FinalRedevelopmentOpportunitiesMasterplan
- 1. D o w n t o w n C o r t l a n d Redevelopment Opportunities Masterplan J u n e 2 0 1 6
- 2. 2 | D o w n t o w n C o r t l a n d Vision for the Future Downtown Cortland is rich in historic architecture and charm. The City of Cortland has a vision to build on these assets by bringing more people downtown with three key strategies: 1. Capturing the vitality of SUNY Cortland by creating opportunities for downtown living that appeal to students and residents alike. 2. Bringing more visitors to downtown by increasing the quantity and quality of hotels within a walkable distance of Main Street businesses. 3. Prioritizing pedestrian amenities and outdoor dining opportunities on Main Street while identifying opportunities to enhance downtown parking. Key Assets The character of Downtown Cortland is a huge amenity to the community. The kind of dense and walkable environ- ment that many cities demolished in the post-war era was preserved in Downtown Cortland – this now has the potential to give Cortland a competitive advantage in recruiting and retaining Millennials and Baby Boomers looking for an affordable place to live a walkable lifestyle. Downtown Cortland also has the advantage of a university, SUNY Cortland, with over 7,000 students only a few blocks from Main Street. In the coming years, Cortland has an opportunity to leverage the increased demand for walkable mixed use amenities by developing new places for visitors and new residents right in the historic core. In order to take advantage of these assets, the first priority should be to protect and preserve the built form that makes Downtown Cortland a great place to live, work, and play. To that end, the City should focus on maintaining a strong street wall where buildings front the sidewalk and to encourage or require that future development continue to enhance the urban environment by correctly addressing and activating the sidewalk and street. The City should be careful to prioritize walkability in the design of any new projects as the character, charm and walkability of the area is its main draw and competitive advantage over more auto-centric retail districts in other parts of the city. Like most cities, Downtown Cortland does have some “missing teeth” where traditional urban buildings have been replaced with single story structures or surface parking. These areas are ideal development sites as their redevelopment is both economical and increases the value and vitality of the surrounding area. This report identifies key locations where the City would prefer to direct redevelopment efforts. It also demonstrates the potential for each site using the economical layout and construction techniques that are developer-friendly while also producing high quality results.
- 3. | 3 Main Street in Downtown Cortland offers a rich variety of restaurants, sidewalk dining, and historic charm.
- 4. 4 | D o w n t o w n C o r t l a n d MainSt. Clinton Ave. Central Ave. Court St. Orchard St. Port Watson St. 45 6
- 5. | 5 Downtown Redevelopment Opportunity Sites Cortland’s historic downtown has a strong sense of place and an array of mixed use amenities that employers, travelers, and residents are looking for in a compact, mixed-use retail center. To improve Downtown Cortland, it will be important to build on the area’s strengths, while enhancing the areas that have potential to could contribute to the area’s character. This map demonstrates the spatial feasibility of 8 priority projects: ChurchSt. 12 3 7 8 1. 100-room flagship hotel 2. 200-space parking garage 3. Office building 4. 100-room flagship hotel 5. One-story parking deck w/ liner 6. Walk-up apartments 7. Restorable retro hotel 8. 60-room flagship hotel
- 6. 6 | D o w n t o w n C o r t l a n d MAINSTREETMAINSTREET Alternative parking scenarios that include demolition of buildings on Clinton Ave. Top: Conversion to surface parking Bottom: Demolition of buildings on Clinton Ave. for conversion to parking garage with new mixed use liner building Clinton & Church The City of Cortland has identified a goal of catalyzing both the expansion of existing companies and recruiting new hotels. This plan evaluates the possible options for accommodating the desired increase in traffic to new and existing destinations. On the block bounded by Clinton, Church, Main, and Central, there are several priority sites where redevelopment has the potential to dramatically improve downtown. The corner of Clinton and Church has been identified by the NYSDOT as a site for a traffic circle; this work will add green space and improve the capacity and safety at the intersection, creating an opportunity for further investment in nearby properties. Office Redevelopment At the corner of Central Ave. and Church St., an existing surface parking lot is an ideal location for a new building. Central Ave. is a rare example of an historic narrow street that has a complete intact historic streetwall on the south side of the street. There are large office businesses on the street and active restaurants and shops that create a unique vibe. On the north side of the street, however, the streetwall breaks down where buildings have been replaced with surface parking. Healing this section of the street would contribute greatly to the viability of businesses along the corridor by bringing more customers and recreating the enclosure that has been lost over the years. The Downtown zoning district does not have a maximum height, but 3-5 stories would fit well with the surrounding context (3 stories shown). Flagship Hotel The existing EconoLodge uses prime downtown space inefficiently and has outlived its useful life. This lot is a prime location for a flagship hotel with approximately 100 rooms. Church St. (Route 13) receives an estimated 10,000 cars per day, providing ideal visibility for incoming tourists and business people. Although there is no maximum height prescribed by zoning, a five-story building on the site could easily accommodate 100+ rooms, and would fit well within the surrounding context. Fronting on Church Street, wide tree lawns, and the mature canopy along the street provides a generous buffer for pedestrians and a pleasant atmosphere, a building with appropriately urban massing, Entrances built to the sidewalk, and high quality materials would significantly improve the pedestrian realm and the corridor. Parking Options While there is plentiful free public parking throughout downtown (including the interior of this block and other nearby blocks), there is some concern that the potential of up to 100 new employes at Central and Church, and 100 hotel rooms on Church St. could require some additional capacity. Sound parking management usually suggests that a municipality should first price on-street and then off-street parking before investing in creating additional capacity, This study demonstrates three options that could be pursued in the future if additional capacity is in fact desirable and financially feasible. The preferred scenario preserves the existing built fabric along Clinton Ave., requiring only the demolition of a single story addition on the back of 19 Clinton St. and adds a 3 story parking garage that could provide approximately 200 spaces. Adding additional decks to the garage could further increase the capacity and may be advisable to reap economies of scale. The buildings along Clinton St. are not of the highest quality and some are currently vacant; however, they do contribute to the tax base. Some are active businesses, and rehabbing the existing space would be more economical than building new. Alternative scenarios (shown top right) include demolishing several buildings along Clinton Ave. to either create surface parking, or to make room for a parking lot lined by a new mixed use building that maintains an active streetwall. Demolishing the buildings would create room for approximately 90 surface parking spaces, but would remove them from the tax rolls. This would create a large dead space that is a poor gateway to downtown, damaging the walkability and character of downtown where it could otherwise be enhanced.
- 7. | 7 MAINSTREET 1"=100' Plan View of preferred development scenario (below left) Perspective View of preferred development scenario (above) Existing Surface Parking Lot at Central & Church (above right) Existing EconoLodge at 10 Church St. (below right) 100-room Hotel 100-employee Office Church St. ClintonAve. 200 Spaces 3 Stories Hotel Parking Garage Office Urban massing and materials at Hilton Garden Inn, Ithaca, NY
- 8. 8 | D o w n t o w n C o r t l a n d Main St. & NY-222 The corner of Main St., Clinton Ave., and NY -222 is for auto travelers. It is also the entrance to Main Street’s most intense commercial segment, including some of Downtown’s most complete historic fabric. The area is poised for a few projects that could bring increased vitality while filling small gaps in the streetwall. Hotel Opportunity 16 Main Street currently houses a pawn shop in a small single story building. The existing building does not fill the lot – as a single story building in the heart of downtown, it presents a fine opportunity for future redevelopment. This location would be ideal for a hotel. The envelope depicted is six stories; the site is not quite as long as the space available on Church St. but it is wide enough for a typical double-loaded corridor design. The configuration shown would require the city to rationalize the lot lines of the inner block, reorganizing some of the existing parking. There are no height limits in this zone so additional floors are possible. Parking Expansion The surface parking on the interior of this block is an ideal location for a modular steel frame single-story parking deck. The slope on Orchard Street allows for an at-grade entrance to the parking deck from the southwest corner. Parking layout in this block is already relatively efficient; translating it to an additional deck may be an economical way to dramatically increase the supply of downtown parking. Any parking expansion, however, would be best paired with a policy of pricing parking at a market-based rate to keep parking occupancy near 80%. Parking Liner Building Apartments The existing parking lot seriously damages the walkability of NY-222, acting as a barrier for attracting residents of the nearby neighborhood and students from SUNY Cortland. The goal of both attracting more visitors and residents to downtown would be well served by the addition of a thin liner building along NY-222. An envelope similar to the one shown would remove a minimal amount of parking and could either be accessed by a single-loaded hallway on the back of the building with one or more shared entries on the street or, ideally set up as townhouses with stoop entries every 30 feet along the street. The proposed building leaves room to enter and exit the surface parking on either side. Historic character across Main Street from hotel development site.
- 9. | 9 MAINSTREET Existing single story building at 16 Main Street. MainSt. NY- 222 100-room Hotel Single-story parking deck Apartments Clinton Ave. MainSt. NY- 222 100-room Hotel Apartments Single-story parking deck Clinton Ave. Plan View of preferred development scenario (left) Downtown character ends abruptly at surface parking lot; a thin liner building would keep this area walkable and bring more people downtown. Perspective View of preferred development scenario (above)
- 10. 1 0 | D o w n t o w n C o r t l a n d Groton Ave. & Homer Ave. Groton Ave. is a major gateway to Main Street and is currently home to several operating auto repair shops mixed with apart- ment houses of varying qualities. There is a community desire to replace the auto repair shops with development that is a better fit for the neighborhood and brings more residential development appropriate for students within walking distance of SUNY Cortland and Downtown. Efficient Layout for Reasonably Priced Units While there is likely a market for high end apartments in the Downtown area, that market has yet to be tested. A safer development proposal would be to create units that can be developed as efficiently as possible while the market improves. The buildings that we have proposed are 3 stories with four 2 bedroom units on each floor. This layout maximizes the number of units allowed without requiring a second egress or expensive elevator, it can be built with wood frame by smaller local developers while demonstrating market viability downtown. Two unit apartments are ideal for young professionals and empty nesters in addition to serving the student market, making this layout a great option for capturing different markets as the economy and desirability of the area changes. Economics of Existing Buildings Although there is a desire to replace some of the existing buildings, one in particular would be unlikely to be replaced because it is already a very efficient use of the land. This proposal shows the demolition of both auto repair shops and two small apartment houses, but retains 39 Groton Ave. which is in reasonable shape and could not be economically replaced. Rationalized Parking By combining the existing parcels, 50+ parking spaces fit neatly behind the buildings with a single driveway on Groton Ave., reducing the number of curb cuts and improving the pedestrian experience, and an additional driveway on Homer Ave. which buffers the neighboring house. The graphics illustrate the addition of 44 apartments as well as retail spaces on the ground floor of some or all buildings. It also includes small handicap accessible units on the ground floor behind the retail space meeting ADA requirements without an elevator. The corner building could function well with several thousand square feet of commercial space for a small cafe or other neighborhood amenity. Existing site conditions - 5 buildings on Groton Ave., 1&5: Auto repair shops; 2,3&4: Apartment Houses Existing apartment house at 39 Groton Ave. 1 2 3 4 5
- 11. | 1 1 MAINSTREET Plan View of preferred development scenario (below) Perspective View of preferred development scenario (above) Groton Ave Driveway Existing 10 Units + Retail 10 Units + Retail 12 Units 12 Units Groton Ave. Parking Hom erAve HomerAve PleasantSt Prototypical example of mixed-use walk-up building type (Image from: Anderson:Kim)
- 12. 1 2 | D o w n t o w n C o r t l a n d Downtown Cortland Parking Analysis Like most walkable downtowns, the Downtown Cortland community has voiced concerns about the supply of parking for customers, employees and downtown residents. Parking is an amenity that many feel is of paramount importance for attracting customers, workers and residents to the area. It is important to remember that the goal is to attract people: customers, workers, and residents, not cars per-se. While appropriately allocating space for downtown parking enables convenient access to downtown amenities for people driving in from other neighborhoods, devoting too much limited downtown space, particularly streetwall frontage, to car storage, detracts from the pedestrian friendliness of the area, damages historic character and pushes amenities apart creating a place that is less of an attraction. Taken to the extreme, too much parking can destroy the very attributes that make Downtown a special place and the attributes that create a competitive advantage for downtown businesses over more suburban auto-oriented development. When considering the supply and demand of parking, it is also important to understand the effects of parking placement and area on neighborhood character. The traditional Main Street typology that Downtown Cortland exemplifies so well, is defined by a strong street- wall, buildings along the street that are continuous, have a rhythm of frequent entrances and windows that create interest for passers-by, and human scale details. When these attributes are damaged by replacing buildings with surface parking and curb cuts, a clear edge is created that discourages pedestrians from continuing along the street. Determining how and where to allocate space for parking is a balancing act that requires consideration for the pros and cons of this particular land use and thoughtful design to maintain an active street front while accommodating a demand for parking. Around the country many cities demolished significant portions of their downtowns when walkable urban centers fell out of favor during the mid- 20th century. Cortland managed to preserve much of the core of Main Street, but experienced significant demolition between Court and William St. The following map demonstrates locations where a fairly in-tact streetwall creates optimal conditions for pedestrians and the locations where this condition breaks down. Parking By The Numbers Parking demand and availability is a topic that causes emotional reactions for many people. In order to get a clear picture of the parking situation in Downtown Cortland, it is helpful to use data about land allocation and parking utilization rates to better inform the city’s decision making process. We performed a survey of the utilization rates of public parking lots and on-street spaces in Downtown Cortland, and also measured the total supply of spaces under both public and private ownership. Within the area we determined to be the extent of the downtown fabric, we found a total of 1886 off street parking spaces, 488 of which were in clearly marked public parking lots, 1398 of which were in off street lots associated with individual buildings, businesses, or not marked as public. We also counted a conservative estimate of 425 on-street spaces. In total there are approximately 2,311 parking spaces in all of downtown. The Downtown Cortland parking study area currently allocates approximately 21 acres of land to surface parking compared to approximately 15 acres of land that is covered with buildings, and 19 acres of other area: sidewalks, lawns, drive-throughs and roads combined. That means for every square foot of land devoted to buildings there is 1.4sqft. of land devoted to parking. This is a high ratio of parking to building footprint area for a walkable downtown, and in fact it is substantially comparable to typical big box development. The Cortlandville Lowes, for example has a ratio of approximately 1.25sqft. parking lot area to every square foot of building footprint. Downtown is slightly more efficient, despite to footprint ratio many buildings have more than one occupied floor, but downtowns and Main Streets are most successful as places when they dedicate significantly more of their limited supply of land to people and buildings rather than car storage areas. It should be noted that in many places, the City of Cortland has been successful in locating surface parking on the interior of blocks which significantly diminishes the negative effects that surface parking has on character and the quality of the Main St. & Central Ave.
- 13. | 1 3 public realm. Main Street between Clinton Ave. and Court St. is an excellent example of the value of maintaining a streetwall with a minimum of interruptions, and should serve as a model for future development. For a pedestrian continuing north on Main Street past the Clinton Ave. crossing, the pedestrian experience degrades quickly when the streetwall is lost to wide open surface parking lots. People simply do not want to walk past hundreds of feet of surface parking. To observe the actual utilization rates, Randall + West conducted a survey of off-street public parking and on-street parking within the study area. To provide the most accurate survey possible we visited the study area multiple times through the Fall and Winter of 2015. This time period is helpful for understanding peak demand; people are more likely to drive rather than bike, walk or take transit during the colder months. Seven survey days and times were varied between weekdays and weekends and conducted at various times between 10AM and 5PM to capture the peak times when both downtown employees and customers would be using parking spaces. On average during the times we expected peak demand we found approximately 200 public off-street spaces available and 220 spaces available on-street; this equates to a utilization rate of about 48% for on street spaces and 58% for off-street public parking spaces. An ideal utilization rate for on-street parking is generally around 85%, or approximately one free space per block. The observed utilization rate in Downtown Cortland shows that there is ample capacity relative to demand. Under all observed circumstances, spaces were available within one block of any possible destination. Utilization was not evenly spread, the public lots closest to the intersection of Main and Central demonstrated higher utilization than the more distant lots along Port Watson St. During our time studying the public parking supply we also noticed that certain private lots had unusually high utilization - particularly the lot at the corner of Central and Church, and the “employee only” driveways and other spaces behind Main Street buildings were frequently double or triple parked. Downtown Cortland’s parking policy of allocating public spaces for customers with a short time limit is generally a great idea for on street spaces and for lots with high utilization; ideally we want to encourage space availability in the most convenient locations for customers who are making short trips and encourage employees who will be staying for longer time periods to park farther away. However, it does seem that with the demand for longer-term employee parking in off-street lots, and the low overall utilization rate, it would make sense to incentivize utilization of the more peripheral off-street lots for longer term parking by either reducing the time restriction or by better advertising the permit system that is already in place. The cost of Downtown employee parking permits ($15-20 per month) is very low. It is likely that the price is less of a deterrent for employees than the hassle involved in making the purchase or the necessity of knowing how and where to do so. The revenue generated from this system may not be worth the administrative burden while lot utilization is low. Conversations with downtown employees reveal that many people park in lots or on-street and move their vehicle during the day rather than purchasing a permit despite the low cost. We suggest that the City review the Downtown employee and resident parking policies. Opportunities exist to streamline the process, to advertise more effectively through downtown employers, or to test removing the price and time limit for lots with utilization below 80% while advertising appropriately to encourage employees to make use of peripheral lots rather than taking up spaces that should be available for customers. Removing the 3 hour limit for some or all lots would also help attract customers who view Downtown Cortland as a destination trip rather than simply using it for shorter convenience trips. At the current time, there does not seem to be a supply issue with parking in Downtown Cortland. In the future, if the supply became constrained with additional demand, it would make sense to ration parking by first pricing the most convenient on street spaces with the goal of achieving an 80-85% utilization rate while keeping off-street parking free, if demand continued to increase and off-street lots exceeded 80% utilization, they could be rationed by pricing as well, but at a lower rate than on-street to encourage their continued use for longer-term parking.
- 14. 1 4 | D o w n t o w n C o r t l a n d Downtown Cortland Area Devoted to Surface Parking Church St. Main St. ClintonAve. CentralAve. CourtSt. OrchardSt.
- 15. | 1 5 Parking Acres: 21 Building Acres 14.988201 Other Area: 12.01 Total Acres: 55.0742 PortWatsonSt.