21-1111 Grocery Store Partial Building Certification 3.x

QUESTION:

This project seeks to set a precedent as the first large-scale mixed-use residential project in the region to achieve Materials Petal Certification. The building is a seven-story mixed-use structure with condominium housing over a grocery store and two levels of below-grade parking.

Sourcing and funding grocery store equipment and fixtures that meet the Materials Petal requirements is proving to be infeasible for the national grocery store operations. The national grocery maintains national accounts for its store fixturing and maintenance requirements in order to maintain consistency and affordability throughout their national operating program. The special requirements related to meet the LBP program goals are not economically feasible for them to include at this location, hence prompting this partial building certification request.

Based on the previous ruling for HopeWorks Station II, it is our understanding that we may exclude the ground floor retailer from our Materials Petal Certification pursuit.

As demonstrated below, the grocery store is separately funded, owned, operated and is physically and visually distinguishable from the rest of the building. The building includes shared systems and equipment for mechanical, electrical and plumbing functions. The overall project Developer is separate from the grocery store corporation and controls other aspects of the site design and materials selection. The Developer will be the certifying project owner.

The grocery retail tenant improvements represents approximately 10% of the total building square footage. The remaining 90% of the building will comply with the Materials Petal requirements and is comprised of the overall building core and shell, six levels of residential (condominium units and amenities on Levels 2-7), two levels of below grade parking, Level 1 surface parking, a large, landscaped terrace, and the Level 8 rooftop amenity.

This project is aligned with the Partial Building Certification Exception procedures, as follows:

The ownership of the building will be characterized by three distinct groups: 1) the residential units will be “for sale” condos individually owned by residents, 2) The first-floor retail will be owned by the grocer, and 3) the remaining common area elements, structure, and property will be owned by the HOA.

The ground floor retailer will own and operate the improvements within their space, separate from the rest of the building operations. They will also fund their own FF&E.

The ground floor retailer will be physically & visually distinguishable. Grocery store occupants will be employees and visitors. Condo occupants will be residents, building management staff, and visitors. While the two occupancy types share common structural elements (columns & diaphragm), the grocery store and residential condominiums will be visually distinguishable as separate. They will each have separate entries, and the residential units are positioned on top of the grocery store.

ANSWER:

Because it is clearly distinguishable from other portions of the building and is separately funded and owned, and will be separately operated, the ground floor retail space, with the exception of elements such as the shell and MEP systems that are shared with the rest of the building, may be excluded from the area pursuing certification.

Currently the name of the registered project includes the name of the ground floor retailer. If the ground floor retail is excluded from the Project Area, a revised name will need to be agreed upon with the Institute.

Additional criteria for certification as a Partial Building:
The Institute is also adding the following to the conditions that must be met for certification of a Partial Building:

No more than 25% of the gross square footage of the building may be excluded from the certifying Project Area.