CREJ

86 / BUILDING DIALOGUE / November 2019 But, let’s start at the beginning. In 1971, Eastpointe Apartments were built here on the south side of Arapa- hoe Avenue, just west of 55th. Cutting edge for the time, the complex consisted of a cluster of two-story walk-ups surrounded by a moat of parking. The property went on the market in 2014 and Aimco, which operates two other Boulder properties, looked be- yond the crumbling Brady Bunch-era Eastpointe and saw great potential. “There were a lot of factors that caught our eye about the property,” says Leonhardt. “We really like this east Boulder corridor that has nice conductivity to down- town by bike, bus or car. There were also economic driv- ers around it that were very strong.” Leonhardt pointed to Ball Aerospace across the street and the property’s proximity to the hospital, coffee shop, restaurants and a craft brewer right next door. With the property purchased in 2014, there was a year of planning and underwriting followed by two years of working with the city of Boulder to navigate permits and entitlements, a process led by Tryba. Ground finally was broken in March 2018. While the city of Boulder can be notoriously challeng- ing to work with, according to Leonhardt and Adam Mack, executive vice president and district manager for Milender White, the city was a helpful partner on the project. “The city of Boulder is tough during entitlements, but we have found their public works department to be very helpful,” says Mack. “They’re very thorough in the health, safety and welfare of the citizens and they have been very helpful as a public works department and in working with us.” Tryba’s Jeff Smith, principal, led the entitlements pro- cess and had no issues working with the city. “The key to working through the Boulder process is to be respon- sive, diligent and patient,” says Smith. “Planning staff was quite flexible and guided us to a successful outcome with both the Planning Board and City Council. Community and User Feedback Helped Shape The Vision According to Leonhardt, the genesis of the design for Parc Mosaic was to reverse what had existed there be- fore. “Eastpointe was a village inside of a parking lot. And we wanted to flip that inside out and create a communi- ty that was within a garden,” says Leonhardt. “We played on that idea and we immediately knew we were going to have to put the parking underground.” As the team worked through just how this project would exist over a 4-acre subterranean level, Aimco also did extensive community outreach to gauge the feelings of neighbors and potential residents. “Aimco takes a very resident focused approach,” says Jamie Alvarez, Aimco’s corporate communications man- ager. “Any vision about any of our communities is real- ly built around the residents where the community is, so building something that makes sense for the fabric / Parc Mosaic /