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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCORRESPONDENCE 20210827 Response Letter COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT PLANNING DIVISION 100 Civic Center Drive, Newport Beach, CA 92660 (949) 644-3200 Fax: (949) 644-3229 www.newportbeachca.gov VIA EMAIL August 27, 2021 Chase Gilmore Director, Development & Acquisitions Irvine Company Retail Properties cgilmore@irvinecompany.com Re: North Newport Center Planned Community Development Plan, Annual Monitoring Report – Square Footage Reconciliation Dear Mr. Gilmore, This letter is in response to CAA Planning’s June 22, 2021 letter sent on behalf of the Irvine Company to reconcile the differences in reported building area and gross floor area (GFA) as defined by the North Newport Center Planned Community (PC56) development plan. The request includes the following properties: 450 Newport Center Drive (NCD), Block 800 NCD, 101 NCD (Macy’s), 601 NCD (Neiman Marcus), and 701 NCD (Bloomingdale’s). Research by CAA Planning suggests certain areas within these buildings such as mechanical penthouses, repeating stairways, repeating elevators, and unenclosed covered areas have been included in reported building area totals whereas they should not be as they do not meet the definition of GFA. City staff reviewed each building in detail and the research findings are summarized below: 450 Newport Center Drive Irvine Company has requested to reduce the reported building area from 91,727 square feet to 88,173 square feet by excluding 3,554 square feet of mechanical penthouse area. The reported building area is taken from plan check number 204-74. Plan check number 204-74 provides a breakdown of square footage for each floor as well as the overall building area. A 3,554-square-foot mechanical penthouse space appears to be erroneously included in the City’s reported building area of 91,727 square feet . North Newport Center Planned Community Square Footage Reconciliation August 27, 2021 Because the penthouse is for the purpose of housing mechanical equipment only, it does not count toward GFA and should be excluded. Staff agrees with CAA Planning’s finding that the GFA of 450 Newport Center Drive should be 88,173 square feet. Block 800 Newport Center Drive Irvine Company has requested to reduce the reported building area of Block 800 NCD from 286,166 square feet to 281,992 based on the assertion that mechanical penthouse space was erroneously included in the total. The 800 block of NCD consists of three buildings with the addresses 800, 840, and 880 NCD. 800 NCD and 840 NCD have been referred to as Tower 1 and Tower 2 in historic plan check documents. The original reported building area for these three buildings is 286,166 square feet and taken from the gross floor areas listed in Plan Check No. 676- 80. City staff performed an area takeoff for Tower 1 and found that the mechanical penthouse was in fact already excluded from the floor area tabulations. Staff disagrees with CAA Planning’s finding and the GFA of Block 800 Newport Center Drive remains at 286,166 square feet. Macy’s (101 Newport Center Drive) Irvine Company has requested to reduce the reported building area of Macy’s from 234,314 square feet to 204,791 square feet based on Plan Check No. 1921-2018. It is unclear where the reported building area for Macy’s originated from, as this number does not appear on City-approved plan checks. Staff reviewed historic plan checks including Plan Check Nos. 451-97, 0743-2006, 0195-2017, and 1921-2018. Staff found no significant alterations to the Macy’s floor plan to explain the discrepancy in reported building areas. Staff performed area takeoffs to exclude repeating staircases, mechanical rooms, and covered entryways, and determined it is likely these covered areas were erroneously included in the reported building area. Staff agrees with CAA Planning’s finding that the GFA of 101 Newport Center Drive should be 204,791 square feet. Neiman Marcus (601 Newport Center Drive) Irvine Company has requested to reduce the reported building area of Neiman Marcus from 158,929 square feet to 154,260 square feet based off the original 1977 building permit (B9302978) listing the original floor area as 120,000 square feet and a subsequent addition in 2001 of 34,260 square feet, totaling 154,260 square feet for the building. North Newport Center Planned Community Square Footage Reconciliation August 27, 2021 The reported building area for Neiman Marcus of 158,929 square feet is taken from Plan Check No. 0065-2001. Staff performed area takeoffs of said plan check and found sufficient evidence to support CAA Planning’s request. Staff agrees with CAA Planning’s finding that the GFA of 601 Newport Center Drive should be 154,260 square feet. Bloomingdale’s (701 Newport Center Drive) Irvine Company has requested to reduce the reported building area of Bloomingdale’s from 187,534 square feet to 172,600 square feet. The record is not clear where the reported building area originated from as there are no historic plan checks utilizing this number. A tenant improvement for the building was submitted in 1996 under Plan Check No. 607- 96. This plan check provides a breakdown of floor area for each level of the building. The total floor area listed is 172,600 square feet, which supports CAA Planning’s research. Staff agrees with CAA Planning’s finding that the GFA of 701 Newport Center drive should be 172,600 square feet. Conclusion In the above cases where Staff agrees with CAA’s square footage determination, the record should be reconciled in the 2020 Annual Monitoring Report to reflect the correct square figures. This practice is consistent with cases in 2012 and 2015 that dealt with record discrepancies. For additional information on this matter, please do not hesitate to contact Joselyn Perez, Assistant Planer, at jperez@newportbeachca.gov or 949-644-3312. Sincerely, On behalf of Seimone Jurjis, PE, CBO, Community Development Director By: North Newport Center Planned Community Square Footage Reconciliation August 27, 2021 Attachments: 1) CAA Planning Letter dated June 22, 2021 cc: Shawna L. Schaffner CEO of CAA Planning sschaffner@caaplanning.com 30900 Rancho Viejo Road, Suite 285 • San Juan Capistrano, CA 92675 • (949) 581-2888 • Fax (949) 581-3599 June 22, 2021 Mr. Jim Campbell Deputy Community Development Director City of Newport Beach 100 Civic Center Drive Newport Beach, CA 92660 Subject: North Newport Center Planned Community Development Plan, Annual Monitoring Report – Additional Building Permit Research Dear Mr. Campbell: On behalf of Irvine Company, CAA Planning, Inc. (CAA) has prepared an annual monitoring report (AMR) in compliance with the North Newport Center Planned Community Development Plan (PC). The 2020 AMR was submitted in January 2021, for the 2020 annual review in compliance with the requirements of the PC. CAA has prepared these AMRs annually following approval of the PC in 2007. The AMR is the method for tracking ongoing development within the PC boundary and for reporting on ongoing obligations, fee payments, etc. as required by the development agreement. Following submittal of the 2020 AMR, CAA conducted research on the existing gross floor area (GFA) for certain large buildings within Fashion Island, Block 400, and Block 800. This ongoing research has identified discrepancies between the GFA identified on the City’s building inventory for Newport Center, and that identified on City-approved building plans and building permits. Generally, it appears that area that is not considered GFA, such as mechanical penthouses, loading docks, and unenclosed covered areas, has in fact been counted as GFA. Similar square footage reconciliations were conducted in association with the 2012 and 2015 AMRs (included as Attachment 1). Consistent with these prior AMR reconciliations, CAA requests that the City conduct an additional review of building intensity within Fashion Island, Block 400, and Block 800. Historically, the City’s building permit and plan records were on microfiche and the review of them on the microfiche reader was cumbersome and tedious. However, the City’s plan records have now been digitized and the ability to review the plans is much easier and less time consuming, which is why we have continued to review historic plans and update our records. This year, we conducted a preliminary review of Fashion Island, Block 400, and Block 800. In Fashion Island, we reviewed only three large anchor buildings including Bloomingdale’s, Niemann Marcus, and Macy’s. For these three buildings, we found that the GFA is less than the numbers assigned to them in the City’s Newport Center building intensity worksheet. The following table summarizes the difference between the City’s summary and the as-built GFA. Mr. Jim Campbell June 22, 2021 Page 2 of 3 Store City Summary Table (square feet) As-Built Plan (square feet) Difference (square feet) Bloomingdale’s 1 187,534 172,600 14,934 Nieman Marcus 158,929 154,260 4,669 Macy’s 234,314 204,791 29,523 TOTAL 49,126 1 Bloomingdale’s total does not include the loading dock area identified in Attachment 2. This area will be determined by field measurement. A detailed breakdown of these buildings is included as Attachment 2, Fashion Island Reconciliation. The difference between the City’s summary and the as-built plans is generally attributable to including areas that are not considered GFA, such as a basement loading dock and large unenclosed overhangs. There also appears to be discrepancies in how building additions were tracked over time, resulting in an overstatement of the actual GFA. Based on review of these buildings, there is 49,126 square feet currently identified as GFA that does not meet the definition of GFA. During our review of the Block 400 sub-area, we found the GFA identified in the PC for 450 Newport Center Drive is 91,727 square feet (page 12). This includes 3,554 square feet of mechanical penthouse located on the roof, as shown on the construction drawing for 450 Newport Center Drive, included as Attachment 3. We note that according to the PC text, “Mechanical spaces on roofs, which are inaccessible to tenants, are not counted as square footage” (page 13); and therefore, it is appropriate to remove the 3,554 square feet of mechanical area from the total GFA for 450 Newport Center Drive. Similarly, for the Block 800 sub-area, the same issue was identified related to mechanical penthouses. The as-built GFA shown on the construction drawing for 800 and 840 Newport Center Drive includes the mechanical rooms on the roofs, which are approximately 7,270 square feet. Pages from these drawings are included as Attachment 4. Because the PC specifically excludes mechanical spaces on roofs, these areas should not be included in the square footage calculation for Block 800. However, only 4,174 square feet of the 7,270 square feet of GFA is eligible to be recovered because a restaurant building located 880 Newport Center Drive, and which was included in the construction of 800 and 840 Newport Center Drive was overbuilt by 3,096 square feet as shown on Attachment 5. That restaurant has now been replaced by an office use. The following table summarizes our findings regarding the commercial sub-areas of Block 400 and Block 800. Commercial Office City Summary Table (square feet) As-Built Plan (square feet) Difference (square feet) 450 Newport Center 91,727 88,173 3,554 800, 840, and 880 Newport Center 286,166 281,992 4,174 TOTAL 7,728 Mr. Jim Campbell June 22, 2021 Page 3 of 3 Based on review of these buildings, there is 7,728 square feet currently identified as GFA within Blocks 400 and 800 that does not meet the definition of GFA. Together with Fashion Island, there is 56,854 square feet that should not be counted as development intensity within the PC boundary. The 2020 AMR has been updated for your review, to reflect this reconciliation. The updated AMR is provided as Attachment 6. We appreciate your review of our preliminary findings and look forward to reconciling our 2021 research with the City’s records for the purpose of accurately tracking GFA within the AMR. As detailed above, the AMR is the method by which square footage has been reconciled in the past. We look forward to the City’s review of this reconciliation effort. Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions. Sincerely, CAA PLANNING, INC. Shawna L. Schaffner Chief Executive Officer c: Joselyn Perez, City Newport Beach Chase Gilmore, Irvine Company Attachments: 1. Pages from 2012, 2015 AMR 2. Fashion Island Reconciliation 3. Drawing for 450 Newport Center Drive 4. Drawings for 800-840 Newport Center Drive 5. Building Permits for 880 Newport Center Drive 6. 2020 AMR - Updated