Summary of Mountain West Senior Apartments Neighborhood Meeting 11/21/19

The staff of Mountain West Investment Corp. held a neighborhood meeting at COCC on 11/21 to discuss their proposed 109 unit senior apartment project to be located on the SE corner of the roundabout at Mt. Washington & Shevlin Park Rd.

The site is zoned for high-density multifamily housing and no variances are sought. Up to 129 units would be allowed under zoning regulations, while the developer plans 109, including 12 studios, with the remainder split between 1 BR and 2 BR units. There will be four stories in the 45’ tall building.

Only persons 55 and over will be allowed to lease the units. Planned parking exceeds City code by about 20 spaces.  Electric Vehicle charging will be available. These are upper-end, market-rate units, with studio rents expected to be about $1,200/mo., and two bedroom units up to $2,000/mo, while a few penthouse units will be priced at about $2,600/mo.

Based on an initial meeting with neighbors in September, Mountain West indicated they have moved the building to the north end of the site, 155’ from single family residences to the south (CIty code would require a setback of only 17.5’).

The Mountain West staff indicated that they are building and operating the apartments as an ongoing concern, under a 30-year land lease with a 20 year option thereafter from COCC, which owns the land.

Concerns expressed at the meeting included traffic — local, regional and cumulative — ingress and egress from the site, landscaping, and lighting.

The site will be accessed for vehicles via a “right-in, right-out”  curb cut on Mt Washington, south of the Shevlin/Mt Washington roundabout, and another “right -in, right-out” cut at the north end of the property on Shevlin Park Rd., just east of the roundabout. Therefore, no left turns will be allowed into or out of the property, keeping free-flow through the roundabout.

Long term traffic issues were addressed through discussion of the Westside Infrastructure Agreement, requiring staged traffic mitigation investment as a result of all planned developments on the West side, including Westgate, Rio Lobo, Pahlisch, Discovery West and other developments in progress.
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This was a required pre-application meeting. The developer will now prepare final plans for submission to the City.