project: HISTORIC WESTSIDE VILLAGE MASTER PLAN
date: 2004-2005
location: ATLANTA, GA
client: H.J. RUSSELL / TRAMMELL CROW RESIDENTIAL
contact: LYLE FOGARTY, PROJECT MANAGER

Located in the Vine City neighborhood, on the western edge of Downtown Atlanta, Historic Westside Village is a commercial center that offers not only a town center to the residents of the neighborhood, but a glimpse into the community’s past. Located on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, and set in the midst of the five-college Greater Atlanta University Center, the Village is a mix of vibrant upstart retail and historic building stock waiting for rehabilitation. Urban Collage was asked to be a part of a redevelopment team that looked at strategies for new growth within the old urban fabric, and developed a master plan for unbuilt portion of the Village – a plan designed to introduce new housing options ranging from townhomes to condominiums, focused around the expansion of a neighborhood-scaled and historically-appropriate retail center. The plan was designed not only to foster new growth, but also to preserve the historic and walkable character of the Westside Village that existed in the past, and still, in part, exists today.

As a part of this plan, Urban Collage worked with in concert with the Georgia State Historic Preservation Office and an independent architecture firm to coordinate the completion of an ‘Historic Assessment Survey’. This survey helped identify historic assets within the neighborhood and provided targets for potential rehabilitation and redevelopment.

Implementation Highlights:

• Ground-breaking for the first phase of the project occurred in 2005, and the construction of over 200 condominium units and almost 60 townhomes are now complete.

project: SUWANEE CITY HALL PROGRAMMING
date: 2005
location: SUWANEE, GA
client: CITY OF SUWANEE
contact: MARVIN ALLEN, CITY MANAGER

Urban Collage, Inc. assisted the City of Suwanee, Georgia by conducting a utilization study and needs assessment for the City’s administrative and police / court facilities. The three month study included a review of existing facilities, a series of programming interviews and several task force meetings to quantify and plan for future space needs. The approved plan calls for 40,000 square feet of new and renovated administrative space including a New City Hall, renovation of the existing City Hall building to accommodate the City’s growing police department and modification of the existing municipal court facility to improve staff efficiency and safety.

Planning for the new facilities included site strategies to integrate the New City Hall with new development along the edge of Town Center Park, space programming for the construction of a 20,000 SF facility with potential expansion to 30,000 SF, identification of needed adjacencies, architectural blocking diagrams and an outline of next steps to begin design of the new facility including preliminary schedules and budgets.

The new City Hall was recently completed and the Police Department has moved into the old City Hall.

project: LEXINGTON SOUTHEND PARK DESIGN GUIDELINES
date: 2006
location: LEXINGTON, KY
client: EHI CONSULTANTS
contact: EDWARD J. HOLMES, AICP

Urban Collage, Inc. was retained by EHI Consultants, on behalf of the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government (LFUCG), to develop the Master Plan and Housing Pattern Book for the Southend Park Neighborhood that lies adjacent to the proposed Newtown Pike Extension (NPE), visioned as a grand urban boulevard.

Created with affected residents & area stakeholders, the NPE plan recognizes the inseparability of land use and transportation by outlining strategies for economic development and neighborhood redevelopment that would be leveraged by the construction of the new road through some of the more distressed urban areas. The presence of a high-volume road sets the table for mixed-use retail development that would not only bring commercial amenities to under served neighborhoods, but would act as architectural transitions to lower-scale residential districts. The main open space, Southend Park, would improved to contain a community garden, a playground, and recreation area. Single-family detached housing would occupy most of DeRoode Street, while the more intensely-developed southern portion would contain mixed-use and apartment buildings and the new mission surrounding a formal plaza.

The Southend Park Urban Village Plan anticipated the need for a set of design guidelines that would inform the development of residential construction. Each single-family prototype was chosen on the basis of local historic precedent and maximizing plan variations. Four different multifamily prototypes are also included that provide a broad range of unit sizes and layouts. Site standards are also included to ensure that proper relationships between buildings and their sites, and buildings and other buildings, are maintained.

project: THE RED MILE
date: 2009
location: LEXINGTON, KY
client: LEXINGTON TROTS BREEDERS ASSOCIATION
contact: JOE COSTA

The Red Mile Development Plan is a progressive infill development project located in the heart of Lexington, KY at the nation’s second oldest standing chariot racing venue, The Red Mile.

The Red Mile is a 138 acre plot of land surrounded by mid-high density residential development and light-heavy industrial land use. The Red Mile Development Plan utilizes 62 acres of the sites prime land that fronts along Red Mile Road. The concept plan includes, nearly 300,000 square feet of commercial space +/- 200 residential units, +/- 50,000 square feet of office space and nearly _ acres of open space along with the Red Mile Greenway.

The Red Mile Development plan strives to enhance the existing historic fabric on site while also providing new opportunities to the region. The Red Mile Development is one of if not the first major mixed-use developments in Lexington and is designed to be a walkable community and a major entertainment destination for the city of Lexington that will utilize major destination retail, restaurants, and an improved Red Mile race track facility to attract visitors and residents.

Implementation Highlights:

+/- 200 Residential Units
+/- 250,000 Sq. ft. of Retail
+/- 25,000 Sq. ft. of Office
+/- 90-120 Room Hotel
+/- 30,000 Sq. ft. Entertainment complex

project: DOWNTOWN LIVABILITY CODE
date: 2003
location: ATLANTA, GA
client: CENTRAL ATLANTA PROGRESS
contact: JENNIFER BALL, VICE PRESIDENT OF PLANNING

The Downtown Livability Code is the result of an initiative of Central Atlanta Progress and the City of Atlanta to review and update a Special Public Interest (SPI) Zoning District for downtown Atlanta.

Through a three-phase planning process, Urban Collage created comprehensive graphic “Development Standards” which act as a companion piece to the SPI Zoning text. The standards included illustrative explanations for specific regulations, architectural guidelines and examples of “best practices”. The purpose of this process was to promote a more vibrant downtown with a mix of uses and an enhanced street environment.

Urban Collage, facilitated an involved consensus building process between property owners, city staff and residents to validate existing conditions and issues and create a vision for 9 distinct subareas within downtown Atlanta. The process included weekly work sessions with a 25–member working committee and quarterly meeting with the 60-member advisory committee. Special task forces created for historic neighborhoods within downtown guided the creation of a historic preservation component in the code and development standards.

Form-based code components:

• Building and sites: included standards for site planning, density, articulation and historic preservation.
• Public spaces: incorporated standards for sidewalks, furniture standards and materials, supplemental zones, plazas and open spaces and bikeways.
• Parking: included standards for on street, surface and structured parking

project: CITY OF MACON SOUTHSIDE NEIGHBORHOOD PLANNING SERVICES
date: 2001
location: MACON, GA
client: CITY OF MACON, DEPT OF ECONOMIC & COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
contact: KEVIN DUBOSE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Urban Collage conducted a series of neighborhood planning and development services for a variety of historic communities in Macon, with projects including:

Beall’s Hill Strategic Development Plan
The Development Plan provides a strategic blueprint for revitalizing the historic, intown Beall’s Hill neighborhood by outlining parcel-specific land use, compatible public improvements, economic development and infill housing development initiatives, detailed parcel-resubidivision and overall funding and implementation mechanisms (including partnerships with adjacent Mercer University). In addition, the plan includes illustrated strategies for historically compatible housing rehabilitation and full construction documents for 12 infill housing prototypes.

Prince/Nussbaum Development Plan
In partnership with the Macon Housing Authority, Urban Collage developed a detailed parcel resubdivision plan and associated infill housing design strategies to facilitate the construction of 42 new homes and a small pocket park, in this low-income single-family neighborhood.

Telfair Street Concept Plan
The concept for the site located along a busy traffic artery, and surrounded by historic neighborhoods, planned to restore the street’s historic character by developing new two-story mixed use units directly facing Telfair Street.

Implementation Highlights:

• Over 100 vacant lots purchased for new single-family infill construction
• 50 new single-family homes built
• Single-family housing rehab program under way in Beall’s Hill

project: EVANS GOVERNMENT CENTER / APPLING COMPLEX MASTER PLANS
date: 2006 – 2007
location: EVANS, GA
client: COLUMBIA COUNTY
contact: J. SCOTT HERRING, PE

In late 2006, Columbia County, Georgia began to develop a series of Master Plans with the assistance of Urban Collage, Inc. to guide future facility placement and enhance the identity and character of County facilities.

Urban Collage, Inc. led a space needs assessment and master plan effort for the County’s Evans Government Center Campus. The Evans Government Center contains most of the County’s administrative departments, the County Justice Center, Library, and Tag Office. The Master Plan established development, redevelopment and enhancement strategies for the County’s administrative facilities for the next 10-20 years. The planning process included assessment of existing facilities and interviews with almost 30 department heads to identify future facility needs and a series of campus design sessions with County leaders. The Master Plan has enabled the County to begin design and construction of needed facilities while maintaining a focus on long-term needs and flexibility.  The Plan also embraces strategies to enhance the character of the campus and its frontage along Ronald Reagan Drive and Evans Town Center Boulevard.

The County’s Appling Complex includes a variety of office and service facilities including the County Detention Facility, Police Training Facilities, Animal Care and Control, Vehicle Maintenance and the County’s Roads and Bridges Department. The Appling Complex Master Plan built consensus among affected departments and has led to the design and construction of three priority facility/equipment projects (an expanded police training facility, a new fire training facility, and an upcoming detention center expansion). The Master Plan also establishes a direction for the efficient use of the county complex property, maintains flexibility for future facility projects, and includes strategies to enhance public access to appropriate facilities.

project: BATTERY PARK MASTER PLAN
date: 2008 – 2009
location: ANDERSON, SC
client: REALTICORP, LLC
contact: REGGIE D. BELL, ASSET MANAGER

The Master Plan prepared by Urban Collage for the Exit 19 Site explored a variety of unique design concepts for this challenging greenfield development in upstate South Carolina. Situated within a rapidly growing corridor just a few miles from Clemson University, the 120+ acre Master Plan seeks to create a new multi-use district that is at once walkable and urban, yet takes full advantage of numerous natural features by preserving waterways, views and several nature areas.

The centerpiece of the design is a new walkable “main street” that carefully blends small storefronts and offices with larger box retailers and parking along a linear town green. The layout balances the typical economics of “Power Centers” while setting a new template for sustainable, highway-oriented development.