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MINUTES OF THE <br />ORONO PLANNING COMMISSION <br />Tuesday, March 15, 2021 <br />6:00 o’clock p.m. <br />_____________________________________________________________________________________ <br /> <br />Page 3 of 7 <br /> <br /> <br />Mr. Richardson said that is right, it will be built like a condo, everyone will have their own heat and air <br />conditioning unit and water heater. It will be set up like a condo–style system and metered individually, <br />but will be a market rate apartment. <br /> <br />Gettman asked what rates they are anticipating the different sizes. <br /> <br />Mr. Richardson noted they have not fully determined that yet but will be comparable to a project off 394 <br />and 494 – they range from $2,800/unit for the three bedrooms and charge for parking on top of that. <br /> <br />Gettman said the one bedrooms would be what. <br /> <br />Mr. Richardson said one bedrooms would be around $1,500-$1,800. <br /> <br />Gettman asked with respect to the recreation that it will be geared more towards families. <br /> <br />Mr. Richardson said it will be open to anybody; if someone is getting divorced and wants to live in Orono <br />next to the schools, or if someone is moving out of their home, anyone that wants to live there. It is not 55 <br />or older, but they are keeping it to the market rate. <br /> <br />Gettman clarified the target numbers are based on the 48 units and he knows City Council has pushed back <br />quite a bit on the 3 versus 4 story scenario. <br /> <br />Mr. Richardson noted they are basically a 3-story building but they have underground parking. He thinks <br />when they are fully landscaped it will not look like the extra story underneath which would have originally <br />been underground anyways. <br /> <br />Gettman asked if they have run numbers to make this still feasible in having two levels of apartments. <br /> <br />Mr. Richardson said they would not even consider it; it is not possible. <br /> <br />Libby said the ceiling heights can also be a constructive way of dealing with building height and asked if <br />the top floors are any higher ceiling-wise than the lower. <br /> <br />Mr. Richardson replied they are trying to keep them uniform at close to 9-foot ceilings, but there are <br />structural beams, sprinklers, electrical, lots of stuff to get in there. <br /> <br />Libby said from the grade and elevations, is it conceivable in order to bring the overall building height to a <br />30-foot maximum, can they do garden levels on the main level and still be able to have the density, rental <br />income, and cash flow they need to do that. Garden level apartments right now are renting for over a <br />thousand dollars a month. <br /> <br />Mr. Richardson understands where Libby is coming from. He does not want to make it feel like one is half <br />underground on the main level. He noted the codes have just recently changed to that 30-foot level – they <br />have always been 35 or 36 feet. He said they are not trying to exceed the old code but they were not able <br />to do this project until this point because of the road construction project. He noted he has been in a lawsuit <br />with Hennepin County since 2016 on it and have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars that could have <br />gone to development, but he could not develop it when he was having problems with the County. If he