Planning Commission Minutes 2021 05 20

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Planning Commission Meeting Minutes May 20, 2021 Page 2 of 13 Williams asked about why the plan proposed LEED Silver instead of Gold. Josh Radoff replied that different projects had different starting points, and a project downtown would be able to achieve Gold by doing the same amount of work as what the proposal was doing to achieve Silver, largely based on transportation accessibility for denser areas. He stated that the point -based nature of LEED meant that you were looking for additional points to level up on a score card and it was hard to put into numbers. Williams asked about clustering to achieve a smaller footprint and if it would make Gold more achievable. Radoff replied that it might be more achievable but he did not know if it would help with the density points. It would help increase open space but they had already met the open space criteria. He stated that concentrated infrastructure was more efficient, but from an overall standpoint clustering was a more sustainable move and he did not know how that would relate to LEED points. He noted that LEED did not allow credit for tenant efficiencies. Williams asked if they could mandate LEED compliance for their tenants. Radoff replied that LEED had a program for commercial interiors that tenants would want to meet. He explained that part of the development approach was to write guidelines for tenants. Williams asked if they anticipated specific types of tenants, what triggered each phase of the project, and how many phases of the project they planned on. Geoff Baukol replied that they did not know the tenants but the US 36 corridor was tech- and engineer -oriented. There was an innovation theme to the campus and he imagined biosciences, life sciences, and medical devices could be big, or an aerospace engineering firm or something similar could take advantage of the R&D focus and the region. Phasing included Phase 1 focused on infrastructure and the rest of the phases would come after the GDP. Williams asked if financial aspects or tenant occupancy percentage triggered the phases. Baukol replied that a major user could decide the location on the parcel where they want to be and that could require additional infrastructure and create a non -linear phasing, otherwise the phasing would likely be geographical from east to west based on infrastructure starting with Campus Drive. Williams asked about post -pandemic office space trends. Baukol replied that they had been thinking of it as an advantage because this site was creating new product that would satisfy needs of tenants and they were predicting that health was a driving factor such that employees and tenants would want a blend of indoor and outdoor space. He thought it played to the strengths of Redtail Ridge with the trails and the open space. Williams asked if they were worried that businesses were not going to want that much building space because the workforce would work from home. Baukol replied that long term it would be hard for businesses to maintain a culture without central office space and his sense was that the market would come back with changes but that it would come back. He emphasized the desirability of the location and catering to tenants' needs. Work -from -home was a concern but not debilitating.