What’s in the driver’s seat for Birkdale Village? Parking
Feb. 2. By TL Bernthal. Convenient parking is the driver of the revised Birkdale Village plan, while the boutique hotel and apartments are taking the back seat.
The new plan that will come before the Huntersville town commissioners Monday, Feb. 6, is substantially different and that will delay a vote on the rezoning request until at least March.
The 125-room, seven-story hotel and 350 multifamily units were removed from the latest plans. Yes, they may be proposed again years from now. DDRTC Birkdale Village LLC submitted the revised rezoning plans to the town on Friday, Jan. 27.
Office space remains
What remains is the Class A office building and the parking garage that supports it with 450 additional spaces for office during the workday and those 450 additional spaces available to the public after 5 pm on weekdays and all day on weekends.
Tim Perry
Tim Perry — managing partner at North American Properties, the owners of Birkdale Village — says a study shows 70 percent of the parking need is on weekends and after normal business hours.
What was a $200 million to $250 million project is now an $80 million to $90 million project.
The remaining elements
The office building and retail would be 175,000 square feet: Six stories of 150,000 square feet of offices over retail. Perry called it the “right balance.”
He said the developer, an architect and town leaders would meet to find a softer esthetic than originally proposed.
If the height seems far-reaching, remember that a smaller office would mean fewer additional parking spaces, Perry said.
The plans show the 450 spaces will be added above the existing two-story garage adjacent to the green. The first story will remain public parking and the second for the existing multi-family.
More parking spaces in the right area, along with way-finding and new technology such as counters show how many spaces are available, Perry said, will all make parking more convenient.
Smart growth
Neighborhood residents balked at the original plans — and some may not be happy with further change — citing traffic or parking issues and changing the feel of their beloved village.Perry says the developer is looking for smart growth.
“We’re not trying to change the emotional attachment that the village has, the romantic walk, we’re not trying to change an evening out with the kids on the greens. We want to deal with parking,” Tim Perry said in a telephone interview with Cornelius Today.
Shoppers want more convenient parking. Residents for years have wanted shoppers and diners to find parking off neighborhood streets.
Perry said the developers heard the call for convenient parking away from residential streets and the original plans started with that parking concept. Something needed to pay for the parking, and when the possibilities were penciled in, convenient parking got lost, he said.
Lightbulb moment
Then came the lightbulb moment. “Wait a minute, we forgot we were supposed to provide parking because we were moving around pieces,” Perry said.
A hotel would support parking for its guests.
The apartments would not create parking for all. “Residential would be the tail wagging the dog,” he said.
Down the road
As for the future of a Birkdale Village conference center and a re-arranged boutique hotel, Perry said that’s something that could be done later if the town has a want or need of it.
“We just want to get it right,” Perry said.
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If Tim Perry wants “to get it right”, North American Properties needs to reopen the Lindholm roundabout that they condemned. The full Lindholm roundabout was an integral part of the carefully designed traffic pattern for the whole retail/residential development. When the outbound half of Lindholm was closed, it forced the bulk of exiting traffic onto Birkdale Commons, and disrupted the traffic pattern that worked so well for two decades.
I live on Birkdale Commons Parkway and can tell you first hand that since they closed the circle the traffic is at a standstill every time I try to exit the village. There are constant road closings with the newest one coming soon for a month in front of Kilted Buffalo which will cause more problems in exiting the village. Because of all the changes I will be moving out of The village where I have called home for the past 3 years. The noise and crowds make it impossible to enjoy the place I felt so lucky to be apart of. Also the rents have gone up between $300 to 700 a month as service to our buildings decrease constantly . Can’t even find a parking spot on my own parking deck anymore.
If Mr. Perry wanted to get it right, he would not be trying to destroy our renowned and unique village, modeled after a New England seacoast town, and created by the original architect, Mr. Terry Shook. He would have done research and consulted with the community before cluttering the common area with architecturally incongruent kiosks that don’t match anything. Especially the ugly Warby Parker building. He would not have closed off half of the heavily used roundabout and the splash pad. He wouldn’t have kicked out successful, well loved local businesses and replaced them with chains. If he wanted to get it right he would work within the current zoning or select a more appropriate location that already has the zoning he desires because high rise buildings certainly don’t belong in Birkdale Village. Now his strategy is to get the most egregious component of his plan, the 115 ft office building, approved and then work on the other components later. Furthermore, if he wanted to get it right, he would not be trying to duplicate everything that has already been approved right across the street at Birkdale Place.