Ms. Brnabic spoke for the benefit of the residents and mentioned Mr. |
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Chirco’s development on Dequindre and Parkdale. She offered that the |
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proposed development would be basically identical, except that it would |
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have two-car garages. She did not know if any of the residents had seen |
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the first, but she had viewed it, and she felt that the architecture and layout |
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were done very well and she felt that it was very appealing. She realized |
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there was a concern about a concept with more units, but she clarified that |
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the proposed layout would actually provide a lot more open space than |
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the previous PUD, and it would save a lot more trees. If she had to pick |
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one, she preferred the new layout. She felt that if people viewed Mr. |
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Chirco’s other development, it might give them an idea of what to expect, |
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with the exception of minor differences. |
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Mr. Reece followed up with some of Ms. Brnabic’s points. He thought that |
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they would all like to see a couple less units, but in retrospect, he |
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reminded that the project would save over 700 trees on site. Had they |
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gone back to the original PUD, they would lose a significant portion of |
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those trees. The area would retain a great deal of the character by |
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keeping 700 trees. He thought that Ms. Brnabic’s comments about Mr. |
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Chirco’s track record in this area was very important to the residents. |
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$1,300 to $1,400 a month in rent was a significant amount of money. If |
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they were concerned that the units would rent for $500 to $600 a month |
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and that they would get a different type of resident, he felt that those |
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concerns should be rested. He indicated that was a fair amount of money |
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in today’s economy. As low as interest rates were, people could buy |
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homes for that kind of payment. He thought that the price point was a little |
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more comfortable to hear. They would get people who could afford the |
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rent; renting had become almost a new norm from the time when people |
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bought property knowing it would appreciate. Those days might never |
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come back. Younger, professional people today were who they wanted to |
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attract to the City, to develop families and to participate in the City, and |
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they did not want to buy until prices stabilized. He felt that the project was |
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a good alternative for attracting the right kind of people to the City. Even |
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though he might want to see a unit or two less, he said that he would take |
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those units and take 700 more trees and the quality of the development |
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over what they could have gotten. He believed that at the end of the day, |
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it was a good deal for everybody concerned. They did not like to see |
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vacant spaces go away, but the reality was that people bought property to |
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