Submitted by Eric
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Planning & Development Update- General Meeting August 22, 2020
Submitted by David Broadhead
In 2019 we requested $200,000 to support an evidence based due diligence process to confirm and advance the deep green retro fitting of our exiting townhouses and better understand what work needs to be done to provide accessible, aging in place units.
We contracted Urban Matters to lead us through this process. Urban Matters broke the scope of the work down in to 3 Phases — with each subsequent phase building on the information gathered from the previous — and always with an eye towards becoming shovel ready.
This included in Phase 1
Project initiation – identifying goals, timeline, participants
Engagement with membership
Accessibility analysis of our property as it is
The production of a schematic design concept for our deep energy retrofit by MODA
Identify sustainability opportunities, i.e. green sustainability
Create an asset management plan and identify areas that need on going work and decision making by the membership
And lastly, Provide three primary recommendations: pursue the sustainable deep green retrofit, seek a land purchase agreement from the City of Calgary, and study the possibility of building new accessible, aging in place housing.
These recommendations were approved by the membership in January 2020.
Phase 2 turned our focus to the potential new building, understanding our finances, and continued negotiations with the City.
Phase 2 includes the following Work
Design Work
Project Costing
Stakeholder Engagement
Site Assessment including Appraisal
Value Engineering
By fall 2020 we will have completed this process. Cost will be within range of our original estimate of $200,0000 with small adjustments in categories. Phase 1 and Phase 2 were funded within the original motion and included a $25,000 preservation Funding Grant from CMHC.
Movements before undertaking work in phase 2, Urban Matters directed us to a new funding opportunity that could offset costs associated with Phase 2 and all future work. The Canadian Federation of Municipalities has created the Green Municipal Fund. This program is designed to complement CHMC’s funding programs, but requires greater energy efficiency targets to be met. In particular new buildings must be Net Zero ready. The green municipal fund also supports land purchase and provides greater granting levels than CMHC. So you can see why we would have chosen to pursue this funding. It could reduce the overall mortgage amount that SHC needs to borrow.
To accommodate these stricter guidelines and we have had to expand the scope of phase 2 to include a Sustainability Consultant to work alongside MODA - to ensure we are meeting Net Zero Ready targets. And there was an opportunity to further study the exterior accessibility changes that would be necessary for our grounds — in particular the ice build up in the winter and flash flooding in the summer on our pathways.
In May 2020 SHC applied for $116,865 from the Green Municipal Fund to pay for Phase 2, the sustainability consultant, accessibility engineer, and Phase 3. We will be learning the results of this funding by the fall.
If we received this funding it will mean that we have reduced SHC’s contribution to phases 1, 2 and 3 by approximately half. If we don’t get the grant, we still need to undertake this work to continue moving us towards our goal which is preparation for Capital or Development funding.
So, let me break things down like this. To complete the additional tasks in phase 2 that satisfy the Green Municipal Fund, we need
$16,538 for the sustainability consultant
$8269 for the pathway accessibility study
Phase 3 sits within the scope of the original motion, but requires an additional
$2,000.00 to explore partnership opportunities — This is to cover explorations with potential capital and operating income partners for our project.
and $11,800 for Urban Matters to complete a final recommendation report. The final recommendation report will Present a final redevelopment recommendation that summarizes the most feasible development program and includes next steps related to design, site, planning support, financial analysis and funding opportunities. Include schematic concepts provided by the design consultant. Urban Matters’ goal is to help identify development concepts that are appropriately-sized and financially feasible.
Although tasks 2 and 3 will be completed in the fall there is new or additional work that needs to be completed in response to the land lease negotiation process, upcoming grant preparation, and ongoing consultation with Urban Matters.
Negotiations with the City for the purchase of our land are moving slowly and will require additional work from SHC and Urban Matters to reach our goals. Specifically, our lease states that we have the option to purchase the land at Market Value. That is what SHC agreed to 42 years ago. This means the city needs to understand what market value for the land is as its starting position. They have determined it is valued at 20 million dollars. We know, and the City knows, that this is not feasible for SHC. But the city had to come up with this number to dot their “i”s and cross their “t”s.
We now need to work with Affordable Housing to push internally to bring this cost in line with SHC’s capacity. We are all still aiming for book value, which we understand is approximately 5.5 million.
So this new body of work functions as a phase 3.5 with the emphasis of getting us to a full phase 4 process.
The money required for the next bit of work is not tied to any granting program. So it is money that we need to spend as a Co-op.
The tasks and funding required are as follows:
Land purchase proposal and negotiations $6,300.00
Value Engineering and Financial Refinement $5,500.00 - meaning continuing to work our operating budget and pro forma in relation to proposed costs of the land. (The goal here is to prove to the city definitely what we can afford while still remaining affordable).
In addition to these specific amounts we request approval of up to $10,000.00 for General Consulting fees from now until December 31.
Given that our budget for 2021 will not be approved for sometime we also request approval of up to $10,000 for General Consulting Fees for January through June 2021.
We are distributing a new proposal from Urban Matters explaining this stage of our project in greater detail.
New Build Update
Submitted by Phil Cox
Earlier in the summer, Planning and Development put out a call for members to be part of a design reference group. The group, 24 members strong and diverse, is engaged with MODA the architect working under Urban Matters.
Having earlier confirmed that the best and pretty much only site for a new build coincides with four of the eight one bedroom units, MODA’s current task is to develop “massing” ideas for the site. These are design concepts created to meet the specifics of the site along with other requirements like: affordability, accessibility/adaptability and member preferences as understood to date. They are not detailed drawings, as yet.
On July 23rd, MODA presented five options for consideration. In the Zoom call, the MODA team asked us to take away the pdf document from the meeting and state our preferences.
On August 6th, the reference group met again with MODA. They presented a reduced field of candidate drawings each embellished with more detail and adapted to consider the feedback received. The MODA team again asked us to provide feedback on each of the three models presented.
As you can see from the photos above, the three “next stage” massing options that were presented are stylistically quite different from each other. On August 8th, members of the design reference group met at the little free library to debrief the discussion and provide another round of guidance.
We scored the “spaceship” model ahead of the “village” model but asked that the two remain in play for the next round. Other highlights on the advice given were (in no particular order):
at least eight of the 15 units to be one bedrooms;
covered balconies please, sized to be roughly comparable to what we already have in our two and three bedroom units;
preference for common space over greenhouses (maintenance concerns);
some variability over units sizing and specs, but with caution that we don’t want to create a pricing nightmare or to introduce concerns related to potential inequality.
We mentioned that aspect and lighting are important for all units.
We discussed common space uses and proportions with consensus that we don’t need a space to occupy everyone, by any means;
that it should be a versatile space to handle usual gathering sizes with a modest kitchen;
and that the cost burden of such a space would have to be a consideration given our overall need to keep the whole project affordable.
We said there should be provision for an office.
So now MODA is to take our latest feedback and pour more detail into the two preferred massing options. In the third week of August, the MODA team will present their next, more detailed ideas and drawings to the reference group. Following this, the reference group will meet again to address a final set of questions prior to MODA / Urban Matters submitting their recommendations to the Coop. We will invite the membership to drop by for the latter part of this session to hear about the current state of thinking. Stay tuned for more information on that.
MODA Presentation - August 6, 2020
New Design Build Group Update
Submitted by Cindy and Eric
The New Build Design Group was originally going to meet with MODA twice a week for short session. Instead, the group will be meeting with MODA and Urban Matters every two weeks on Thursday evenings to discuss the design process. We will also meet on the Saturdays (2 pm) following the Thursday meetings without MODA and Urban Matters. This will give us an opportunity to digest what we learned, ask questions of P and D, and prepare some group feedback. If you would like to participate in these session, please contact P and D.
New Building Update
Submitted by Cindy and Eric
A lot has been happening with P and D over the last few weeks with a bulk of the work happening behind the scenes. This has included work on our pro forma and cost estimates, land lease negotiations, the needs assessment, and geotechnical work. But this post is about the potential new build!
P and D put out a call to the membership to join a New Build Design Group. We got a tremendous response with 22 members joining the group. On July 23, most of us were able to meet with MODA for a 90 minute session. They began by explaining to the group that they were tasked by Urban Matters to look at our entire property to see what opportunities we have for placing new units. As you will see below MODA looked at three options: a series of micro houses dotted throughout the property, a long skinny building next to the escarpment, and where the current one-bedroom units are. Their analysis confirmed what our previous consultant, P and D, and Urban Matters had long suspected—that the most appropriate site is where our current one-bedroom units are located. Please take a look below as MODA outlines the pros and cons for each site.
SITE OPTIONS
NAPKIN SKETCHES
Following this analysis MODA presented 5 different “napkin sketch” models. The designs that they were presented are be best viewed as themes, not final designs. Throughout the meeting members were able to provide feedback and ask questions. Following MODA’s presentation, the New Build Design Group was tasked with some homework. We were asked to email our top 2-3 themes/designs, a pros and cons list for each choice, and any additional feedback to Urban Matters and MODA. With this information MODA will be able to expand 2 or 3 themes. Their updated work will be presented at our next meeting Thursday, August 6th.
Below you can see the 5 themes that MODA presented.
WATCH THE PRESENTATION
Below you can watch a short excerpt from the presentation. It is valuable to hear MODA discuss their thinking and provide context for their design decisions.
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Seeking Members for New Build Design Group
The time has come for the membership to talk with MODA architects as they develop their design concepts for the new building. During the next two months or so, MODA will be available for two short 15-30 minute meetings each week to give updates. They want feedback from a diverse selection of the membership. Particularly members who can express their personal thoughts in balance with the needs of the coop.
P and D is asking interested members to fill out the short survey below so that we can invite the most diverse panel to participate regularly in these briefings and feedback sessions. The meetings will also be open to the general membership, but we want to ensure good representation across the co-op, throughout the process.