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Pursuant to Lakewood Codified Ordinance 109.01(b)(1),as the presiding officer of Council,I am calling <br /> for Council's meeting this evening,February 6,2023 to be held by video conference due to the special <br /> circumstance of President Litten's travel. Councilmember Litten need not be present for the purpose of <br /> voting and determining quorum. <br /> Councilmember Bullock expressed appreciation to the development team for their patience and <br /> commitment throughout the many twists and turns of this project. He questioned Mr. Sobczak of <br /> CASTO about how the proposed change to Building A from office to residential will effect the <br /> developer. Mr. Sobczak responded that the proposed change will potentially improve the <br /> operations of the site and that the estimated financial returns and equity will be similar for the <br /> company. <br /> Through discussion between the committee and Mr. Sobczak it was established that the proposed <br /> changes to the project will result in the same amount of public parking and that the vibrancy of <br /> the public plaza will not be negatively impacted by the proposed changes. <br /> Councilmember Rader estimated that the proposed changes could bring 18 more affordable units <br /> to the site and potentially bring in new families to the school district. He spoke to the need for <br /> more housing, noting that Lakewood Center North is at 95% occupancy and emphasized the <br /> continued importance of the public plaza. <br /> In response to questions from Councilmember Marx regarding parking, Mr. Sobczak explained <br /> that the proposed changes include parking for all residential units and public parking to the same <br /> extent which was previously announced. In total there will be approximately 460 garage spaces <br /> and 20 surface spaces. <br /> Councilmember Baker and Director Leininger had an exchange diving further into the financial <br /> details of the proposed changes. Councilmember Baker noted that while there are advantages to <br /> replacing office space with residential, there are also drawbacks, including more stress on city <br /> services. He asked the administration to articulate the efforts that were made to maintain the <br /> office space. <br /> Director Leininger responded that there is currently no demand for office space in the region and <br /> the City of Lakewood does not have a"bench" of office users looking for space. He pointed to <br /> office buildings in the region, including Lakewood Center West, converting to residential space. <br /> Ms. Nichols explained how the office space landscape has changed since the project began. Class <br /> A space is opening up in Cleveland, limiting the demand for Class A space in Lakewood. She <br /> added that CASTO was willing to build office space as part of the downtown development <br /> because of Roundstone's commitment. Without a known end-user, building new office space is <br /> considered speculative at this time, risky, and difficult to finance. <br /> Mr. Bart Simon of North Pointe Realty provided his perspective on the market for office space, <br /> stating that, "office is dead."He explained that office vacancies are up 20% this year and there <br /> are limited new office users. Those who are seeking office space are looking for lower price <br /> points. He spoke to the advantages of a site that will have a single landlord committed to the <br /> entirety of the site. <br /> 2 <br />