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Amendment Application No. 2010-01 <br />Conditional Use Permit No. 2010-15 <br />September 13, 2010 <br />Page 2 <br />Project Description <br /> <br />Azure Plaza Partners, LLC is proposing to convert an existing 150-room hotel into a 128-room <br />licensed residential care facility for the elderly (RCFE). The facility will provide 24-hour care and <br />supervision for up to 147 residents age 60 and above. The first floor will be modified to <br />accommodate a new entrance lobby, sitting area, dining rooms, medical clinic, beauty salon, <br />exercise room, therapy pool, and three rooms to house non-ambulatory residents. The existing <br />swimming pool and amenity deck will continue to operate and be restored to meet accessibility <br />standards. The second through tenth floor will house most of the residents in rooms that will vary in <br />size from 335 to 425 square feet. Each room will have private accessible bathroom facilities, a <br />closet and a small counter, but no kitchen facilities as these are rooms within a care home <br />environment and not individual residential units. The central core on each floor will have a <br />community space intended to provide a variety of stimulating activities for the residents. These will <br />include meeting and business rooms, library, theater, card/game room, arts and crafts room, <br />billiards/sports room, dance studio and worship area. Additional service facilities, such as private <br />resident storage, will be provided on the seventh and eighth floors and a common laundry facility on <br />the fourth floor. <br />The applicant is also proposing several site improvements. The primary vehicular entrance and <br />interior site circulation will be simplified and flanked by plazas. The plaza adjacent to the restaurant <br />will have a trellis and canopy trees to provide a comfortable outdoor seating area for the restaurant, <br />while the plaza to the west will be developed with canopy trees, seating and a water feature to define <br />the entrance and provide a pedestrian friendly connection to the street. On the undeveloped portion <br />of the lot will be a new parking area built in compliance with city standards. The existing parking lot <br />will be repaired as needed and re-striped, and the landscaping and exterior lighting will be restored <br />to comply with current codes. <br />The existing restaurant will be remodeled to better serve the tower residents as well as the public at <br />large. The lounge area will be converted into a juice/ice cream bar. Another portion of the <br />restaurant will be converted into a coffee shop/deli. A third portion of the existing restaurant will <br />continue to operate as a full service restaurant. The kitchen will prepare meals for the restaurant, <br />coffee shop/deli and the residents of the tower. The restaurant will operate seven-days a week from <br />6:00 am to 11:00 pm. No Alcohol Beverage Control license is requested. <br />Lastly, exterior modifications to the tower and restaurant are also being proposed in order to update <br />its architecture. The buildings will be painted in muted colors and the glazing system will be replaced <br />with a more energy efficient system. To update the architectural style of the tower, a new horizontal <br />louver system will be installed over the open stairs and elevator shaft, and a new roof railing feature <br />painted in a contrasting color will be added to the top of the tower. The mansards on the restaurant <br />and porte-cochere will be removed and the architecture will be streamlined. Trellises will be added <br />to accent the restaurant entrances and seating areas (Exhibits 4, 5 and 6).