WEBVTT 00:00:00.130 --> 00:00:09.370 - So thank you for being here. And I'll just, if you're sitting on the end, if you see people coming in, 00:00:09.370 --> 00:00:18.699 - welcome them to your row. It's the continuation of a very welcoming neighborhood here in Prospect Hill. 00:00:18.699 --> 00:00:28.028 - So, and we have, Glenda, are you still the chair of the Neighborhood Association? Oh, you've graduated, 00:00:28.028 --> 00:00:29.822 - okay. Is Lily here? 00:00:31.650 --> 00:00:39.092 - Okay well thank you to friends in Prospect Hill for hosting us and I know we have McDowell 00:00:39.092 --> 00:00:47.351 - Gardens represented here. I just left another conversation where Paul was he's the chair of McDowell 00:00:47.351 --> 00:00:51.358 - Gardens neighborhood so he's likely coming over. 00:00:52.066 --> 00:01:01.295 - I just want to start with a really quick overview of where we've been with the Hopewell neighborhood 00:01:01.295 --> 00:01:10.707 - and then I'm going to turn it over to the team and they can talk a lot more about where we are now and 00:01:10.707 --> 00:01:15.550 - where we're headed with Hopewell as we move forward. 00:01:16.834 --> 00:01:25.026 - As you likely know, Hopewell has been a long visioning process for the city of Bloomington. And so when 00:01:25.026 --> 00:01:33.138 - the hospital announced it was gonna move, there was a series of input sessions in a steering committee 00:01:33.138 --> 00:01:41.172 - formed that was formed under the last administration, John Hamilton's administration. That group came 00:01:41.172 --> 00:01:44.638 - out with a master plan and that master plan 00:01:45.250 --> 00:01:52.964 - In a nutshell, a master plan to folks who don't work in planning and architecture insinuates that we 00:01:52.964 --> 00:02:00.755 - know exactly what we're doing and we know exactly where everything's going. A master plan actually is 00:02:00.755 --> 00:02:08.698 - just more of a dream list of this is what we would love to get here and this is if we had all the money 00:02:08.698 --> 00:02:12.670 - in the world and all of the resources, this is what 00:02:12.802 --> 00:02:22.110 - the community has given us input on that we'd like to put in this neighborhood. As we started actually 00:02:22.306 --> 00:02:31.275 - getting infrastructure together and and looking at what we realistically could do. What we knew was 00:02:31.275 --> 00:02:40.693 - the community was really committed to having housing of different affordability levels in this community 00:02:40.693 --> 00:02:43.294 - and in in in trying a really 00:02:43.650 --> 00:02:54.117 - a really compact neighborhood design so that we would have a really put together neighborhood that flowed 00:02:54.117 --> 00:03:04.090 - well, that had a park in it, et cetera, et cetera. What we have envisioned here and what we have put 00:03:04.090 --> 00:03:13.470 - together, you'll hear more about tonight, is actually a model that we are developing that will 00:03:13.858 --> 00:03:25.609 - enable us to build owner-occupied units that are of varying sizes. And those varying sizes set the price 00:03:25.609 --> 00:03:37.585 - point for the house. And so you can buy a very modestly sized house if you're downsizing and fixed income, 00:03:37.585 --> 00:03:41.502 - or if you are new to the ownership 00:03:41.730 --> 00:03:50.446 - the ownership market, you can buy a very modestly sized house, which we think is going to sell for less 00:03:50.446 --> 00:03:58.325 - than $100,000. Then you can go all the way up to a more traditional, what we think of as sort 00:03:58.325 --> 00:04:03.102 - of single-family detached larger home, and those will be 00:04:03.234 --> 00:04:10.833 - also more traditionally priced. Our housing market is pricing too many people out of the market right 00:04:10.833 --> 00:04:18.879 - now, though. And so you'll hear more about it. Paul has arrived. Hello, Paul. He's making a grand entrance. 00:04:18.879 --> 00:04:26.329 - We already talked about you. And Isabel Piedmont-Smith is the council representative for this area. 00:04:26.329 --> 00:04:29.086 - So thank you for showing up, Isabel. 00:04:29.314 --> 00:04:37.095 - As we move forward with Hopewell, we used it as a test process to test our own red tape in the development 00:04:37.095 --> 00:04:45.093 - process to see where the friction points were, what was adding cost, what was adding time to well-intentioned 00:04:45.093 --> 00:04:53.310 - development, and we found plenty of areas that we can improve on through the administration of the city and also 00:04:53.410 --> 00:05:02.777 - Parts of the UDO, the Unified Development Ordinance, they conflict with itself or they're just unclear 00:05:02.777 --> 00:05:12.508 - to a developer. So part of what we did is look at the Unified Development Ordinance and the transportation 00:05:12.508 --> 00:05:19.966 - plan for a very compact urban design in a neighborhood. And what we found out was 00:05:20.226 --> 00:05:29.604 - We needed too many changes to do the kind of housing development that we wanted to do a standard development 00:05:29.604 --> 00:05:38.208 - through the Unified Development Ordinance. So we ended up putting through with partnership from the 00:05:38.208 --> 00:05:41.822 - City Council, a planned unit development. 00:05:42.242 --> 00:05:52.069 - And that means that this is, it's a uniquely zoned area that has outlined what's gonna go there and 00:05:52.069 --> 00:06:02.191 - what the city streets are gonna look like and the sizes, et cetera, et cetera. So a brief history, and 00:06:02.191 --> 00:06:08.382 - then I'm gonna move on to what's gonna go there. Our planning, 00:06:08.706 --> 00:06:17.476 - started in 2020 with that master plan. So that was six years ago. And in 2025, we really looked at the 00:06:17.476 --> 00:06:26.672 - post COVID rising construction costs, the challenges with the original development model, and the potential 00:06:26.672 --> 00:06:35.102 - finances that we thought would be available to people who would want to live in this neighborhood. 00:06:35.202 --> 00:06:43.606 - And so we took the vision, we retained that vision, and we just tweaked the strategy to achieve it. 00:06:43.606 --> 00:06:52.178 - We had to change how we were gonna get there to get to a place where we had a neighborhood where lots 00:06:52.178 --> 00:07:01.086 - of different people could afford to live. So Hopewell South is the first phase of the neighborhood, well, 00:07:01.698 --> 00:07:11.390 - I'll say the core building is the first thing to be renovated. And then the first new construction phase 00:07:11.390 --> 00:07:20.713 - is Hopewell South. It advances 98 homes through this PUD at Hopewell South. And everybody who's ever 00:07:20.713 --> 00:07:25.790 - done a project of this scale knows it won't be simple. 00:07:26.306 --> 00:07:33.869 - and this has not been simple. But I think what we have landed with is really an incredible opportunity 00:07:33.869 --> 00:07:41.212 - for our community to see what this kind of housing can live like, what a neighborhood like this can 00:07:41.212 --> 00:07:48.702 - feel like, and to welcome new people into Bloomington, and importantly, to keep some people here that 00:07:48.702 --> 00:07:49.950 - aren't otherwise 00:07:50.274 --> 00:07:59.995 - able to afford to remain here. We're hearing lots about assessed values going up and taxes going up 00:07:59.995 --> 00:08:10.494 - for folks on a fixed income and so Hopewell anticipates responding to some of those needs. So I am going to 00:08:10.754 --> 00:08:18.369 - transition over to Anna Killian Hansen who is the director of our housing and neighborhood development 00:08:18.369 --> 00:08:26.205 - department who's going to talk to you further about the housing and some other things that are happening. 00:08:26.205 --> 00:08:31.454 - Thank you guys. Thanks for having me today. This is working okay. So I 00:08:31.618 --> 00:08:38.778 - Hopewell represents the city's most significant housing opportunity in a generation. Our vision is to 00:08:38.778 --> 00:08:46.359 - create a neighborhood that looks and feels like Bloomington. Human scaled streets, welcoming front porches, 00:08:46.359 --> 00:08:53.519 - a variety of types and streetscapes, and a diverse mix of residents living side by side. We wanted to 00:08:53.519 --> 00:08:59.486 - create a neighborhood that prioritizes people. That means smaller streets and lanes, 00:08:59.586 --> 00:09:05.370 - more compact residential lots, and a walkable design. We also wanted to create a variety of housing 00:09:05.370 --> 00:09:11.559 - options, not just one type of home or one type of streetscape, but a neighborhood with character, variety, 00:09:11.559 --> 00:09:17.748 - and opportunities for people at different stages of their life. And we challenged conventional development 00:09:17.748 --> 00:09:20.062 - standards to make that vision possible. 00:09:20.258 --> 00:09:27.433 - By rethinking lot sizes, street design, and how homes fit on the land, we created the opportunity for 00:09:27.433 --> 00:09:34.538 - 98 homes across 64 lots compared to just 28 lots under conventional R4 zoning. That is a significant 00:09:34.538 --> 00:09:41.783 - difference. It demonstrates what becomes possible when we rethink the way we develop housing and focus 00:09:41.783 --> 00:09:49.310 - on removing barriers rather than accepting the limitations of conventional approaches. Our goal is simple. 00:09:49.474 --> 00:10:02.438 - A neighborhood built by locals for locals, one that creates more opportunities for Bloomington residents 00:10:02.438 --> 00:10:06.142 - to find a place to call home. 00:10:06.274 --> 00:10:12.681 - this might look like. We have a larger version here in just a second, too. As far as home designs, I 00:10:12.681 --> 00:10:19.025 - don't know if you guys noticed on the wall, as you came in, there are some renderings of what those 00:10:19.025 --> 00:10:24.798 - homes will look like, just to kind of put a fine pin on it. All right, next slide, please. 00:10:25.826 --> 00:10:31.243 - It wasn't enough to create more lots. We also wanted to make sure we were creating opportunities for 00:10:31.243 --> 00:10:36.123 - a variety of housing types and price points. We want Hopewell South to offer more than one 00:10:36.123 --> 00:10:41.486 - path to homeownership and create opportunities for people with different needs, budgets, and stages 00:10:41.486 --> 00:10:47.385 - of life. One of the ways we're doing that is by removing another significant barrier, the cost and complexity 00:10:47.385 --> 00:10:50.174 - of designing and preparing a home for construction. 00:10:50.786 --> 00:10:57.139 - Each lot will come with a pre-approved, permit-ready building plan tailored to that specific lot. That 00:10:57.139 --> 00:11:03.368 - means one won't have to start from scratch, hire separate design consultants, or navigate the entire 00:11:03.368 --> 00:11:09.536 - process on their own. We're doing a tremendous amount of the work up front. Ultimately, the goal is 00:11:09.536 --> 00:11:16.382 - to reduce time, uncertainty, and upfront costs, making it easier to deliver the variety of homes that we need. 00:11:16.482 --> 00:11:22.818 - The other important piece of this approach is making better use of our infrastructure investment. 00:11:22.818 --> 00:11:29.800 - Infrastructure is very expensive if you're not used to working in that world. Streets, utilities, drainage, 00:11:29.800 --> 00:11:36.266 - and other improvements are necessary to support the neighborhood, and those costs ultimately affect 00:11:36.266 --> 00:11:38.270 - what it costs to build a home. 00:11:38.498 --> 00:11:44.323 - By creating more homes within the same overall development, we can spread those infrastructure costs 00:11:44.323 --> 00:11:50.264 - across more lots rather than placing a disproportionate share on the cost of fewer homes. That creates 00:11:50.264 --> 00:11:56.378 - efficiencies in how we both use land and infrastructure, helping reduce the underlying cost of delivering 00:11:56.378 --> 00:11:59.262 - housing. That creates efficiencies in how we both 00:11:59.970 --> 00:12:05.444 - how we use both land and infrastructure, helping reduce the underlying cost of delivering housing. And 00:12:05.444 --> 00:12:10.917 - that's an important distinction. We're not just trying to create affordable housing through subsidies. 00:12:10.917 --> 00:12:16.391 - We're working to make homes more attainable from the outset by changing how we plan, design, and build 00:12:16.391 --> 00:12:22.184 - our neighborhoods. The goal is to make attainable housing a natural outcome of better development practices, 00:12:22.184 --> 00:12:24.894 - not something that requires subsidy on every home. 00:12:27.394 --> 00:12:34.765 - This is pretty close to the way the plat looks right now. It's a good rendering of what we're going 00:12:34.765 --> 00:12:41.619 - to be looking at. And if you look at the center block there, which is block nine, we do have 00:12:41.619 --> 00:12:49.138 - a pedestrian-focused walkway and something different that we piloted here in Hopewell South, which is 00:12:49.138 --> 00:12:55.550 - interior-facing frontages. So typically in our UDO, homes would need to face a street, 00:12:55.906 --> 00:13:03.846 - these homes are actually interior facing, facing the greenway. So right now, we're working on implementing 00:13:03.846 --> 00:13:11.341 - Hopewell South. There's a lot of work that happens behind the scenes to get this neighborhood going. 00:13:11.341 --> 00:13:18.761 - So we're working through these technical details that are required to prepare the lots for sale and 00:13:18.761 --> 00:13:20.542 - construction. That work 00:13:20.834 --> 00:13:27.186 - involves a tremendous amount of coordination. We have civil engineers, surveyors, architects, and an 00:13:27.186 --> 00:13:33.789 - internal team that are developing the detailed plot, lot-specific site plans, and corresponding building 00:13:33.789 --> 00:13:40.204 - plans. Our legal teams are preparing covenants, conditions, and restrictions, the legal structure for 00:13:40.204 --> 00:13:46.871 - two small condominium buildings, which is called a horizontal property regime, and the instruments needed 00:13:46.871 --> 00:13:50.078 - to sell the properties and preserve affordability. 00:13:50.210 --> 00:13:56.692 - We are coordinating home energy ratings and appraisals to prepare for each property for the next stage. 00:13:56.692 --> 00:14:02.925 - Every detail matters because our goal is to make it easier to move from a vacant lot to a completed 00:14:02.925 --> 00:14:04.670 - home, not create a barrier. 00:14:07.650 --> 00:14:14.676 - One of the things that makes Hopewell South special is that we're not just building homes. We're creating 00:14:14.676 --> 00:14:21.503 - a neighborhood where people can connect with one another and feel a sense of belonging. We invited the 00:14:21.503 --> 00:14:28.197 - Bloomington community to help name the lanes by a vote, and we're excited to introduce Hartwell Lane 00:14:28.197 --> 00:14:31.710 - and Possibility Lane, the first ever in Bloomington. 00:14:31.810 --> 00:14:37.689 - I think those names capture the spirit of what we're trying to accomplish here, creating opportunities 00:14:37.689 --> 00:14:43.682 - for people to put down roots and to find a place to call home. That same people first philosophy carries 00:14:43.682 --> 00:14:49.504 - through to the design of the neighborhood. Pedestrians are prioritized with traffic calming measures, 00:14:49.504 --> 00:14:55.212 - raised crosswalks, and an interior trail that will help people move through the neighborhood safely 00:14:55.212 --> 00:14:59.550 - and comfortably. We're also designing for visitability. So 99% of the homes 00:14:59.682 --> 00:15:07.715 - here, we were able to get at least one zero-step entry, which is a pretty big accomplishment considering 00:15:07.715 --> 00:15:15.366 - the grade over there. If you walked, it actually slopes quite a bit. I'm going to turn this over to 00:15:15.366 --> 00:15:23.017 - Kendall Kenoki to walk us through the site plan in more detail and the accomplishments that they've 00:15:23.017 --> 00:15:29.214 - been able to make. Thank you, Anna. Kendall Kenoki, City Engineering Department. 00:15:29.794 --> 00:15:35.743 - Engineering's been tasked with managing the design of this project, and it has been a fun project. It's 00:15:35.743 --> 00:15:41.692 - a very unique project. It's been a very challenging project. I just wanted to talk at a very high level 00:15:41.692 --> 00:15:47.698 - some of the specifics, and I kind of gave you the super bullet points, and I'm going to go into a little 00:15:47.698 --> 00:15:53.475 - bit more detail just to kind of help everyone appreciate what we're doing here on Hopewell South. So 00:15:53.475 --> 00:15:57.022 - overall site plan, just so everyone's aware, this is the area 00:15:57.314 --> 00:16:03.371 - south of First Street. This is where the old medical office buildings used to be. This is really the 00:16:03.371 --> 00:16:09.609 - part of Hopewell that ties into McDowell Gardens. And it's kind of bordered by Wiley, Rogers, Fairview, 00:16:09.609 --> 00:16:15.786 - and First Street. So I just wanted to talk about a few things. So connectivity, if you could go to the 00:16:15.786 --> 00:16:21.903 - next slide. Yeah, so the major streets through the development, obviously Wiley and First are already 00:16:21.903 --> 00:16:25.022 - there. Fairview is already there, but it's gonna be 00:16:25.282 --> 00:16:30.865 - improved so right now it's a one-way street I believe south it's going to become a two-way street there's 00:16:30.865 --> 00:16:36.184 - going to be some street parking on it it's going to have sidewalks on both sides where it's adjacent 00:16:36.184 --> 00:16:41.557 - to the development it's going to have tree plot so it's really going to become more of a neighborhood 00:16:41.557 --> 00:16:47.034 - street rather than right now it's kind of got the feel of an alley and then we're also building Jackson 00:16:47.034 --> 00:16:52.617 - Street so this would be a new section of Jackson Street between First and Wiley again our standard street 00:16:52.617 --> 00:16:55.198 - section tree plot sidewalk parking on the street 00:16:55.586 --> 00:17:01.290 - If you go to the next slide, you can kind of see the larger plan to connect everything and rebuild that 00:17:01.290 --> 00:17:06.885 - street grid and Hopewell. So this area to the north is what they call Hopewell West, and it's already 00:17:06.885 --> 00:17:12.425 - been platted. So eventually Jackson Street and Fairview Street will go all the way to Second Street. 00:17:12.425 --> 00:17:17.964 - So we're really kind of restoring that connectivity. And then University, which is kind of the brick 00:17:17.964 --> 00:17:21.694 - street that was built in Hopewell East, that'll extend all the way. 00:17:22.018 --> 00:17:27.401 - west through Hopewell West as well. So you can kind of see on the map here how we're building those 00:17:27.401 --> 00:17:33.215 - two south legs. We've already built a portion of Jackson adjacent to the core building, and then eventually 00:17:33.215 --> 00:17:38.705 - the plan is to build out this whole network. So we're working towards that. Hopewell South is kind of 00:17:38.705 --> 00:17:44.304 - tying into that larger vision. If you go to the next slide, then Anna touched on this. This is a really 00:17:44.304 --> 00:17:50.494 - cool and unique aspect of this project. We're introducing a lane. It is not an alley, and it's not quite a street. 00:17:50.786 --> 00:17:57.340 - But it is 20 feet wide, so fire trucks can use it for fire access, trash can use it for trash, and it's 00:17:57.340 --> 00:18:03.832 - a pretty wide, I mean, 20 feet, 7th Street, if you're aware, that's a 20-foot street as well. So these 00:18:03.832 --> 00:18:10.134 - are full-size lanes, but they don't have your traditional tree plot, sidewalks, and things. They're 00:18:10.134 --> 00:18:16.752 - kind of a blend of the two. So these are new that are gonna go in, and then if you go to the next slide, 00:18:16.752 --> 00:18:17.886 - we also have this 00:18:18.178 --> 00:18:23.738 - this internal grid of pedestrian only infrastructure. So what Anna was talking about is a lot of the 00:18:23.738 --> 00:18:29.464 - homes are fronting onto the actual pedestrian infrastructure and then accessing from the lanes to their 00:18:29.464 --> 00:18:34.969 - driveways and garages, parking spaces, things like that. So this is a really cool and unique aspect 00:18:34.969 --> 00:18:40.749 - of this project. As you can see, we're kind of trying to connect the grid into the existing neighborhood 00:18:40.749 --> 00:18:46.254 - and hopefully will be extended through Hopewell West in the future. There's East West, North South. 00:18:46.254 --> 00:18:48.126 - Again, these are pedestrian only. 00:18:48.450 --> 00:18:55.155 - areas and kind of a really cool and unique aspect of this project of course the main streets also have 00:18:55.155 --> 00:19:01.925 - sidewalks on them so it really creates this pretty large pedestrian network if you go to the next slide 00:19:01.925 --> 00:19:08.695 - I also wanted to highlight these are all in green raised crosswalks so this is where we're implementing 00:19:08.695 --> 00:19:12.926 - not only traffic calming but a prioritization for pedestrians so 00:19:13.122 --> 00:19:18.159 - We're just building straight, you know, we go in with our traffic calming program, we go into existing 00:19:18.159 --> 00:19:23.148 - streets and we build traffic calming. We're actually implementing that right away, because we know we 00:19:23.148 --> 00:19:28.478 - want this neighborhood to be a place where people are driving slowly, carefully, so just wanted to highlight 00:19:28.478 --> 00:19:33.809 - that. This is something that council has tasked us with, you know, trying to implement in this neighborhood, 00:19:33.809 --> 00:19:38.699 - and we were really able to, I think, innovate and be really creative with how we did that, and this 00:19:38.699 --> 00:19:41.438 - is one aspect of that. Just wanna go to the next slide. 00:19:41.858 --> 00:19:47.803 - Another unique thing, so the lane design, I mentioned these are 20 foot wide streets. But what we're 00:19:47.803 --> 00:19:53.865 - doing is we're actually, the center 10 feet of those lanes is gonna be a colored stamped concrete, and 00:19:53.865 --> 00:19:59.751 - then the five feet on each side is gonna be regular white concrete pavement. And the goal with that 00:19:59.751 --> 00:20:05.637 - is to try to visually narrow the roadways, so you feel like you need to drive in a more constrained 00:20:05.637 --> 00:20:10.110 - area. We're also making the lanes totally pro-ag compliant for wheelchairs. 00:20:10.370 --> 00:20:16.552 - So wheelchair users will be able to roll down these. Kind of the vision is that these are very calm, 00:20:16.552 --> 00:20:22.795 - very low speed areas that where traffic is very minimal, only for access. This could be areas for the 00:20:22.795 --> 00:20:29.344 - neighbors to hang out, just socialize with one another. So it's not meant to really be a road or a street. 00:20:29.344 --> 00:20:35.648 - It's really a low speed environment. So this is another kind of unique and cool aspect of these areas. 00:20:35.648 --> 00:20:37.790 - If you go to the next slide, we're 00:20:38.210 --> 00:20:44.817 - Parking has been another question that I've gotten a lot about this project. So we're actually installing 00:20:44.817 --> 00:20:51.361 - 108 new parking spaces as part of the development. So this does not include anything that already exists 00:20:51.361 --> 00:20:57.718 - on say Wiley. And with 98 new units, this is over one space per unit. We have eight accessible spaces 00:20:57.718 --> 00:21:04.574 - right now throughout the development. And all of these are either off-street or new on-street parking spaces. 00:21:05.602 --> 00:21:12.473 - If you go to the next slide, this is our 99%. So the blue squares here are some type of accessible unit. 00:21:12.473 --> 00:21:19.213 - And then the green check mark means we were able to get an accessible barrier-free entry route to that 00:21:19.213 --> 00:21:25.952 - building. So there is, from some direction, you can go in on a wheelchair. You can roll yourself right 00:21:25.952 --> 00:21:32.561 - into the building. And this was something that we were challenged to do. And I'm really proud of our 00:21:32.561 --> 00:21:34.590 - team for being able to do this 00:21:34.882 --> 00:21:41.453 - all but only one building on this site. I mean, this site is so hilly. It was really a challenge to 00:21:41.453 --> 00:21:48.090 - do that, and we were able to do it. So I'm pretty proud of that. 65 of the 66 buildings barrier-free 00:21:48.090 --> 00:21:54.793 - entry. So that was really cool. And then just a few other things. So there will be improvements along 00:21:54.793 --> 00:22:02.021 - Wiley and Rogers. So you can see there, as required by the subdivision, Rogers is going to get a 10-foot-wide 00:22:02.021 --> 00:22:04.190 - sidewalk and a 5-foot tree plot. 00:22:04.738 --> 00:22:11.431 - along the Hopewell property. Wiley's gonna get a new sidewalk on the north side with a tree plot as 00:22:11.431 --> 00:22:18.324 - well. We're also gonna implement some bump-outs, rain gardens on Wiley, and some new crosswalks on 1st 00:22:18.324 --> 00:22:25.151 - and Wiley Street. And we're also replacing the water main in Wiley, which is a 1934 water main. We're 00:22:25.151 --> 00:22:32.111 - replacing it all the way about halfway down west of Fairview until we tap into the brand new 1970 water 00:22:32.111 --> 00:22:33.918 - main, which is like almost 00:22:35.458 --> 00:22:41.652 - for CBU is almost new. And then we're going to repave, of course, Wiley and a lot of the streets adjacent 00:22:41.652 --> 00:22:47.964 - to the development. So a lot of improvements happening. Curb ramp is part of the resurfacing and everything 00:22:47.964 --> 00:22:53.924 - as well, curb ramp upgrades. So there's a lot going into this. And also lighting throughout the whole 00:22:53.924 --> 00:22:59.768 - subdivision will have street lighting, of course, to light up the neighborhood. So those are just a 00:22:59.768 --> 00:23:05.086 - few of the high level items that the design. I think I'm handing it now back to Anna maybe 00:23:06.306 --> 00:23:13.528 - finish us off on south and move us into core. So thank you. I'll be back. So what's coming next? Well, 00:23:13.528 --> 00:23:20.819 - first of all, we are going to be going out to bid for infrastructure very soon. And what does that mean 00:23:20.819 --> 00:23:27.550 - for you guys in the neighborhood? It is that you're likely to see some heavy equipment on site. 00:23:27.746 --> 00:23:35.482 - So that is just to get the infrastructure work in place. So that's first and foremost. You're also going 00:23:35.482 --> 00:23:39.902 - to see a developer RFP go out as well, and that will be for 00:23:40.066 --> 00:23:46.321 - builders to actually build the homes that we have. And they will be likely taking down somewhere between 00:23:46.321 --> 00:23:52.398 - three and seven lots per builder. At least that's kind of what we're envisioning at this point. We'll 00:23:52.398 --> 00:23:58.713 - have to see what the actual absorption rate is. But if you're interested in purchasing a home at Hopewell 00:23:58.713 --> 00:24:05.087 - or having one built for you, you cannot select a different home plan than what we've already predetermined 00:24:05.087 --> 00:24:10.032 - on the lots. You'll need to sign up for updates and we can pair you with a builder 00:24:10.032 --> 00:24:19.490 - as those RFPs go out. We will also have a website coming soon that will lay out all of the details of 00:24:19.490 --> 00:24:28.855 - the floor plans that are available and walk you through the RFP process. Let's see, what else are we 00:24:28.855 --> 00:24:37.664 - doing? Really, those are the biggest things that we need to get done to get these homes built. 00:24:37.664 --> 00:24:39.518 - Next slide, please. 00:24:40.162 --> 00:24:42.974 - one of the things that you will 00:24:43.202 --> 00:24:50.135 - see happening very soon is the core building will be opening in December. It's a little bit delayed, 00:24:50.135 --> 00:24:57.618 - but it will be opening in December. It's the original hospital site. This project is delivering 38 permanent 00:24:57.618 --> 00:25:04.414 - supportive housing units, which are all affordable in a partnership with the Summit Hill Community 00:25:04.414 --> 00:25:11.416 - Development Corporation. That was only possible because they received low-income housing tax credits, 00:25:11.416 --> 00:25:12.926 - historic tax credits, 00:25:13.058 --> 00:25:20.806 - Home Investment Partnership, the city put in more than $1.2 million towards that project to create those 00:25:20.806 --> 00:25:28.259 - 38 units. But the exciting thing is that this property is now on the historic register. So coming in 00:25:28.259 --> 00:25:35.638 - December. Next slide. And so I'm going to turn this over to Mayor Carey to talk about the 714 site, 00:25:35.638 --> 00:25:37.630 - which is just up the road. 00:25:39.586 --> 00:25:49.291 - So 714 South Rogers is, of course, the old convalescent center. There were lots of discussions about 00:25:49.291 --> 00:25:58.901 - what to do or not do with this building. There were conversations about tearing it down, et cetera, 00:25:58.901 --> 00:26:08.702 - et cetera. And we looked at several possibilities, one of which, of course, being housing. And it was 00:26:09.698 --> 00:26:17.656 - not affordable at all to turn it into any kind of housing that people would actually want to live in 00:26:17.656 --> 00:26:26.008 - at this point. The way it's chopped up and various issues that it has. But it sort of looks like a police 00:26:26.008 --> 00:26:28.766 - station and so we thought we would 00:26:28.834 --> 00:26:38.648 - see if that might work since our police need a new home. They are really under housed right now, very 00:26:38.648 --> 00:26:48.559 - cramped and packed into the space they have, has some water penetration issues, et cetera. And so what 00:26:48.559 --> 00:26:55.102 - we're looking at for 714 is to move our police department there and 00:26:55.170 --> 00:27:02.793 - We also will have an emergency operations center in the building as well as moving dispatch into the 00:27:02.793 --> 00:27:10.416 - building. And so this is, we're still going through some due diligence to make sure that it can work 00:27:10.416 --> 00:27:18.266 - and it can work on a budget that works for the city. But right now it really does look like it's a good 00:27:18.266 --> 00:27:21.662 - possibility for us to move the police there. 00:27:22.402 --> 00:27:30.783 - We're looking at some additional assessments that go on during the architectural process. But I want 00:27:30.783 --> 00:27:39.329 - to be clear about a couple of things. This is a bigger building than our police are currently in. That 00:27:39.329 --> 00:27:47.710 - is because it's also going to house Emergency Operations Center and dispatch, which do not currently 00:27:47.906 --> 00:27:55.484 - co-locate with the police department. And we anticipate we still will have some extra space in the building, 00:27:55.484 --> 00:28:02.576 - although until the architects start looking at all of the programming that needs to be done there, we 00:28:02.576 --> 00:28:09.598 - won't know for sure. This is not a signal that we are increasing the police force, that we're hiring 00:28:09.698 --> 00:28:18.210 - lots of new officers, we still aspire to get to our full staffing of 106 officers. We're not there yet 00:28:18.210 --> 00:28:26.804 - and that's our only staffing goal at this point is just to get to fully staffed. So we're excited about 00:28:26.804 --> 00:28:35.234 - this possibility and we'll continue to update folks as we move forward with our due diligence and the 00:28:35.234 --> 00:28:38.622 - architectural process for this building. 00:28:39.490 --> 00:28:45.151 - I don't know who I'm handing it back to. And now, I'm handing it over to Parks. I think I might be the 00:28:45.151 --> 00:28:50.977 - only one here to talk about what we've already done for Hopewell. So, hello everybody, I'm Rebecca Swift. 00:28:50.977 --> 00:28:56.638 - I'm the Operations and Development Director for Parks and Recreation here in Bloomington. And I'm here 00:28:56.638 --> 00:29:02.409 - to talk about what we already have as an asset to this neighborhood, and that is Hopewell Commons, which 00:29:02.409 --> 00:29:08.510 - is what we like to refer to in our department as an anchor for this community. We're here to build spaces that 00:29:08.770 --> 00:29:14.329 - build and bring community together. So we started off with a bang and with a beautiful green space. 00:29:14.329 --> 00:29:20.111 - So at Hopewell Commons, we kicked things off with a wonderful ribbon cutting event in 2025. Since then, 00:29:20.111 --> 00:29:25.671 - we've put in a lot of effort to activate the space, and we've done so in a variety of ways. You can 00:29:25.671 --> 00:29:31.397 - go to the next slide. Through fun, it is part of our mission and park situation to create recreational 00:29:31.397 --> 00:29:37.012 - and positive use experiences. So we've done so at Hopewell Commons by bringing our Tuesday market to 00:29:37.012 --> 00:29:37.790 - the property. 00:29:37.890 --> 00:29:43.103 - I'm sorry to talk about it right now saying that the season's already ended for Tuesday Market, but 00:29:43.103 --> 00:29:48.420 - you still have an opportunity to support farmers market vendors by going to Switchyard Park, which is 00:29:48.420 --> 00:29:53.737 - where our winter market has moved. But during the summer season, we will start hosting or continue to 00:29:53.737 --> 00:29:59.054 - host our Tuesday Markets at Hopewell. We also plan to increase our concerts in the park, and actually 00:29:59.054 --> 00:30:04.371 - one of our new wonderful event coordinators is here today, who's gonna be putting on more concerts in 00:30:04.371 --> 00:30:05.726 - the park and maybe spoken 00:30:05.826 --> 00:30:11.919 - art, different things like that. We are also gonna have more family-friendly events. We do Zoo in the 00:30:11.919 --> 00:30:18.072 - Park, Zoo for You, so family-friendly events like that, but we are also really looking to activate our 00:30:18.072 --> 00:30:24.046 - teen park users, so look at our program guide for upcoming parks and recreation events. We also, in 00:30:24.046 --> 00:30:30.080 - that photo, sorry, I got a little excited, but you can leave it on this. We also have some temporary 00:30:30.080 --> 00:30:35.038 - pickleball courts, another joke in Parks and Rec, if you build it, they will come. 00:30:35.170 --> 00:30:40.664 - We put in pickleball courts, they got activated with less than 24 hours. We are gonna continue to promote 00:30:40.664 --> 00:30:46.054 - that temporary pickleball court because it is actually still own that property, that parcel by the RDC. 00:30:46.054 --> 00:30:51.445 - And if they wanna turn that into affordable housing, we will not stop them. But until then, we consider 00:30:51.445 --> 00:30:55.902 - the pickleball courts to be a community asset and we will continue to manage as such. 00:30:56.514 --> 00:31:02.780 - And then right behind me on the photos, we are getting ready to finally install our public art piece. 00:31:02.780 --> 00:31:08.923 - This was part of the original Hopewell Commons concept. And through just some project coordination, 00:31:08.923 --> 00:31:15.435 - we finally have it manufactured and shipped. The footers are in, shout out Anna, good work. And it should 00:31:15.435 --> 00:31:21.640 - be being installed in early December. So public art is also a place of, I guess, placemaking, and we 00:31:21.640 --> 00:31:25.694 - will continue to support public art in our parks whenever we can. 00:31:26.242 --> 00:31:31.415 - Next slide. And I'll probably be the only one talking about Building Trades Park today, but it is still 00:31:31.415 --> 00:31:36.439 - part of your community. It's in your backyard. We have not forgotten, haven't forgotten about you. I 00:31:36.439 --> 00:31:41.413 - will be at your next public meeting until they will invite me to tell you that I have not forgotten 00:31:41.413 --> 00:31:46.536 - about Building Trades Park. We have already made some investments in phase one, which included putting 00:31:46.536 --> 00:31:51.609 - in a new accessible picnic shelter. We also put in all new accessible trails in there. If you went to 00:31:51.609 --> 00:31:54.494 - Building Trades before the improvements, there was an old 00:31:54.658 --> 00:31:59.981 - boardwalk that if you were a wheelchair user, we would just launch you right down it. So we've learned 00:31:59.981 --> 00:32:05.201 - some things about development. So we're making improvements on that. And if you haven't heard in the 00:32:05.201 --> 00:32:10.886 - news, there's a really great grant opportunity for parks in the state of Indiana through the Lilly Endowment. 00:32:10.886 --> 00:32:16.157 - Bloomington Parks could go up for $10 million. We're going to go for all of it. That does not mean we 00:32:16.157 --> 00:32:21.738 - will get every dollar. But a big part of part of our investment strategy is calling out parks like Building 00:32:21.738 --> 00:32:22.462 - Trades Parks. 00:32:23.330 --> 00:32:29.490 - It's a beloved neighborhood park that just needs a little bit of extra love. So we are already eyeballing 00:32:29.490 --> 00:32:35.360 - some phase two improvements, including new playground features, also the sports court there, looking 00:32:35.360 --> 00:32:41.637 - into some universal sports court design to allow all of our user groups, not just basketball and pickleball 00:32:41.637 --> 00:32:47.565 - that are allowed user group, but also our bicycle polo group, and our Quidditch players, and a lot of 00:32:47.565 --> 00:32:53.086 - other wonderful user groups that showed up to our public meetings to advocate for their needs. 00:32:53.186 --> 00:32:58.942 - Parks and Recreation, the city, we are listening to the needs. We cannot be everything to everybody, 00:32:58.942 --> 00:33:04.641 - but we do try to be as responsive as possible. So we are really looking forward to the neighborhood 00:33:04.641 --> 00:33:10.396 - developing around the park to just get more positive activation in the site. I think my torch is now 00:33:10.396 --> 00:33:16.266 - passed back off to Kendall in 2nd Street. Thank you. Always excited to hear about all this stuff going 00:33:16.266 --> 00:33:21.566 - on at Parks. All right, 2nd Street. Who was in this room two years ago when I had a meeting? 00:33:22.498 --> 00:33:28.402 - Okay, so there's at least like, wow, five, six, maybe nine, I think I recognize you from that meeting. 00:33:28.402 --> 00:33:33.734 - Haven't seen you since, so it's nice to see you again. Some of you come to all the meetings, 00:33:33.734 --> 00:33:39.753 - so you know. But yeah, we're back, we're actually under construction now, so that's exciting. The Second 00:33:39.753 --> 00:33:46.001 - Street Project, just a little overview, goes essentially from the B line down to Walker. This is a federally 00:33:46.001 --> 00:33:47.262 - funded project, so it 00:33:47.426 --> 00:33:53.274 - It takes a while to go down the pipeline. I just found out High Street's not getting constructed till 00:33:53.274 --> 00:33:59.007 - 27 now, and it'll go into 28. Federally funded projects are just slow moving, unfortunately, but we 00:33:59.007 --> 00:34:05.199 - are under construction. We're one way right now, so maybe some of you experienced that coming here tonight. 00:34:05.199 --> 00:34:11.391 - That will be in place until the end of November. Then we're gonna go back to being open to two-way traffic, 00:34:11.391 --> 00:34:17.182 - and I've been told by my project manager that we're not gonna close the road again until we're done. 00:34:17.602 --> 00:34:23.047 - and then we'll be done. So we're not gonna close it again. It's possible that unforeseen conditions 00:34:23.047 --> 00:34:28.491 - require us to do another closure, but at this point, there's no full closures planned after the one 00:34:28.491 --> 00:34:34.045 - way. I'm kinda skipping ahead of myself here, but it was on the mind. We will have another closure of 00:34:34.045 --> 00:34:39.598 - the B line to do the north side and then do the brick work. So that'll happen in April of 27. And the 00:34:39.598 --> 00:34:45.043 - plan is for the project to be done with by May of 27. So we're getting there, we're working towards 00:34:45.043 --> 00:34:47.166 - it. If you could go to the next slide. 00:34:47.714 --> 00:34:54.071 - So I just kind of wanted to give a brief overview for those who aren't aware, who weren't here two years 00:34:54.071 --> 00:35:00.246 - ago. The plan is to install a two-way protected bike lane on the north side of the road. It's also to 00:35:00.246 --> 00:35:06.421 - replace both of the traffic signals on either end of the project at Rogers and at Walker. I think the 00:35:06.421 --> 00:35:09.630 - most money is going towards stormwater improvements. 00:35:09.762 --> 00:35:15.332 - There were not a lot along Second Street. If you are familiar with the street, we are doing a ton of 00:35:15.332 --> 00:35:20.957 - storm sewer, a ton of excavation. Of course, everything's in rock. So that's just how it goes. But we 00:35:20.957 --> 00:35:26.306 - are doing a lot of storm sewer work as part of this project, which is really exciting. And then, 00:35:26.306 --> 00:35:32.097 - of course, curb ramp improvements, all new street lighting all the way down the corridor. Level boarding 00:35:32.097 --> 00:35:35.902 - bus stops. There's going to be four bus stops that are 14 inches up. 00:35:36.450 --> 00:35:41.976 - The bus pulls up. It does not have to lower itself. And if you're in a wheelchair, you roll right onto 00:35:41.976 --> 00:35:47.663 - the bus. Trying to do this more around town, but these will be the first four in the city. Very exciting. 00:35:47.663 --> 00:35:53.297 - So of course, with every project we do, accessibility is part of it. Lots of street trees being planted. 00:35:53.297 --> 00:35:58.877 - I think I'm like at a seven to one from existing to proposed trees. So we were planting a lot of trees. 00:35:58.877 --> 00:36:04.510 - But yeah, all kinds of improvements happening as part of the project. If you could go to the next slide. 00:36:05.218 --> 00:36:10.653 - Yeah, here's kind of the overall concept. I think I showed this two years ago. We're still doing it. 00:36:10.653 --> 00:36:16.089 - It hasn't really changed. So if anyone has questions about specifics, I can absolutely address them. 00:36:16.089 --> 00:36:21.793 - I still get questions from residents. I don't know if any of you are here, but I'm still emailing people. 00:36:21.793 --> 00:36:27.336 - Always happy to answer questions about the project, so can continue to do that. One thing I did forget 00:36:27.336 --> 00:36:32.772 - to mention, if you go back, Refuge Island in front of Building Trades Park. So that'll help with the 00:36:32.772 --> 00:36:34.494 - crossing there for anyone who's 00:36:35.106 --> 00:36:41.197 - going to use those phase two improvements. I don't know where Rebecca went, but you can now get there 00:36:41.197 --> 00:36:47.229 - easier. And then I snagged this this morning. We do have a construction camera. This is kind of what 00:36:47.229 --> 00:36:53.261 - it looks like today. So as you can see, they've closed the street. It's one way, and they're doing a 00:36:53.261 --> 00:36:59.233 - lot of digging in that area where eastbound traffic used to go. So work is progressing. It's pretty 00:36:59.233 --> 00:37:03.294 - exciting. And again, the plan is for us to be wrapped up May of 27. 00:37:03.714 --> 00:37:11.382 - That is the second street update. I think Jane is next with Opportunity Zone. Thank you. Yeah, you know, 00:37:11.382 --> 00:37:18.759 - I think it's kind of a tough gig to close out an event that has cool pictures and parks with obscure 00:37:18.759 --> 00:37:26.427 - financial tools. But hey, we're gonna give it our best. If you can read the words on the screen, they're 00:37:26.427 --> 00:37:30.590 - basically describing a major incentive that we were just 00:37:31.170 --> 00:37:38.291 - that was just designated here in Bloomington. So the Opportunity Zone is original Trump administration 00:37:38.291 --> 00:37:45.412 - initiative that actually has deep bipartisan support. So it works to attract private sector investment 00:37:45.412 --> 00:37:52.326 - into distressed census tracts. And in the first iteration of this program, it worked pretty well in 00:37:52.326 --> 00:37:59.240 - cities who had it. We had one Opportunity Zone, or sorry, we had two Opportunity Zones and we maybe 00:37:59.240 --> 00:38:00.830 - had a few investments, 00:38:01.154 --> 00:38:08.664 - Bloomington didn't really get that much out of it. So we really have been working hard to get 00:38:08.664 --> 00:38:16.893 - more designations for this 2.0 round. And Hopewell is one of them. And get ready, Kendall, for my map. 00:38:16.893 --> 00:38:24.883 - It's amazing. These are, sorry. The opportunity zones are in pink. And then Hopewell is outlined in 00:38:24.883 --> 00:38:28.478 - red. And I did this all by myself, you guys. 00:38:28.770 --> 00:38:36.208 - But I think the point is just to illustrate that the opportunity zones are pretty large, right? So these 00:38:36.208 --> 00:38:43.292 - are three highly distressed census tracts that we want to attract outside investment to. So the one 00:38:43.292 --> 00:38:50.518 - on the right, tract 301, contains Hopewell East. And then it also contains the Seminary Park area and 00:38:50.518 --> 00:38:53.918 - area south. So we'll be working on some ways to 00:38:54.754 --> 00:39:01.637 - in-site development in that area. And then the green vertical line to the west is tracked 401, and that 00:39:01.637 --> 00:39:08.321 - contains Hopewell West and Hopewell South. So I don't think we need to get too far in the weeds, but 00:39:08.321 --> 00:39:15.270 - basically in a nutshell, the federal government designates a zone, and then within that zone, designated 00:39:15.270 --> 00:39:21.954 - funds can make investments. And when those funds make investments, they can receive protections from 00:39:21.954 --> 00:39:24.734 - capital gains for 10 years. So basically, 00:39:25.186 --> 00:39:32.694 - We apply for this designation, but we don't have to put any of our local dollars on the table. And the 00:39:32.694 --> 00:39:40.348 - idea is that this will be attractive to developers who want to do some of the remaining work in Hopewell 00:39:40.348 --> 00:39:48.366 - after the city is done with our piece. So I think that's kind of it. It's nerdy, you don't have to understand 00:39:48.366 --> 00:39:54.270 - it, but it's a pretty big deal and we're really excited about it. And with that, 00:39:54.562 --> 00:40:05.906 - I think we're ready for questions. Yeah, Anna Dragovich has note cards. So if you can, and I was supposed 00:40:05.906 --> 00:40:16.607 - to tell you that at the start, if you can fill out note cards and the whole team will field them as 00:40:16.607 --> 00:40:22.814 - appropriate so that we can get through as many as we can. 00:40:31.234 --> 00:40:41.912 - Okay, so this one, I don't know if this is really a question, but I do just wanna, first it says praise 00:40:41.912 --> 00:40:52.283 - for the city and for the council for approving this and getting it to where it is now. And next, how 00:40:52.283 --> 00:41:00.702 - will this impact the quality of life and property values in the area? We are, as, 00:41:00.962 --> 00:41:11.027 - Any of us who live anywhere close to this development may know and have experienced when you have any 00:41:11.027 --> 00:41:14.974 - vacant land, it can become problematic. 00:41:15.074 --> 00:41:24.253 - putting 98 new homes and potentially a police department and with the core building going in, 00:41:24.253 --> 00:41:34.506 - first of all, you're gonna have a good concentration and a walkable neighborhood there. Those all equate 00:41:34.506 --> 00:41:43.294 - to increased quality of life and that sort of naturally happens. We really are looking to 00:41:43.522 --> 00:41:51.102 - The neighborhood design, the intentionality behind that was to create a neighborhood that really interacts well with 00:41:51.298 --> 00:41:59.485 - one another and where houses face one another and there's a common green in the middle of a large area 00:41:59.485 --> 00:42:07.751 - with a pedestrian walk. So this is a place where neighbors will interact with neighbors. And of course, 00:42:07.751 --> 00:42:16.256 - it's not exclusive. And so we very much hope that everyone from surrounding areas puts us on their walking 00:42:16.256 --> 00:42:21.264 - path. And of course, what we know is that it's close to all of 00:42:21.264 --> 00:42:30.417 - the great things, the resources that we need. The Kroger's right there, Beeline's right there, walk 00:42:30.417 --> 00:42:40.119 - to Trades District, City Hall, Square, restaurants, et cetera. So this neighborhood should really attract 00:42:40.119 --> 00:42:49.455 - people who want that lifestyle and frequently cannot afford it right now. And that will be a positive 00:42:49.455 --> 00:42:50.462 - impact for 00:42:50.818 --> 00:42:58.401 - the whole community surrounding. Streetlights, yeah. I know we took all the old streetlights down and 00:42:58.401 --> 00:43:05.834 - we didn't put any back yet and I'm really sorry about that. I did get some temporary lights up when 00:43:05.834 --> 00:43:13.342 - they accidentally took them down closer to Kroger for about a year and a half, but we are installing 00:43:13.342 --> 00:43:15.870 - the conduit now and I expect then 00:43:16.322 --> 00:43:23.248 - We will ask Duke Energy to come and install the light poles, and then Duke will, at their leisure, come 00:43:23.248 --> 00:43:29.907 - and install the poles. So I'm going to say they will be installed by the time we're done next year, 00:43:29.907 --> 00:43:36.566 - May of 27. Hopefully it will be sooner. I know winter is going to be long and dark. So we'll try to 00:43:36.566 --> 00:43:43.292 - help motivate Duke Energy to get those installed. Is this one for me too? The trees already on Wiley 00:43:43.292 --> 00:43:44.158 - Street. Yes. 00:43:44.610 --> 00:43:51.349 - North side of Wiley between the parking lot and, or the old parking lot and the road, those are gonna 00:43:51.349 --> 00:43:57.956 - go. And originally, the architect really wanted to save those, but we, with all the grading and all 00:43:57.956 --> 00:44:04.893 - the utility work and all the services and everything we had to do, it just, we were gonna end up killing 00:44:04.893 --> 00:44:12.094 - them anyway. So they are gonna go, but we are planting a lot of new trees, I will say that. Any more for me? 00:44:14.690 --> 00:44:24.697 - Do you want to take these Carrie? There are some questions about specific timelines. Yes, so this question 00:44:24.697 --> 00:44:34.236 - is I'm still unclear about how someone chooses a house design or plan and gets it paid for and built. 00:44:34.236 --> 00:44:39.006 - So this is a great question and I'll just tell you 00:44:39.266 --> 00:44:49.015 - We don't have all of the answers to this yet, but we do have the path forward. And so, as Anna mentioned, 00:44:49.015 --> 00:44:58.672 - we are taking names to put on a distribution list of people who are interested in potentially purchasing 00:44:58.672 --> 00:45:03.454 - a home at Hopewell. The home sites are matched with 00:45:03.618 --> 00:45:14.771 - the type of house that fits there. And so if you, for instance, want to live in one of the B-bomb houses, 00:45:14.771 --> 00:45:25.398 - those fit on particular lots. So you would have, ostensibly, you would have a choice of which B-bomb 00:45:25.398 --> 00:45:29.502 - house, what B-bomb lot you might like. 00:45:29.634 --> 00:45:37.716 - Lots of these will be conventionally financed. We are working with financial partners that can help 00:45:37.716 --> 00:45:46.041 - with some down payment assistance, other kinds of things for people who need it. Others are just gonna 00:45:46.041 --> 00:45:54.365 - buy a conventional home and they may be able to just qualify for a conventional home and get a typical 00:45:54.365 --> 00:45:57.598 - mortgage. Others who may be downsizing, 00:45:57.730 --> 00:46:06.487 - will probably just buy it outright or do a short term loan until they sell the house that they're downsizing 00:46:06.487 --> 00:46:14.681 - from. Part of the way the housing market is stuck right now is that though we have mostly one and two 00:46:14.681 --> 00:46:23.037 - person households looking to purchase houses, we have a lot of those households, the one and two person 00:46:23.037 --> 00:46:27.134 - households that are still in a house that may have 00:46:27.458 --> 00:46:35.361 - three or four bedrooms. And there's nothing smaller available for them. And so part of getting some 00:46:35.361 --> 00:46:43.264 - movement is providing some stock that is available to people who don't want to live in quite as big 00:46:43.264 --> 00:46:51.167 - a house so people who do need a bigger house can move there. And so we know already from talking to 00:46:51.167 --> 00:46:55.198 - some folks that are interested in doing just that, 00:46:55.298 --> 00:47:06.906 - that we will have some people downsizing to these homes. Okay, height and density. Why not go higher 00:47:06.906 --> 00:47:18.400 - and more dense for such an urban and central project? Why not taller and more dense housing? So I'm 00:47:18.400 --> 00:47:22.078 - just gonna identify roles here. 00:47:22.722 --> 00:47:32.407 - The city administration takes in the building permits and approves them or doesn't approve them based 00:47:32.407 --> 00:47:42.281 - on the code. The code is approved, it's developed and approved by plan commission and the city council. 00:47:42.281 --> 00:47:51.966 - So the legislative body does the code stuff. We are in charge of what you can build within that code. 00:47:52.418 --> 00:48:00.662 - Going higher doesn't meet code. There are a swath of UDO changes that are going through. Some of them 00:48:00.662 --> 00:48:08.987 - have already been approved. Thank you, City Council. That will make some of these kinds of things, the 00:48:08.987 --> 00:48:17.070 - very things we're trying to do at Hopewell, just doable by right. And you won't have to apply for a 00:48:17.070 --> 00:48:21.758 - lot of variances. Hopefully you can just come in and say, 00:48:22.082 --> 00:48:29.476 - this meets code and this is the kind of neighborhood that we envision in this area, right? That's part 00:48:29.476 --> 00:48:36.654 - of why we're doing Hopewell the way we're doing Hopewell. And the plans that Anna talked about will 00:48:36.654 --> 00:48:43.832 - be available and we anticipate approving them, pre approving them for building throughout the city. 00:48:43.832 --> 00:48:49.790 - So that will be a faster process for everybody. So I will say that this really is, 00:48:50.402 --> 00:48:58.529 - as compact as we could make it. Increased density here would have necessitated more height. There was 00:48:58.529 --> 00:49:06.577 - nothing more we could do within the transportation plan and the unified development ordinance to get 00:49:06.577 --> 00:49:14.545 - more units in this area. I think it's going to live really well, though. I think it's going to walk 00:49:14.545 --> 00:49:19.166 - really well. It's going to feel like a great place to be. 00:49:19.458 --> 00:49:28.871 - want to look at when we're looking at how we are envisioning building our residential environments is 00:49:28.871 --> 00:49:38.561 - you know people many people don't like the word density really what we usually react to is what it feels 00:49:38.561 --> 00:49:44.190 - like to the human scale right and so a very tall building is 00:49:44.354 --> 00:49:53.838 - may feel really intimidating if it's set right against the sidewalk with no buffer or if it's not stepped 00:49:53.838 --> 00:50:02.964 - back some. So there are ways to get more density or more height that feel like a neighborhood and not 00:50:02.964 --> 00:50:09.406 - like a Soviet era block, right? And I just wanna say we have built some 00:50:09.826 --> 00:50:16.387 - not the city hasn't, but it's allowable to build those kinds of things because the code is the code. 00:50:16.387 --> 00:50:22.947 - So if you give us something that meets the code, you're gonna get that. And so a lot of times what I 00:50:22.947 --> 00:50:29.508 - am hearing from people when they're talking about fearing density is that they don't like the way it 00:50:29.508 --> 00:50:35.614 - feels and I don't wanna walk next to that. Well, what we need to do is incentivize this human 00:50:36.162 --> 00:50:50.686 - human scale housing that, and there are ways to do it with density. Okay, you want me to just take one? 00:50:55.682 --> 00:51:04.895 - Is there any way to discourage landlords and folks who already have a house from investing in the new 00:51:04.895 --> 00:51:14.197 - neighborhood? Yes. It's complicated and we are gonna take every possible step we can. It's complicated 00:51:14.197 --> 00:51:21.694 - because we can only do so much, but we have some tools in mind that will come with 00:51:21.826 --> 00:51:30.979 - these houses, these homes are intended for people who will live and or work here full time. They are 00:51:30.979 --> 00:51:40.675 - not intended as homes for a football weekend. They are not intended for somebody's second home, et cetera, 00:51:40.675 --> 00:51:49.918 - et cetera. We are creating this with every intention to get the people who need housing into housing. 00:51:50.082 --> 00:51:58.822 - So that's what we're doing and we can talk more details offline. I wanna try to get to all of these 00:51:58.822 --> 00:52:07.911 - questions before 6.30. I like all the housing opportunity, affordable. I'm happy for better, I'm hoping 00:52:07.911 --> 00:52:17.438 - for better emergency shelter and transitional housing in place. Is that in the plans anywhere near Hopewell? 00:52:18.146 --> 00:52:28.367 - So Beacon is doing some housing. Are you giving me a sign? Five minutes? Yes, okay. The Beacon Center 00:52:28.367 --> 00:52:38.788 - is going in on West 3rd Street at the western edge of the Prospect Hill neighborhood. That will be some 00:52:38.788 --> 00:52:47.806 - housing. We don't anticipate building any emergency shelter in the Hopewell neighborhood. 00:52:51.554 --> 00:52:58.250 - What's a process for street tree species selection in Bloomington? Do you want to take this one, Kendall? 00:52:58.250 --> 00:53:05.072 - Well, I think the mayor summed it up pretty well. It's in the UDO. There's a list of approved tree species, 00:53:05.072 --> 00:53:11.642 - there's a list of prohibited species, and then there's a species diversity requirement. So you can kind 00:53:11.642 --> 00:53:13.790 - of pick off of that list and then 00:53:14.018 --> 00:53:19.807 - A lot of times the nurseries will tell you, we don't have this, but we do have this. And then ultimately 00:53:19.807 --> 00:53:25.651 - Haskell, our urban forester, reviews all of that and approves it. So he might select ones that are easier 00:53:25.651 --> 00:53:31.164 - to maintain, or if he knows we have a lot of, I think it's maybe maple or something we have way too 00:53:31.164 --> 00:53:36.787 - many of, so he wants other things. So that's how the street trees are selected. It certainly isn't me 00:53:36.787 --> 00:53:42.686 - who picks them. I have one that's specifically addressed to you, Anna, so I'm going to leave that for you. 00:53:45.186 --> 00:53:54.076 - Okay, more information on specifics of timeline. We anticipate breaking ground on the first homes in 00:53:54.076 --> 00:54:03.053 - Hopewell in spring of 27. We just didn't get the zoning through in time to build any homes this year, 00:54:03.053 --> 00:54:07.454 - and I appreciate that that means that there'll be 00:54:08.034 --> 00:54:16.298 - less affordable next year. We did our best, but it was a long timeline to get the PUD approved. The 00:54:16.298 --> 00:54:24.975 - infrastructure, however, is starting immediately, and so we'll be doing the groundwork. Potential police 00:54:24.975 --> 00:54:33.818 - station, we anticipate architecture's gonna take at least a year. We have to go through a bonding process, 00:54:33.818 --> 00:54:37.950 - and then it's probably gonna be a two-year build. 00:54:38.722 --> 00:54:47.565 - I'm gonna, I always think I'm under promising over delivering and yet with construction, sometimes I 00:54:47.565 --> 00:54:56.496 - don't get there. So these are our hopes. There's a question here about how the selection goes for the 00:54:56.496 --> 00:55:05.339 - more affordable houses. So the homes, from the city's perspective, the city is sort of the developer 00:55:05.339 --> 00:55:06.302 - of record. 00:55:06.562 --> 00:55:18.255 - So we are providing, we're providing permit ready lots and those permit ready lots will be available 00:55:18.255 --> 00:55:30.759 - to anyone to buy them. The city has some affordable housing programs. They can be paired here or elsewhere. 00:55:30.759 --> 00:55:35.390 - There are also other affordable housing 00:55:35.618 --> 00:55:45.396 - providers in the in in the city and There are some loan programs etc that we will be connecting people 00:55:45.396 --> 00:55:55.838 - with and so The city is not per se going to match people with affordability we are part in that affordability 00:55:55.838 --> 00:56:01.534 - has been to produce house plans and developed lots that are 00:56:01.698 --> 00:56:11.923 - affordable to build. And then the financing will have to be partnered. So there's not going to be a 00:56:11.923 --> 00:56:22.352 - lottery or a selection process for that that we anticipate. They're priced based on what they cost to 00:56:22.352 --> 00:56:25.726 - build. What do the winter months 00:56:26.818 --> 00:56:36.960 - look like for future residents with the snow and ice on the pathways? Great question. During the process 00:56:36.960 --> 00:56:46.811 - of approving the PUD, some of the pathways got pretty dramatically expanded in width. What that means 00:56:46.811 --> 00:56:52.510 - is that it becomes a pathway that the city needs to clear. 00:56:52.738 --> 00:57:00.202 - and unless it stays privately held. So the city is gonna, for those pieces, the city's gonna have to 00:57:00.202 --> 00:57:07.739 - figure that out. There are other shared pathways that will be cleared by the neighbors and there are, 00:57:07.739 --> 00:57:14.686 - you know, the sidewalks around anybody's home are the resident's responsibility for clearing. 00:57:14.686 --> 00:57:18.750 - And then Anna, you have one question addressed to you. 00:57:22.402 --> 00:57:31.364 - And you have an Anna question too. Anna, since the RDC city of Bloomington is the developer of Hopewell, 00:57:31.364 --> 00:57:40.156 - what was the biggest aha moment? Boy, that's a loaded question. You know, I've been in real estate for 00:57:40.156 --> 00:57:47.838 - a really long time and we hear a lot from the community about the length of time it takes 00:57:48.034 --> 00:57:54.891 - to get a project through and how that really impacts affordability. And this has not been any different 00:57:54.891 --> 00:58:01.681 - than that. So it was one of the moments that said, yep, this is how that goes. So unfortunately. Yeah, 00:58:01.681 --> 00:58:08.670 - this question is about over lighting and light pollution. I've been asked this question many, many times, 00:58:08.670 --> 00:58:14.142 - especially more maybe over the last year or so. And I think it's a great question. 00:58:14.402 --> 00:58:20.726 - For Second Street specifically, we were tasked with matching the level of lighting that was already 00:58:20.726 --> 00:58:27.177 - out there. That was something that I took away from the meeting we had two and a half years ago here. 00:58:27.177 --> 00:58:33.628 - We also, the UDO speaks a lot about street lighting, so we're doing pedestrian scaled lighting, which 00:58:33.628 --> 00:58:40.015 - means it's shorter and it spreads out more, which means it's not as dark sky friendly. The city also 00:58:40.015 --> 00:58:41.470 - utilizes Duke Energy's 00:58:41.858 --> 00:58:47.287 - neighborhood lighting program, which means they have a set menu of fixtures that you have to choose 00:58:47.287 --> 00:58:52.825 - from. You can't bring a new fixture in and say, this one's really dark sky friendly. Can we use this? 00:58:52.825 --> 00:58:58.525 - I will say I did a little bit of research because of a question I got via email. And actually, the Cobra 00:58:58.525 --> 00:59:03.954 - heads, the tall roadway lights, they shine down. They're actually more dark sky friendly than a lot 00:59:03.954 --> 00:59:09.383 - of the pedestrian scale lighting that shines out. So I guess I would encourage those of you who are 00:59:09.383 --> 00:59:10.686 - very interested in this 00:59:11.042 --> 00:59:17.254 - I think there needs to be some UDO changes that address dark sky. I mean, I think it's a great thing 00:59:17.254 --> 00:59:23.404 - that we should look into more. And I would also maybe try to facilitate a larger conversation about 00:59:23.404 --> 00:59:29.677 - should the city be using the Duke Energy lighting program? Is that limiting us too much? I think both 00:59:29.677 --> 00:59:35.951 - of these things need to be explored. It's kind of outside of my realm. But yeah, I think it's a great 00:59:35.951 --> 00:59:39.518 - question. And I would encourage you to get more involved. 00:59:39.778 --> 00:59:45.394 - Maybe the Environmental Commission. Is that a good place for them to maybe talk about this? UDO changes 00:59:45.394 --> 00:59:50.794 - would probably go through planning. So there's a lot of people that hopefully you can get around to 00:59:50.794 --> 00:59:55.870 - the right person that can help with this. But yeah, great question. Are there any other ones? 00:59:58.338 --> 01:00:06.919 - Yeah, so it's 6.30, so we're gonna commit to letting you go on time. We will continue to put out updates 01:00:06.919 --> 01:00:15.500 - about Hopewell via our city newsletters, et cetera. If you're not on that email list, it's a great thing 01:00:15.500 --> 01:00:23.755 - to get on because that's our most reliable way. We try to put things on social media, et cetera, but 01:00:23.755 --> 01:00:26.942 - we don't have a newspaper anymore that 01:00:28.194 --> 01:00:37.733 - we can rely on to update in real time on everything. So if you want to know what's happening with Hopewell 01:00:37.733 --> 01:00:39.070 - and otherwise, 01:00:39.138 --> 01:00:45.814 - get on our city newsletter email list, and if you're interested in buying in Hopewell or potentially 01:00:45.814 --> 01:00:52.490 - buying in Hopewell, we also would like your contact information, but we'll continue to give updates. 01:00:52.490 --> 01:00:59.298 - We hope to plan a big party when we are breaking ground on the first houses, so you'll hear about that 01:00:59.298 --> 01:01:03.198 - as well. Thanks for coming tonight, really appreciate you.