East Boulder evolution in focus as Eastpointe redevelopment wins approval – Boulder Daily Camera

Thursday's meeting of the Boulder Planning Board was a big moment for the future of the city's east edge.

Before the board were proposals for two separate developments along east Arapahoe Avenue, which together would bring 566 rental housing units to the evolving corridor.

The first proposal a plan to redevelop the Eastpointe Apartments at 1550 Eisenhower Drive won the board's approval, in a 5-1 vote that will be final barring an intervention and subsequent reversal by the City Council.

Should that decision stand, the existing Eastpointe complex, which features 140 relatively inexpensive units in aging buildings, will be razed. The 7-acre site will be redeveloped with 226 units with rents, developer Aimco said, that will range from about $1,500 for studios to "the high $3,000s" for three-bedroom units.

High as those figures might be, the immense wealth in the Boulder area means that, according to calculations of area median incomes, Eastpointe's units would qualify as "middle-income."

The future Eastpointe is set to have a 254-space underground parking garage, plus ample bike parking.

Following the Eastpointe vote was a hearing on the concept plan for a development proposal at what's become known at the Waterview site a location that's proven vexing to developers who've tried and failed to build there in recent years.

At Waterview, across 14 acres at 5801 and 5847 Arapahoe Ave., Zocalo Community Development seeks to put up 11 buildings, in which they'd put 340 units and 19,000 square feet of commercial space.

Those units would range from roughly $1,000 for studios to $1,300 for two-bedrooms, the developers said, while the market-rate units would range from $1,250 to $2,450.

In presentations to the board on Thursday, the developers of the respective sites made similar appeals: Their projects, they said, will provide sorely-needed housing largely at middle-income rates along a major transit corridor and burgeoning job center. Pedestrian-oriented designs with an eye on green space will appeal to residents and passersby, they both argued.

"This," said Eastpointe developer Patti Shwayder, "is going to be transformational to the community."

Eastpointe is only one project, and the Waterview plans are likely months away from even going up for possible approval. But these two plans, if realized, would bring many hundreds of new residents to a corridor that includes single-family neighborhoods, minimal commercial options and a lot of industrial and office space.

While Aimco and Zocalo focused on what their projects can do to fill needs, Eastpointe and Waterview could also help usher in or at least accelerate a period of substantial change along east Arapahoe Avenue in terms of transportation options, housing density and mixed-use development.

But not all are thrilled with the changes that these two projects represent.

The public-hearing portion of Waterview did not begin until late Thursday night, but previous comments submitted to the city indicate strong concerns about the project's potential impact on traffic and transportation safety, as well as the presence of wetlands on the site.

"This is a very low-density area and to put a high-density project on this site does not fit," said Mary Beth Vellequette, who lives nearby. "We are very concerned about the number of cars on Arapahoe; there's already difficulty getting out of our subdivision as it is."

The Planning Board was only giving feedback on Waterview, as opposed to voting, but comments by some members suggested the site's flood risk could be a hurdle for the project, as could the fact that the developers aim to insert hundreds of new residents into an area with a presently undefined character.

Meanwhile, at Eastpointe, the concerns lean more toward the issue of affordability.

Aimco, like all developers, must satisfy the city's inclusionary housing requirement as part of its approval; it plans, as of now, to satisfy that by paying cash in lieu of developing affordable units on- or off-site.

While those Planning Board members generally offered high praise for the project's design, the fact that the new Eastpointe will attract greater wealth than the current one has is troubling to some. That includes members of the City Council who called up the project when it was still in the concept phase, and specifically requested Aimco prioritize a diversity of housing types at a diversity of price points.

"I think we have to strive harder for on-site affordability," lamented Planning Board member Crystal Gray, who cast the lone vote against the project.

"There's a certain sense of regret that we know there will probably be higher rents in the new development," member David Ensign said. "It does make us take a little pause to think about how we are meeting our affordable housing goals."

And board Chairman John Putnam added: "I am disappointed that at least one of the (four residential) buildings wasn't designated for a housing authority."

But the Planning Board and City Council can't require that under the city's current rules, which allow every developer the option to simply give the city cash or land, if they don't want to build on-site affordable housing.

"I think as we look forward, we have to look at this," Putnam said, "because we're going to have more of our housing stock turning over."

Alex Burness: 303-473-1389, burnessa@dailycamera.com or twitter.com/alex_burness