCP

Work to remain eligible for federal $$ for housing

Engineering firm hired for “net zero” possibilities including “thermal and/or electric microgrid, a geothermal field, battery storage solutions, and the best methods to maximize the deployment of on-site photovoltaic solar”

Plans for 2021:
Design exterior deconstruction of main hospital building - City code mandates 75% landfill diversion
“This project aims to not only exceed, but also demonstrate what can be directly reused before being sent for recycling.”

I'm curious to see how that will be met when they only diverted 43% of the Pavilion building. I hope someone asks that.

Other 2021 plans:
Design / start construction for flood control in parallel with building redevelopment

March 2021 update on feasibility of net zero options

Zoning changes implemented

We're still years away from anything being fully built out there. Permitting process for “western city hub” will take two years, according to staff. City intends to occupy site by 2025.

Of course, building housing could be faster. The city referenced 30Pearl as an example of how it might handle things here: Selling off parcels to fund construction of affordable housing/city offices.

OK, quick break in my recap for a quote from Michele Crane, head of fleet & facilities RE: diverting materials from landfills.

"90% of what we’re seeing going into dumpsters is drywall"

"As we get into exterior deconstruction .... when steel and concrete start to come into this mix, that's when we see that recycled material go up."

So the outside of buildings are more recyclable/divertable than interiors, apparently.

Crane: Concrete holds "by far" the most embodied energy. Steel from the exterior can possibly be re-used in other city projects. Boulder will attempt to calculate how much embodied energy was re-captured.

Consolidation of city offices will also further climate goals, Crane says.

She references hybrid and remote work, and what's being learned during COVID. Some in-person service is essential for city gov't, Crane says, but there will be "a lot more opportunity" for remote or hybrid work.

Amanda Cole seeming fairly nervous presenting this. I don't blame her. People have been *rabid* about this project.

Any development here may follow form-based code. I've had it explained to me so. many. times. but I still can't tell you exactly what it is.

I can tell you WHY it is: It makes the city regulatory process go faster, supposedly. 30Pearl was an example of form-based code.

Talking a bit about funding for the project. This is an expensive one... so much so, that the city almost abandoned it in 2019. boulderbeat.news/2019/04/10/bou…

All told (last time we checked) $120M. That's likely to grow, because these are old numbers. But maybe not. No idea what COVID has done to construction costs. boulderbeat.news/2019/05/16/bou…

That includes the $40M purchase price for the campus, of course.

Weaver's first q is how flood mitigation at the site will impact the area. Plans are still in the works, but the "preferred design" is "an open-channel greenway that is approximately 60-feet in width and traverses the southern edge of Balsam Avenue."

This will take the entire site out of the 100-year floodplain

Apparently some of the steel from the hospital deconstruction can be reused to build the new Fire Station No. 3

Weaver really in his element talking about all the green aspects of this project.

"Talk about triple-dipping, that is just ... super interesting," Weaver says.

Weaver: "Talk about a 15-min neighborhood. By the time this is done, you'll have commercial and office on the site, housing on the site, amenities and shopping" across the street.

Good reminder that Yates wants to call this The Ideal Neighborhood, playing on the fact that the Ideal Market is across the street.

Wallach: "So much has changed during COVID. The demand for office space, the city's ability to finance .... " Is the hospital now "a clean white box" after deconstruction?

Crane: By the spring, that's what it will very much be.

Wallach: Would it not be appropriate to take one last look at adaptive reuse?

This idea has been analyzed and rejected by staff SO MANY TIMES as too expensive and not really practical for what the city wants to do there.

Wallach Sigh-O-Meter: 3.5

Crane: "We've continued to look at the reuse of the hospital for awhile. ... One of the things we determined (for the Pavilion) is the building floor plate and the floor of the building really lends itself to future building use, because you can get daylight in from both sides."

That's not true for the main hospital building, Crane says. One-third of it is underground.

"Adaptively reusing that, trying to get natural daylight into spaces, to use that for other uses ... that was one key hurdle. ... The sprawl of the site really worked against a lot of the vision of the area plan."

"Even with a shell, we essentially have to rebuild much of the building. ... As we consider the costs ... on a building that is serpentine across the site and still doesn't lend itself to a good form ... the hospital has been a real challenge."

Wallach: "Have we ever brought in 6-7 major developers and simply asked the question, can you do anything with it? What could you do? ... There may be no opportunity whatsoever, but not taking a look at it ... is unfortunate."

Carolyn Elam, of climate initiatives: We did talk with some architects as well as the university to explore that particular structure to see where the net energy benefit would be over the life of the system vs. what you could do with other uses.

Wallach: "I expect ... some arts groups or nonprofits that, for the right price, would be happy to occupy the space" — even the underground with no daylight.

Meschuk: "We have extensively looked at reuse of the building" ... Also an expert panel. "We've asked council on three occasions that question and it's been confirmed we're intending to deconstruct that building."

"It would be a pretty big backstep if we were to go down that road," Meschuck says.

LOLOL Young on a portion of the site: "People are start to using it as a dog park. So there might be a 'Don't take our dog park away!'" when we start work there.

Don't get between Boulderites and their dog parks.

Brockett asks for a tour as soon as possible, and also "Can we do a haunted house?"

The answer, sadly, is no.

Wouldn't it be funny if the city did a haunted house fundraiser? City with a $340M budget, got volunteers out here shoveling snow and raising cash $3 at a time.

Back to serious biz. Friend q: How does a city project go through a city regulatory process?

Carr: It's the same. The city tends to be harder on itself than private projects. The requirements are the same. Happens all the time.

Carr: "The comment I often get is why does the city have so much trouble getting through its own process?"

Brockett: Is there anything ID'd that are a threat to the project continuing? Any financial red flags?

Cole: I think we can be "creative" and flexible. "There's still plenty of options available. ... What's most important is the sequencing."

"I don't think we're that concerned yet," Cole says.

Brockett: Are we considering a bond mechanism for the Pavilion redo? Or do we think we'll be using revenues?
Cole: It's planned right now as some form of debt.

No more council qs or comments, so that's the end of this update. And the meeting.

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