The building permit has gone ahead for the Crandall family to build their Commons at Newpark project. County Development Director Pat Putt talked about the building on the last infill space in the Newpark area of Kimball Junction.
Putt recalled that the original, much-debated plan from the Crandalls, approved by County Council, was to have seven townhomes in a building west of the Newpark amphitheater.
Subsequently, he said, the Crandalls bought about 12,000 square feet of density from Basin Recreation. With that, they changed their plan to more reflect the desires of the council and public input.
In the redesign, they are placing 12,000 square feet of commercial on the ground floor, maybe including a restaurant. The two floors above that will be deed-restricted workforce housing.
“But at the end, I think we’re going to have a project that is probably more in keeping with original intent of the Master Plan—be a good fit with the Main Street, main level commercial core in that area, and get some workforce housing in a neighborhood that we think is appropriate for that," Putt said. "It’ll be workforce housing in an employment-generating area.”
Putt said the county planners have also gotten a question on parking.
“We’ve been asked if it’s going to have ground-floor retail and residential above, where’s the parking going to be," Putt continued. "The Crandalls control the parking structure just up the street, and there’s going to be spaces reserved for those units there.”
