Our project is one of the first of a large scale, urban redevelopment of an old, decommissioned municipal airport. Mueller Municipal Airport was closed in the late 1990\'s and, "Since mid-1997, a multidisciplinary team of consultants led by ROMA Design Group has been working with citizens and the City to create a redevelopment plan for the 709-acre site. The final plan calls for the creation of a transit-oriented community including a town square, a mixed-use district, an employment center, and a variety of residential uses."Our project is to renovate an existing small office building that was adjacent to the old runway into a visitor center for the city and developer. In spirit this project is the anchor for this urban redevelopment but in reality it cannot meet the specific goals of this credit. First, our project is at the entrance to this urban redevelopment project so half out our catchments area is outside the boundary of the development density goal. Second, the development has density goals with zoning, ordinance and design development guidelines but only several projects spread across the 709-acre site are in construction or planned; a children\'s hospital, regional retail, multi-family housing, and dense residential lots are now up for sale in a pioneer program phase. Lastly, as the front door for this dense re-development project, the master plan calls for a community lake park surrounding our project on three sides. While this amenity is a creative solution for stormwater management, it land-locks our project from achieving the technical density requirements of this point.While LEED for New Construction version 2.2 does provide an alternate path (Option 2) for compliance to provide 10 basic services within a 1/2 mile radius, those components of the master plan have not been sold for development at this point. Can we count lots on the master plan designated as mixed use commercial considering there is a high probably given the requirements of the design guidelines that these projects will include a retail component.
No, you may not count the undeveloped lots on the master plan toward meeting this credit under LEED NC v2.2. The LEED NC v2.2 Reference Guide states that, "This credit can be achieved by choosing to develop a site where community revitalization is occurring provided the required development density or basic services adjacency is in place or in construction by the project\'s completion." Furthermore per a LEED NC v2.2 SSc2 ruling dated 10/17/2006, USGBC has not allowed basic services in an applicant project to count towards this credit and requires that at least eight adjacent basic services be existing and operational. The intent of this credit under LEED NC v2.1 is to "channel development to urban areas with existing infrastructure, protect greenfields and preserve habitat and natural resources." A LEED NC v2.1 SSc2 ruling dated 7/19/2005 allows some consideration for future planned developments by stating: "For locations that already have well-established infrastructure, it is acceptable to take into consideration future planned neighboring developments to determine the area\'s density (per requirements of CIR for SSc2 ruling dated 12/23/2002). In order to determine credit compliance in this situation, it is necessary to quantify that proposed future density, and document that the developments meet the density goals of the urban revitalization plan." It is unclear from the description of your project that has been provided if the existing infrastructure is sufficient to qualify per the requirements referenced in these CIRs. The project team may wish to review these CIRs and consider whether the approach outlined within is applicable to this project.The description provided mentions that the project site is bounded on three sides by a community lake park. Keep in mind that per page 21 of the LEED Reference Guide v2.1 Second Edition, "undeveloped public areas such as parks and water bodies" do not need to be included in the density calculations. Applicable Internationally.