Something's not adding up at Park Fifth, the 76-story Downtown residential skyscraper at 5th and Olive that's set to break ground by the end of the year. No, we're not talking about the condo market. From blogdowntown:
"The Park Fifth project is able to be built to the density that it is because of the TFAR (Transfer of Floor Area Ratio) ordinance, which the city passed last year. That ordinance allows unused permitted floor area for under-built city sites to be sold to developers who wish to build larger projects than the zoning of their site would normally allow." Once a developer makes that payment, most of the fees are supposed to be added to a trust fund and doled out to worthy projects according to an open application process -- but apparently not for Park Fifth. According to blogdowntown, the money instead will help fund improvements to Pershing Square and the Downtown Women's Center. Still, Pershing Square may suck less, really soon. Planned groundbreaking of the tower, marketed as the tallest residential building west of the Mississippi, was quietly pushed back from the third quarter of this year to the fourth quarter.
UPDATE from blogdowntown: As a clarification, the criticism is not of the developer but of the process itself, going against the stated goals of the TFAR ordinance.
· Park Fifth Public Benefits Approved, but TFAR Process Raises Questions [blogdowntown]
· Park Fifth [Official Site]
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