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HomeMy WebLinkAbout170327_GH Site Revisions Cover LetterDesign Workshop, Inc. Landscape Architecture Planning Urban Design 120 East Main Street Aspen, Colorado 81611 970.925.8354 970.920.1387 fax Asheville Aspen Austin Chicago Denver Dubai Houston Lake Tahoe Los Angeles Shanghai designworkshop.com March 9, 2017 Jennifer Phelan Community Development Department City of Aspen 130 South Galena Street, 3rd Floor Aspen, CO 81611 Dear Jennifer: The Gorsuch Haus team valued the review, input and recommendations from City Council which were received during the February 13th, 2017 City Council Meeting. We are providing this letter in anticipation of the upcoming March 27th, 2017 City Council meeting to describe site planning and building design direction with the purpose of highlighting significant changes to the project. We are excited to present our revised design approach to Gorsuch Haus and the public ski portal which responds to the City’s input. We have modified the Site Plan and made the following changes to reduce the mass and scale of Gorsuch Haus, reduce the Right-of-Way (ROW) vacations, address transportation concerns and comply with Lodge District Zoning. Below is a summary of our revisions: Lodge District Zoning a. The revised proposed project will be consistent with the Density and FAR standards of the Lodge District, which foster compatibility with the surrounding neighborhood. Revisions to the building have resulted in significantly smaller gross area. As a result, the Gorsuch Haus FAR will be materially reduced from the previous submittal. This reduction will be defined in greater detail by March 27th, 2017. b. Gorsuch Haus is fully contained within the proposed Lot and now sits on a lot totaling approximately 0.95 acres in size. Non-conformities existing in previous Site Plans have been remedied. Building Mass and Scale a. The building mass above grade has been significantly reduced from the previously proposed program to predominantly three-story hotel. Sloped roofs further reduce the perception of building mass when the hotel is approached by foot or seen from above. The sloped roof is illustrated with the enclosed perspective sketch and demonstrates the benefits of adjusting the buildings appearance to a more human scale and one which is characterized by a variety of roof forms. We expect that sections of flat roof will remain, but the visual appearance will be improved and concerns about mass alleviated. b. The building length has been reduced by 80 feet. The Gorsuch Haus front entrance has been moved 36-feet up-slope from its original position to create more public space and substantially open up the public arrival and mountain portal. c. To accommodate these beneficial modifications to the Gorsuch Haus Site Plan, we propose to simplify the height measurement standard so that the natural Design Workshop, Inc. 2 grade level is used to measure height of the buildings. The siting of Gorsuch Haus creates a grading event, as does the lift re-construction and skier services addition that when combined with the sloping site, make any other method of measurement difficult to apply. Utilizing existing provisions of the code and Commercial Design Review Standards, the Lodge Zone District provides for up to 40 feet for building height. With this standard of measurement, Gorsuch Haus commits to a maximum height of 40-feet above the natural or pre- development grade. We will make the case that on the basis of the sloping site, significant grade events, and precedent of other approved PUD’s, that this is a reasonable approach and will result in lowering the mid-section of the building where it was previously proposed to be 47-feet. Right-of-Way Vacations a. No ROW vacations are requested in this Site Plan for the Hill Street Corridor. b. A partial vacation of South Aspen Street ROW (4,215 sq. ft.) to accommodate the terminus of this street and public mountain portal is requested. c. A vacation of Summit Street ROW is requested (3,648 sq. ft.). ROW vacations requested are demonstrated in an enclosed attachment. d. The project proposes to dedicate 6,476 sq. ft. to new public ROW. Transportation a. The terminus of South Aspen Street has been reconfigured and enlarged to better provide a public mountain portal with a separated check-in and drop-off for hotel guests as well as functionally providing for transit vehicles, skier drop- off, etc. Linear space for public arrival to the mountain portal now accommodates two transit vehicles and up to three passenger vehicles while maintaining the drive-lane and required turn-around that is the engineering standard for emergency vehicles. The redesigned turnaround is 24-feet larger in the east-west direction. Mountain Portal and Public Spaces Significant modifications have been made to the ski base and public entry, further demonstrated in enclosed Sketches and Site Plan materials, which include: a. Skier access design has been greatly enhanced with a highly-developed streetscape and particularly broadened view to the mountain, lift terminal and the access to the snow level. The originally proposed building has been reshaped to open the arrival view and centrally locate public activity for arrival or après ski. b. Skier services have been relocated from the interior of the hotel to a separate building placed where the public and skiers arrive. This highly visible and conveniently located building would house the program for tickets, public uses and Aspen Skiing Company operations. The space above this service building includes Affordable Housing for the project. Design of this building is inspired by the existing iconic Lift 1A building, reinforcing that the turnaround is public in nature and creating an attractive ski portal for the mountain. Additional seating and other street amenities have been added. c. The cantilevered space over the South Aspen Street right of way has been eliminated and the hotel building and entrance set back to create an unimpeded arrival perspective to the mountain and skiing. The cantilever now extends only Design Workshop, Inc. 3 above the hotel’s vehicular turnout, outside of the perimeter of the public right of way. These modifications also remove any sense of the arrival being exclusively for Gorsuch Haus; reinforcing that the mountain, lift and environment is a public, civic and inviting way to arrive at Aspen Mountain. d. Public amenity space wrapping the Gorsuch Haus has been expanded to make activities prominently visible at the ski base and public entry, creating an attractive community space. The gathering and après ski patios particularly link the mountain and arrival together. e. Reconfiguration of the South Aspen Street terminus has reduced the elevation grade between the turnaround and the lift, resulting in grade changes that elevate the skier access staircase to snow level and the Shadow Mountain Lift. This stairway to the mountain portal has consistently been designed with skier accessibility in mind. f. The introduction of the landscaped island to the turnaround, designed to comply with fire and emergency vehicle turning radii, brings a more park-like and natural feeling into the terminus of South Aspen Street and buffers the view of the hotel with landscape that will unify this streetscape as public space and better frame the lift to the public. g. Entry to the Gorsuch Haus hotel has been reconfigured to make the front door more appealing and more publicly accessible to emphasize that Gorsuch Haus is not a Private Residence Club or Private Condominium. Rather, as a hotel whose success is driven by creating a welcoming public gathering place, the design of Gorsuch Haus has been carefully considered to invite the public into the hotel. To help illustrate these revisions, we have included the following exhibits and sketches for your review: 1. A revised site plan. 2. An enlargement of the ski portal site plan. 3. Entry and skier portal illustrative sketch showing the character and proposed changes. 4. Entry and skier portal illustrative comparing changes made, based on City Council feedback. 5. Diagram of requested Right-of-Way vacations. We look forward to reviewing these changes to reach alignment on the nature of the project’s, thereby allowing us to respond expeditiously with revised project application. Sincerely, Richard Shaw FASLA Principal, Design Workshop, Inc. Representative for Norway Island, LLC