105 Mercill Avenue

MP Render 090519

9/10/19 UPDATE: The Board held a special workshop on September 10 at 9am to provide staff with key questions related to the Ground Lease and Development Agreement. The staff report can be found here. The revised renderings can be found here. 

7/30/2019 UPDATE: Board awards the project to Mercill Partners and directs staff to bring back a Development Agreement and Ground Lease for review and approval. Macker, Barron, Epstein, and Newcomb vote in favor, Propst opposed. 

7/16/19 UPDATE: The Board of County Commissioners considered awarding this project at their July 16, 2019 regularly scheduled meeting, but did not make a final decision. The item has been continued to a special BCC meeting, July 30th at 9:00am. You can find a comparison table for the four finalists here. You can find a PDF of the presentation here. 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ABOUT THIS PROJECT: In March 2019, the Board of County Commissioners directed Housing Department staff to release a Request for Proposals to develop workforce housing at 105 Mercill Avenue. Teton County has owned this property since 1981 and it currently provides a temporary home to the Jackson Hole Historical Society and Museum. The RFP required that a minimum of 22 permanently deed restricted units be provided. 

In May 2019, five responses were received and are provided below. 

  1. Jackson Hole Community Housing Trust
  2. Mercill Partners, LLC
  3. Onion Flats Development
  4. United Development Solutions
  5. Westmount Development

On June 6, 2019 all five teams were provided a set of "supplemental questions" and asked to provide written responses to these questions no later than 4:00 PM June 10th. 

The Housing Supply Board will review these proposals on June 11th at 4:00 PM at the Teton County Administration Building. This meeting will be recorded and live streamed. At the end of this meeting, finalists will be chosen and interviews scheduled for each team. 

The Housing Supply Board chose four finalists to interview on June 26th. These interviews were live streamed and recorded for members of the public who could not attend in person. Each team was sent a second set of "supplemental questions" along with a revised Project Criteria Worksheet and asked to provide written responses to these questions no later than 4:00 PM June 21st. Each team's responses and worksheet was posted online by 5:00 PM June 21st.

The Board of County Commissioners considered awarding this project at their July 16, 2019 regularly scheduled meeting, but did not make a final decision. The item has been continued to a special BCC meeting, July 30th at 9:00am. You can find a comparison table for the four finalists here.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Please find the Request for Proposals to develop deed restricted housing at 105 Mercill Avenue, below. All responses are due by 4:00 PM on May 23, 2019. An information session will be held on March 19th at 1:00 PM at 320 S. King Street. Questions will be accepted until May 17, 2019 and answers will be posted on a rolling basis on this website.

If you are a developer, architect, general contractor, or planning consultant who seeks a team for this project, please email April Norton at ahnorton@tetoncountywy.gov.  

Complete Request for Proposals for 105 Mercill Avenue

Project Criteria Worksheet - excel version

Questions & Answers

What is the approximate schedule for the 105 Mercill RFP?

Submission deadline is May 23, 2019 by 4pm. Presentations for selected finalists will be held the week of June 3, 2019. The Board of County Commissioners will award the project at the June 18, 2019 Regular Meeting. 

Is there an opportunity for shared parking at the site? 

The Children's Learning Center has provided the Housing Department with a letter stating that they will not entertain shared parking. Respondents certainly may reach out to CLC to discuss other opportunities to partner on shared parking. 

Will the Housing Department be providing a soils report or geotechnical analysis of the site? 

No.

Will respondents be allowed to modify responses after the May 23 deadline? 

No. Proposals will be fixed during the competition phase. The Housing Supply Board and Board of County Commissioners retain the flexibility to negotiate once the developer is selected. 

Is circulation out on the alley to the west allowed? 

Maybe. There is nothing prohibiting circulation to the alley on the west. However, planning and public works staff will need to approve any proposed circulation and respondents are encouraged to reach out to both departments for more information.

If commercial space is provided, who is responsible for providing the required housing (mitigation)? 

The developer is responsible for meeting the mitigation requirements of the project.  

If a developer proposes commercial on the ground floor, and that area must be mitigated, could "Affordable" units within this same project count towards mitigation?

Yes. The units must meet or exceed the mitigation required.

Are there any housing mitigation credits on site? 

There may be housing credits on site. The existing building is considered an "assembly use" for the purpose of calculating the mitigation requirement. The housing mitigation calculator can be used to help determine the difference in requirements for the existing use and the proposed use. Generally, the difference between the requirements is what will be required of the new project. Respondents should present specific questions to the Town of Jackson Planning Department. 

What is happening with the cabins that are currently on site? 

The cabins will be moved at not cost to the developer. 

Is there any land available from which to stage the construction of the project? 

No. Respondents should assume that all staging will be self-contained. 

Are there any parking credits on site? Can we pay a fee-in-lieu for parking spaces? 

There are no parking credits on site. A fee may be paid in-lieu of providing on-site parking for non-residential spaces only. For up to five spaces, the fee is $8,500 per space. For more than six spaces, the fee is $17,000 per space.  Respondents should contact the Town of Jackson Planning Department for more information. 

What is the primary street? What is the secondary street?

For this project, Mercill Avenue will be considered the primary street and Glenwood Street will be considered the secondary street. 

Are there any fees that will be waived for the successful respondent? 

The building permit fees and development plan fees will be waived. No exaction fees will be waived. 

There must be an easement on this property belonging to the CLC for the one-way access drive on the west side of the property. Do you have a survey that indicates the exact extents? Could that be widened to accommodate two-way traffic? 

The legal description for the CLC property is defined in the Lease Agreement. Widening the access drive is allowed. Respondents are encouraged to contact the Jackson Planning Department to discuss specific proposals. 

Can you confirm the property extents actually match the provided Proposed Site Plan for CLC? The Lease Line on the survey from 2013 has a jog in it and the one on the proposed site plan a) does not have dimensions or coordinates and b) is straight, so there must have been a change and it would be helpful to know the exact extents. 

The leased property is defined in the executed Lease Agreement. 

Please confirm that parking can be within the building setbacks of the rear and side streets (non-Primary/Secondary), i.e. within the 5' and 10' setbacks? 

Parking setbacks in CR-2 are as follows: back property line (side setback) = 5' for structure and parking, Primary/Secondary = 30' for surface parking and 0' for screened parking

Are there any required shared amenities, i.e. lobby, mailboxes, central recycling, etc., step backs for getting light into basements? 

There are no required shared amenities. Respondents are required to meet the Livability Standards in the Housing Rules & Regulations and Town of Jackson Building Code.