| Loveland City Employee Discloses, “Real Motive� for Lincoln Place Developer - "Scrapping of Public Parking To Unload Project As Condos" |
The developer of the downtown project called Lincoln Place intends on selling the
apartments and commercial properties as “condominiums� but isn’t going
to tell the Loveland City Council or public until after they approve approximately $1
million in subsidies at the Council meeting Tuesday night (Feb. 20), according to one
unnamed City of Loveland employee familiar with the project. Click here to see
City Manager's summary of the restated MFA (Master Financial Agreement)
between the City of Loveland and the O'Connor Group (Lincoln Place Developer) to
be on the agenda Tuesday night.
According to the same source, a commercial real estate broker informed the Oâ
€™Connor Group that condominiums are difficult to sell profitably unless they have
dedicated parking for the each unit. Unable to sell the project as a single property,
the developer appears to be preparing to sell-off the project piecemeal. According to
a February 13, 2007 letter to the City Council, the developer stated,
“As you may know, we attempted to market this project
to third parties, only to discover the project is not
marketable….�
The letter from the developer to the City Council (while not disclosing any intention
of converting the apartments into condominiums) does hint towards the future move
to “condoize� the City of Loveland subsidized development by the following
statement in the same letter to the Council,
“…the parking structure will be owned and maintained
by the property owner or property owner’s association.
�
According to the O’Connor Group, the parking in their own project is inadequate
to provide public parking and parking for their own patrons and tenants. What they
don’t say is that condominium buyers normally expect at least two parking
spaces per unit. The project will now have 200 residential units, 22,000 sq. ft. of
retail and commercial space and only 292 parking spaces.
Another little known fact is that City of Loveland planners assumed the one bedroom
units were too small to require two parking spaces. In fact, many of these units have
a non-conforming bedroom (otherwise called a den) that potential tenants have been
told “is just like a two bedroom condo.�
The residential portion of the development alone, if sold as condominiums, should
require approximately 400 parking spaces since the 3, 2 and “1-bedroom� unit
occupants will normally have two automobiles. This doesn’t include people
shopping or working in the additional 22,000 sq. ft. of commercial space. These
people will now be competing with other areas of downtown where the parking is
already limited.
The untimely death of the CEO of the O’Conner Group, Terry O’Conner,
combined with repeated contractor safety issues on the project, have contributed to
the chaos and disarray associated with the Lincoln Place Development. According to
the same unnamed City of Loveland source, OSHA fined the Prime contractor, a
Texas based construction firm, $20,000 for allowing subcontractors to work on the
exterior of the building over 20 feet above the ground without the required safety
harness and cable. One worker has already been hospitalized by a near fatal fall
before follow-up inspections by OSHA discovered continuing unsafe working
conditions.
On the City Council agenda will be both the dissolution of the MFA (Master
Financing Agreement) and approval of two subsidies to the project in a newly
amended MFA. One is an additional $917,456 and the other the $82,000 tax waiver
already provided by the Council in 2005 in a resolution that included the public
parking garage as a reason for the fee waiver. The recent month of negotiation with
the City of Loveland staff resulted in Lincoln Place lowering the subsidy request by
$111,438.
apartments and commercial properties as “condominiums� but isn’t going
to tell the Loveland City Council or public until after they approve approximately $1
million in subsidies at the Council meeting Tuesday night (Feb. 20), according to one
unnamed City of Loveland employee familiar with the project. Click here to see
City Manager's summary of the restated MFA (Master Financial Agreement)
between the City of Loveland and the O'Connor Group (Lincoln Place Developer) to
be on the agenda Tuesday night.
According to the same source, a commercial real estate broker informed the Oâ
€™Connor Group that condominiums are difficult to sell profitably unless they have
dedicated parking for the each unit. Unable to sell the project as a single property,
the developer appears to be preparing to sell-off the project piecemeal. According to
a February 13, 2007 letter to the City Council, the developer stated,
“As you may know, we attempted to market this project
to third parties, only to discover the project is not
marketable….�
The letter from the developer to the City Council (while not disclosing any intention
of converting the apartments into condominiums) does hint towards the future move
to “condoize� the City of Loveland subsidized development by the following
statement in the same letter to the Council,
“…the parking structure will be owned and maintained
by the property owner or property owner’s association.
�
According to the O’Connor Group, the parking in their own project is inadequate
to provide public parking and parking for their own patrons and tenants. What they
don’t say is that condominium buyers normally expect at least two parking
spaces per unit. The project will now have 200 residential units, 22,000 sq. ft. of
retail and commercial space and only 292 parking spaces.
Another little known fact is that City of Loveland planners assumed the one bedroom
units were too small to require two parking spaces. In fact, many of these units have
a non-conforming bedroom (otherwise called a den) that potential tenants have been
told “is just like a two bedroom condo.�
The residential portion of the development alone, if sold as condominiums, should
require approximately 400 parking spaces since the 3, 2 and “1-bedroom� unit
occupants will normally have two automobiles. This doesn’t include people
shopping or working in the additional 22,000 sq. ft. of commercial space. These
people will now be competing with other areas of downtown where the parking is
already limited.
The untimely death of the CEO of the O’Conner Group, Terry O’Conner,
combined with repeated contractor safety issues on the project, have contributed to
the chaos and disarray associated with the Lincoln Place Development. According to
the same unnamed City of Loveland source, OSHA fined the Prime contractor, a
Texas based construction firm, $20,000 for allowing subcontractors to work on the
exterior of the building over 20 feet above the ground without the required safety
harness and cable. One worker has already been hospitalized by a near fatal fall
before follow-up inspections by OSHA discovered continuing unsafe working
conditions.
On the City Council agenda will be both the dissolution of the MFA (Master
Financing Agreement) and approval of two subsidies to the project in a newly
amended MFA. One is an additional $917,456 and the other the $82,000 tax waiver
already provided by the Council in 2005 in a resolution that included the public
parking garage as a reason for the fee waiver. The recent month of negotiation with
the City of Loveland staff resulted in Lincoln Place lowering the subsidy request by
$111,438.
LovelandPolitics.com
| Want to live in Lincoln Place? Click here to see layouts of the apartments, prices and contact information |
| Lincoln Place markets den in 1-bedroom unit as "second bedroom" in violation of Loveland Municipal Code. Click Here To Read Story |
| Related Links |
| Latest Facts: Residential Units 200 Comm. Space 22,000 sq. ft. Parking spaces 292 |
| FYI By claiming the parking "alternates" between daytime commercial space needs and nightime residential needs the developer can argue the same space is used by both groups.. If condominiums are sold with DEDICATED parking - there will not be enough daytime parking and shoppers and employees of Lincoln Place will be competing for the already limited street parking downtown. What was sold to taxpayers as extra public parking is looking more everyday like a parking nightmare for downtown if the developer is allowed to sell the units as condos with dedicated parking for each unit. As constructed, there aren't even two parking spaces per condominium. |