Urban Design Services | Urban Collage

Eastern Kentucky University Campus Master Plan

by Stanford Harvey on August 5th, 2009 | Comments Off

project: EASTERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY CAMPUS MASTER PLAN
date: 2008
location: RICHMOND, KY
client: EASTERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY
contact: JAMES STREET, ASSOCIATE VP FOR CAPITAL PLANNING AND FACILITIES MANAGEMENT

Urban Collage, Inc. in collaboration with Perkins + Will Architects and M2d Design was charged with creating a master plan for the Eastern Kentucky University. Urban Collage’s role was to identify relationships between the universities edges and surrounding urban context of the city of Richmond and establish ways to develop cohesion between the two entities. UC also played a large role in the placement of new educational facilities including the extension of the “Colonel Path,” a multi-use trail intended to improve overall campus walkability and connections to surrounding spaces.

Throughout the master planning process UC was involved in:

Identifying short and long term development opportunities for the university.
Analyzing the existing urban context and providing potential issues and opportunities to enhance the campus as well as its relationship with Richmond, KY.
Studying potential university facility arrangements that improve the campus residential and academic environments as well as its overall walkability.
Providing conceptual site design to offer an initial feel of the possibilities these improvements may have on the campus as it stands today.

Lexington Distillery District

by Stanford Harvey on August 5th, 2009 | No Comments »

project: LEXINGTON DISTILLERY DISTRICT
date: 2008
location: LEXINGTON, KY
client: LEXINGTON DISTILLERY DISTRICT, LLC
contact: BARRRY McNEES

The Lexington Distillery District is located on Manchester Street less than 2,000 feet to the west of Rupp Arena and the central business district of downtown Lexington. Manchester Street as it stands today is heavily industrial, characterized by a tow yard, rail yard, decrepit infrastructure, and old warehouses remaining from a time when Bourbon Distilleries were plentiful in this area. The Old Tarr Distillery and James E. Pepper Distillery still stand and are the center pieces for the adaptive re-use plan. The plan calls for revitalization of many of the interesting and historic buildings as well as residential, commercial and mixed-use infill development.

The Distillery District plan calls for programming that would include but not be not limited to: a boutique hotel, bourbon museum, small batch bourbon distillery, office space, commercial and retail space, condominiums, live work units, multi-family units, open public space, and the Town Branch Trail.

Implementation Hightlights:

The Distillery District received the state approval for a TIF amount of $45 million in October 2009. The Distillery District is one of the first in Lexington to seek Tax Increment Financing and had received unanimous support by the Urban County Council who had approved the plans to help revitalize Manchester Street on December 2008. The Distillery District also received $2.2 million in bond funds from the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government (LFUCG) for the Town Branch Trail and Manchester Street improvements.

Imagine Downtown & LCI Update

by Stanford Harvey on August 5th, 2009 | No Comments »

project: IMAGINE DOWNTOWN & LCI UPDATE
date: 2003-2004, 2009
location: ATLANTA, GA
client: ATLANTA PROGRESS (CAP) AND THE ATLANTA DOWNTOWN IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT
contact: JENNIFER BALL, VICE PRESIDENT (CAP)

The most significant physical planning process for downtown Atlanta since the 1996 Olympics, Imagine Downtown united several smaller plans with new ideas for five important corridors and districts creating a vision for urban development that was built on exciting new projects like the Georgia Aquarium and the World of Coca-Cola. Already a regional destination, Downtown Atlanta has been guided to its evolution as a world-class urban neighborhood by the frameworks contained in Imagine.

Urban Collage, along with collaborators Cooper Carry, had devised several different and innovative public involvement techniques to gain the widest range of opinions. An Internet-based survey that used graphics and targeted questions ran throughout the year-long process, giving access to outlying metro counties interested in Downtown. The Internet was also used to disseminate the results of several ‘Charrette Weeks’, intense three-day workshops allowing residents and stakeholders a direct voice in the physical plans for each Focus Area.
This project received a GA Planning Award for Outstanding Planning Document.

In the short few years since Urban Collage completed the 2004 Imagine Downtown Plan, growth has continued to focus on Downtown Atlanta in the spirit of short commutes, urban living and an overall increased quality of life. Working with Central Atlanta Progress and The City of Atlanta, Urban Collage is taking a fresh look at the changing urban fabric in Downtown and helping to re-prioritize plans for incenting new development, transportation enhancements and improved public spaces.

Butler-Auburn Redevelopment Plan Update

by Stanford Harvey on August 5th, 2009 | No Comments »

project: BUTLER-AUBURN REDEVELOPMENT PLAN UPDATE
date: 2004 – 2005
location: ATLANTA, GA
client: CITY OF ATLANTA
contact: GARNETT BROWN, SENIOR PLANNER

In 1994, the Butler-Auburn Community Redevelopment Plan (CRP) was approved by city council to address the needs of the blighted, historic Sweet Auburn Avenue neighborhood. With pressure from a strong market resurgence in urban living, Auburn Avenue was facing challenges to preserve not only its low-scaled historic buildings but its commercial orientation. The 2005 Redevelopment Plan Update combines the earlier CRP’s emphasis on speciﬁc redevelopment projects with a new sensitivity to Auburn’s historic context and narrative.

The plan update evolved over three phases and several months. A ﬁrst phase of recording and analyzing existing conditions was supplemented by identiﬁcation of the conceptual redevelopment projects and the key ownership interests for each. The second phase focused on hosting community workshops, refining the projects and their economics in line with community input. Phase Three consisted of the ﬁnal drafting of the Plan Update, illustrative drawings, virtual models, ﬁnal economics, and revising the text of the MLK Landmark Zoning District.

The plan garnered a 2005 ‘Best Planning Document’ award from the Georgia Planning Association.

Implementation Highlights:

Plan approved by Neighborhood Planning Unit (NPU)
Plan was adopted by the Atlanta City Council in December of 2005

Jimmy Carter Boulevard Buford Highway Redevelopment Plan

by Stanford Harvey on August 5th, 2009 | No Comments »

project: JIMMY CARTER BOULEVARD BUFORD HIGHWAY REDEVELOPMENT PLAN
date: 2007 – 2008
location: GWINNETT COUNTY, GA
client: GWINNETT VILLAGE COMMUNITY IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT
contact: CHUCK WARBINGTON, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

In 2007, the Gwinnett Village Community Improvement District (GVCID) asked Urban Collage to perform a two phased project geared towards revitalizing a pair of active but aging strip retail corridors.

The first phase was the creation of a redevelopment plan for the two corridors; Jimmy Carter Boulevard and Buford Highway. The process involved a detailed analysis of several existing plans as well and the very disparate conditions along the two corridors. A steering committee consisting of property owners, business people and adjacent residents helped guide the process, providing input with regards to priorities, goals and vision for future growth.

Recognizing the importance of implementation, Urban Collage proceeded directly into the second phase, the crafting of an ordinance and design guidelines that would provide an incentive-based regulatory framework to support the redevelopment plan’s direction. Working not only with the client but an additional CID and consultants, complementary documents were drafted to direct the redevelopment of the two corridors. The Mixed-Use Ordinance was written initially as an area-specific overlay, but received such positive feedback from the Gwinnett County Planning Department that it was eventually constructed to supplant the existing mixed-use ordinance.

The other half of the equation, the Design Guidelines, were created to give a graphic indication of text of the ordinance and make the code more “user-friendly”. The Guidelines also added detail to several aspects of the ordinance, providing quality assurance for streetscapes, road design, and multi-family redevelopment, among others.

Both the ordinance and the guidelines were adopted by the county & the city of Norcross in 2008.

Page 1 of 912 3 4 5...»Last »