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.

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.

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.

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

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.

project: SUWANEE TOWN CENTER PLAN
date: 2003
location: SUWANEE, GA
client: CITY OF SUWANEE
contact: MARVIN ALLEN, PLANNING DIRECTOR

Suwanee, Georgia, is a rapidly growing small town in metropolitan Atlanta. In April 2001 the city began a planning process to “Imagine Old Town Suwanee”. The plan focused on renewing the economic vitality and preserving the character of the historic core and surroundings under the purview of a newly-created Downtown Development Authority. Urban Collage crafted a public participation process including three workshops and development simulations to shape the community’s vision. This vision included creating a new, 60-acre, mixed-use Town Center in close proximity to the old downtown, focused on a new public park. The park, town center and historic core are linked by a network of streets, sidewalks and trails that provide a framework for compact housing and commercial space. Urban Collage worked with city staff and a design review board to draft a set of Development Standards to shape the character of the Old Town District and its two nodes, and continued on as development planners for the Town Center itself (in partnership with Clark Patterson and Associates).

Implementation Highlights:

• Old Town Suwanee Development Standards adopted by City Council in summer of 2002
• 21 acres purchased by the city for the new town center, including a 10-acre $3-4 million public park and amphitheater funded by greenspace bonds and Park opened in Summer of 2004
• Over 80,000 square feet of mixed-use retail, office and residential
• County branch library constructed in 2004
• An additional 40 acres of residential development adjacent to Town Center;
• Project received funding for $1.1 million dollars in pedestrian improvements by the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC)
• This project received a 2004 GPA Award for Outstanding Plan Implementation and Georgia Trend’s/GMA’s 2005 “Trendsetter” award

project: BLUEGRASS COMMUNITY TECHNICAL COLLEGE NEWTOWN PIKE CAMPUS PLAN
date: 2008 – 2009
location: LEXINGTON, KY
client: BLUEGRASS COMMUNITY & TECHNICAL COLLEGE
contact: AUGUSTA JULIAN

Urban Collage was retained as part of a team led by EOP Architects and Perkins + Will to develop a plan for a new 65-acre campus of Bluegrass Community and Technical College. The plan creates a blueprint for the growth and development of BCTC and environs and builds on continued momentum in Lexington’s north side.

The campus is proposed on the former site of the Eastern State Hospital (ESH), the nation’s second oldest running mental institution. ESH’s corner stone was laid in 1816. Many of the existing buildings are original and considered historic structures. The historic nature of the site as well as its context within Downtown Lexington and the surrounding historic neighborhoods had to be taken into account when planning and designing the campus. The site is also surrounded to the south and east by industrial uses that were taken into consideration as long term development opportunities in this growing and evolving community.

The BCTC campus was seen as an opportunity to complete the “higher education triangle”, giving a main entry way to Lexington a new vibrant feel while also creating a usable, comfortable, and exciting higher education campus.

project: NORTH FULTON CID PLANNING SERVICES
date: 2007 – ONGOING
location: ALPHARETTA, GAT
client: NORTH FULTON COMMUNITY IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT
contact: ANN HANLON, VP OF TRANSPIRATION, COO

In 2007, Urban Collage, Inc. was retained by the North Fulton Community Improvement District (CID) to develop an integrated land use and transportation master plan for the GA 400 commercial corridor in North Fulton County. The Conceptual Plan for Blueprint North Fulton outlines strategies for three nodes: North Point Activity Center, Old Milton Parkway and Windward Parkway.

The planning process included two public workshops, a consumer research survey, and significant discussion with the district’s three municipalities: Alpharetta, Milton and Roswell.

The Blueprint’s final plan showed a prioritization of transportation and community improvement projects and land use policies that will help create a more balanced, sustainable North Fulton and provide direction for CID initiatives and expenditures over the next seven years. In October 2008, the final plan was unveiled.

Urban Collage was subsequently retained to continue to help the CID to coordinate design and planning for key implementation planning projects.

project: BLUEPRINT MIDTOWN
date: 1998 – ONGOING
location: ATLANTA, GA
client: THE MIDTOWN ALLIANCE
contact: SHANNON POWELL, VICE PRESIDENT

In 1997, the Midtown Alliance embarked upon Blueprint Midtown, a comprehensive and proactive planning/visioning exercise for Midtown, a critical and diverse section of downtown Atlanta. Now that the vision for a diverse, mixed-use, pedestrian friendly urban district has been established, Urban Collage is assisting the Midtown Alliance in implementing the vision.

To help guide ongoing and rapidly accelerating development in the area, Urban Collage assisted in preparing the Blueprint Midtown Design Standards. The illustrated standards seek to create an attractive and functional public environment, protect historic resources and establish architectural guidelines for site planning, building design, signage and parking. The Design Guidelines formed the basis for creation of the Midtown Special Public Interest District (SPI), a new zoning ordinance for Midtown adopted by the City of Atlanta in December of 2001.

A concurrent and related work effort in Midtown is directed at enhancing the public environment through new open spaces, plazas, and streetscapes. Urban Collage continues to assist the Midtown Alliance as the program planner for the Cityscapes Program.

Implementation Highlights:

• Over 10.7 million square feet of office space;
• 9,100 new residential units;
• 855,000 square feet of new retail space;
• 1,700 hotel rooms;
• Addition of over 1.5 million square feet of cultural institutions
• Over 1.7 billion in private investment underway;
• Construction underway for part of the $40 million in expected funds over the next five years for streetscape enhancements and open space initiatives;
• Adoption of SPI -16 And SPI- 17, largest rezoning in Atlanta history.

project: GEORGIA PERIMETER COLLEGE CAMPUS DEVELOPMENT PLAN
date: 2004
location: CLARKSTON, GA
client: GEORGIA PERIMETER COLLEGE
contact: DR. DENNIS R. HARKINS

Urban Collage was retained by Robert Charles Lesser & Co., LLC (RCLCo) and Georgia Perimeter College to provide guidance and insight into Georgia Perimeter College-Clarkston Campus’ long-term growth strategy. The process included an interactive vision session with college leaders and stakeholders to discuss and define potential opportunities on the Clarkston Campus and the development of several campus plan alternatives to accommodate future growth.

Initiatives were devised to facilitate growth of the college in terms of increasing enrollment, increasing the college’s role and function in the larger community and establishing and advancing the college’s presence along Memorial Drive and in DeKalb County. Specific campus opportunities included on-campus student housing, student recreation areas, a Student Wellness Center, a Center for International Language and Culture, and a Campus/Community Arts Center.