The owner of the Doubletree Hotel on Park Avenue, often called the Yarrow, wants to tear it down and build over 250 apartments and condos.
The new housing would be split into two buildings. One would consist of 100 condos, and would allow for nightly rentals. The other, which wouldn’t allow short-term rentals, would contain 147 affordable and 26 market-rate units.
Chicago-based Singerman real estate owns the hotel. Its representative, Peter Tomai, said Wednesday that profit from the nightly rental building offsets the cost of building less-profitable affordable units. The planning commission got details about the project during a work session, meaning no action was taken.
The affordable units would rent for below-market rates at several price points based on tenants’ income. For example, some would rent to people earning less than 80% of area median income, or AMI. That means people making less than roughly $75,000 a year would qualify.
Singerman proposed both buildings be four stories tall. On each, a portion of the rooftop would include an area for resident use that would stretch to 59 feet in height. The tallest segments would account for only roughly 8 percent of the building area, and the rest of the buildings would be 45 feet tall.
For reference, the tower at the center of the Yarrow currently stands at 50 feet tall.
The proposed height would require an exemption from the planning commission, as the area is currently zoned for a maximum of 35 feet.
Singerman also wants to build a 40-foot wide plaza with retail space between the two buildings. Over 300 parking spaces would be housed underneath the property. The project would also involve new streets on the east and south sides of the buildings, near Fresh Market and the Holiday Village Cinemas.
Nearly all planning commissioners voiced opposition to the proposed height. They expressed concerns over changing the city’s appearance by putting something that tall at the intersection of Kearns Blvd. and SR-224, which is a gateway entry into the city.
Commission chair Laura Suesser suggested that the developer look at doing three-story buildings, and potentially consider cutting the extended rooftop areas altogether.
Several commissioners cited concerns with adding more nightly rentals. However, new commissioner John Frontero said it would allow for an overall improvement compared to the 182-room hotel that sits there now.
The commission unanimously supported Singerman’s sustainability plans, which would lower energy and water use at the property.
A representative from the city planning department said the application will likely return in December.
