CC WORKSESSION 11111985 - Laserfiche WebLink

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-6- Mr. Arkell said he expected the Kenzington to be substantially sold out by the following ,spring and he believed the market demographics indicated the ability to fill up all 300 units right away, but he said his firm had chosen to proceed a little more conservatively than that. In regard- to the type of service he would anticipate would take advantage of the available commercial space, the developer speculated that some health care service might jump at the chance to open an office in the project and it was his opinion that, with. from 700 to 800 new people brought into the area, there would be more businesses attracted into the community rather than to the businesses that are already there.. Commissioner Madden. said he agreed that the commercial space in the apartment build- ings would certainly fill up rapidly but he still perceived a potential detriment to the existing-businesses. The Commissioner said if the new commercial were not made available, the same health services might chose to fill up the empty store spaces to create a more viable shopping center. Commissioner Bowerman indicated he had not been convinced that rents of $800 a month and $9,600 a year. would not prove too high for this community. Mr. Arkell responded that without the service package, the units could probably be rented for $550 a month. It would be the lifestyle a person would be paying for in these apartments just like the association fees are for condos. He said it had to be understood that the difference between the proposed units and two bedroom apartments which rent for $650 would be the provision of extras seniors are asking for, like 24 hour security, van service, specialized kitchens, etc. Mayor Sund.land said he didn't perceive "by any stretch of imagination" that all • seniors would be paying all their rent from the interest they got from the equity in their homes because some of them would not have more than $40,000 or _$50,000 equity coming and might have to pay an additional $300 in rent, which was probably the amount they had to spend to stay in their homes in the first place. Councilmember Marks said when the developers had clarified what they meant by "lifestyle" they had put a whole new light on the matter for him. He also added that he perceived that with this project, St. Anthony would now be offering seniors a whole continium of housing services levels all the way from the Kenzington to this project and down to the Chandler Place, none of whom would actually be competing with each other. Councilmember Enrooth agreed that the services would be stratified to serve all levels . Mr. Arkell said he would anticipate a low turnover rate in senior rentals and reiterated that a close observance of the rental market would reveal a great number of $1;200 :a month units renting well . Councilmember-.'Ranallo..added that a_check of limited partnerships in senior projects indicated rents averaging $1 ,165. The Councilmember then said he wanted to re-emphasize that it was going to take a strong reselling effort' to convince the merchants and residents who had served on the original Kenzie study .group that rentals were the way to go. He requested that all those, persons be invited to participate in' the Planning Commission's cons-ideration of the 'P.U.D. changes which,, because of publication regulations, couldn't be scheduled earlier than Monday,..December 2nd.. Councilmember Ranallo concluded by saying he perceived the Council and Planning Commissioners who were present-were all in agreement that the "project would fly" • with, perhaps, some modifications. of th_e-commercial proposal .