Brian Sharp

@SharpRoc

FOIL shows Morgan Christa proposal kept in play by Warren after split review committee decision

The city released summaries and renderings of the preferred projects back in September, but turned over internal communication about the full proposals in response to a Democrat and Chronicle open records request.

In addition to building on the Inner Loop, the Strong also proposes buying and redeveloping two other city lots.

Small parcel will be kept as green space

An expanded World Video Game Hall of Fame would dominate a proposed Strong Museum of Play addition with what is promised as "the world's biggest arcade" and other interactive, immersive displays.

Strong's $105 million plan envisions a "Neighborhood of Play" to include six apartment buildings totaling 201 market-rate units, space for street-level retail shops and restaurants, an all-suites hotel and a parking garage. The hotel will have a pool, spa and water feature but not on the scale of a water park attraction. A new east-west Adventure Street connecting Woodbury Boulevard to Union Street would traverse the area bordered by wide, decorative sidewalks, sculptures and playful street fixtures.

The proposal is one of three developments that Mayor Lovely Warren is recommending for redevelopment of the Inner Loop. If built, it could help propel an expanded marketing campaign into neighboring states and Ontario, Canada, that promises to draw another 400,000 people annually, nearly doubling attendance within four years of completion.

Negotiations are ongoing. The other two proposals are mixed-use apartment buildings, one of which Warren put back on the table after a divided review committee passed on the project, internal memos show.

The city released summaries and renderings of the preferred projects back in September, but only recently turned over the memos, internal project scoring matrix and the full proposals in response to a Democrat and Chronicle open records request. Included in the documents was a rejected plan to build four- and five-story buildings on either side of East Avenue, with parks just beyond both buildings to the north and south.

►Three proposals advance for Inner Loop

The Inner Loop project offers a unique opportunity for the city with a 3,500-foot-long, six-acre band of shovel-ready developable land along the eastern edge of downtown. The city demolished and filled in a section of what used to be a sunken highway along the route, extending between East Main Street south to Monroe Avenue. The $22 million fill project should be completed by the end of next year.

For Strong, the most optimistic construction schedule would have work starting in mid-2018, taking three or four years to complete, said G. Rollie Adams, the museum's president and CEO who is retiring next month.

"The ball is really in their court," Adams said of the city and the timetable. "We are very heavily into planning, in greater detail, what we want to do on the land, what an expanded museum will look like, what will be in it."

Walk-into video game experience

The new museum wing would have three main components, including an experiential exhibit through which visitors "will proceed by choice from one activity to another as if playing a video game," requiring both problem solving and physical activity. Rounding out the space would be an interpretative gallery showcasing the museum's collection of games and video game-related items and a large, flexible event space housing the arcade, pinball and other games as well as traveling exhibits, the proposal states.

Describing the vision, Adams said it would be a "walk-into video game experience, not a walk-into video game."

Renderings also show an enclosed ferris wheel. While not committing to such an addition, Adams said: "Everything we have here started with a dream. I've been thinking about the possibility of a ferris wheel for a very long time."

In addition to building on the Inner Loop, the Strong also proposes buying and redeveloping two other city lots, one of which houses the tennis bubble and the Manhattan Square Tennis Club. The museum offered a combined $1.55 million for all the land.

Strong's proposal is in partnership with Indus Hospitality Group and Konar Properties, with Konar owning and operating the housing and retail. Strong, in its proposal to the city, said the museum is still doing its own fundraising and hopes to secure $40 million from the state and other government sources to help pay for construction. The organization also will look for help with the anticipated $2 million street project, which ultimately would be dedicated to the city. Strong would own and operate the garage.

A phased construction schedule, included in the proposal, shows the parking structure getting underway first, followed by the museum and hotel, with the apartments and retail being built last.

City Council still must sign off on any land sale and other agreements.

Home Leasing and Strong received highest marks

The other recommended proposals are a 49-unit development by Home Leasing that would continue its Charlotte Street apartments and townhouses, and a five-story, 117-unit apartment building at the heart of the project area offered by Morgan Management and Christa Construction, and resurrected by Warren.

Where Strong would market to young professionals with market-rate units, Home Leasing's plan would be affordable to those making between 50 and 90 percent of area median income. Eight units would be set aside for people coming out of prison. Home Leasing and Strong received the highest marks from the internal City Hall review committee, records show.

On the Morgan Christa proposal, Warren noted the review committee split 5/6 not in favor. But she recommended going forward in a July 20 memo to Baye Muhammad, the city's Neighborhood and Business Development commissioner.

"The development team's ability to deliver high-quality projects for our citizens must also be weighed in the determination," Warren wrote.

The concept needs work, she conceded at the time, including an overall redesign to reflect the "urban-innovative architecture" of the other chosen proposals. There also needs to be a study done to ensure the envisioned underground parking is feasible, Warren said in an interview, and that excavating that filled portion would not have any impact on other sites along the route.

"When people do renderings, it always changes," the mayor said, when asked about the design. "You don't look at your project as just your project. Look at your project ... in conjunction with everything else, and you want it to look good, seamless."

"Wow factor" wanted

Morgan Christa's plan dedicated its largest first-floor commercial space to office use with retail fronting East Avenue, and a small corner park or courtyard along Union Street. Christa has pledged to locate its offices in the new building. The hesitancy by some on Morgan Christa and, for that matter, the rejected proposal from DHD Ventures, was that both lacked the "wow factor" for such a once-in-a-generation project, review committee members said. DHD's capacity, given the number of other downtown projects it has in the pipeline, also was a factor.

DHD's plan was for two four- and five-story buildings on either side of East Avenue, and included parks just beyond both buildings to the north and south. On the northern parcel where Morgan Christa was selected instead, DHD would have spent $14 million and built a mix of 56 apartments and townhouses, dining or retail space in a four-story structure with a rooftop deck and a park/amphitheater at Charlotte Street.

In scoring the projects, the review committee gave Morgan Christa higher marks for quality of the development plan, financing and experience, while DHD scored higher in understanding of the project and sensitivity to project guidelines. The final scoring gave a slight edge to DHD, but failed to weigh a relatively high score for the Morgan Christa plan when it came to having the ability and capacity to complete the project.

When the administration's recommendations came out, it left one parcel — a narrow, .68-acre parcel hampered by easements immediately south of East Avenue — without a development plan.

At least one committee member raised concern about the difficulty in developing the site in the future, records show. Warren said in an interview that there also were concerns about future financing. She said she asked DHD if they would consider building on just that parcel, and they declined. DHD did not respond to messages seeking comment. The parcel will be left as green space for now.

"We hope and anticipate the parcel would be used in ways that are compatible with the neighborhood," Adams said, adding that the Strong has a full plate and is not considering adding that site as well. As for whether anything should be built there? "We don't have a particular point of view."

BDSHARP@Gannett.com