Staff ReportITEM # 7
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619CITY OF COPPELL
PLANNING DEPARTMENT
STAFF REPORT
CASE NO.: PD-306-HC, VariSpace Coppell, Lot 1, Block A
P&Z HEARING DATE: May 20, 2021
C.C. HEARING DATE: June 8, 2021
STAFF REP.: Matthew Steer, AICP, Development Services Administrator
LOCATION: Southeast corner of Freeport Parkway and SH 121
SIZE OF AREA: 9.84 acres of property
CURRENT ZONING: HC (Highway Commercial)
REQUEST: A zoning change request from HC (Highway Commercial) to PD-306-HC (Planned
Development-306-Highway Commercial), to approve a Detail Site Plan for a
185,700-square-foot, 3-story office building with a two-story parking garage.
APPLICANT: Owner: Architect: Engineer:
Jeff Lamb Josh Dockery Tate Braun
Varidesk LLC BOKA Powell Pacheco Koch
1221 S Belt Line 8070 Park Ln, Ste 300 7557 Rambler Rd, Ste 1400
Coppell, Texas 75019 Dallas, Texas 75231 Dallas, Texas 75231
214-793-1357 972-701-9000 972-235-3031
jeff.lamb@vari.com jdockery@bokapowell.com tbraun@pkce.com
HISTORY: In 2003, the City Council revised the Future Land Use Plan and rezoned property
along the freeways to Freeway Commercial and Highway Commercial,
respectively. The reason for the change was to “allow the landowners significant
flexibly in development options to take advantage of the highway access while
assuring compliance with the vision for the City’s most visible corridors”. The 2030
Comprehensive Plan reinforced this vision by designating this property as Freeway
Special District.
In 1999, City Council approved the Site Plan for Lot 2, Block 1, One Twenty One
Business Park, allowing for the construction of 4 professional office buildings on
the south side of Canyon just east of this request. Lot 1, Block 1, One Twenty One
Business Park was left vacant and is part of this request.
The adjacent property southeast of this proposal was rezoned from Light Industrial
to a Conceptual Planned Development in July 2014. Detail plans have subsequently
been approved for each of the sites. This includes the 40,480 square foot and
125,520 square foot office warehouses directly to the southeast (administratively
approved in 2018).
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In 2019, City Council approved a Concept Plan for a gas station, hotel, retail,
restaurants and office uses on 8.6 acres, and a Detail Site Plan for a QT convenience
store with gas pumps fronting on Freeport Parkway across the road, west of this
development. The QT gas station has since been constructed and detail plans have
been approved for a four-story Four Points by Sheraton Hotel.
HISTORIC COMMENT: There is no historical significance attached to this property.
TRANSPORTATION: SH 121 is a state highway built to standard in a variable width right-of-way.
Freeport Parkway is an improved six-lane divided thoroughfare in a variable width
right-of-way.
Northwestern Drive is a 31-foot wide local road in 38-foot right-of-way.
Canyon Drive is a 44-foot wide two-lane street built within a 60-foot right-of-way.
SURROUNDING LAND USE & ZONING:
North: Wisenbaker Office/Showroom/Warehouse – PD-171R5-HC (Planned Development-
171- Revision 5- Highway Commercial)
South: QuikTrip – PD-295-HC (Planned Development-295-Highway Commercial)
East: Professional Office and Office/Warehouses – HC (Highway Commercial) and PD-
272 LI (Planned Development-272-Light Industrial)
West: SH 121 and city limits
COMPREHENSIVE PLAN: The Coppell 2030 Comprehensive Master Plan shows this property as
suitable Freeway Special District.
DISCUSSION: The Detail Planned Development is for a three-story VariSpace Office Building,
approximately 185,700-square feet in size. VariSpace is proposing to occupy
approximately 1/3 of the space while offering up the remainder for lease. The 9.84-acre
site fronts along State Highway 121 to the northwest, North Freeport Parkway to the
southwest, Northwestern Drive to the southeast and Canyon Drive to the north. The subject
property is the product of combining two platted lots: one from the Prologis Park One
Twenty One subdivision and one from One Twenty One Business Park subdivision. The
future land use component of the 2030 Comprehensive Plan calls for Freeway Commercial
uses specifically listing a midrise office as an appropriate use. A 185,700 square foot three
story building is ideal for this lot. The reason for the Planned Development request is to
allow for specific conditions unique to this project. These conditions include: 9’x18’
parking spaces where head to head conditions exist, a reduced loading zone area, and
monument and directional sign variances.
Detail Site Plan
In terms of circulation, there is a proposed entrance from SH 121 that will have a decel
lane. Other access points are from Freeport Parkway and Northwestern Drive. There is a
proposed fire lane that encircles the building. Per the Traffic Impact Analysis (TIA) that
was submitted with this request, a right turn lane is also being shown on Northwestern
Drive leading to Freeport Parkway.
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The setbacks of both the office and garage structures meet the standards of the Highway
Commercial District: 60’ minimum front yards along both SH 121 and Freeport Parkway
and 30’ minimum side yards on Northwestern Drive and Canyon Drive.
The applicant is well exceeding the parking required by the Zoning Ordinance at 1 parking
space per 300 square feet building area for a professional office use (619 parking spaces
required, 728 parking spaces provided). The parking for this proposal is provided with both
surface and garage parking. There is a requirement in the ordinance that no more than 50%
of the parking be in the front yard. This proposal is meeting the intent of the ordinance by
not having any parking on Freeport and only a small amount of surface parking on SH 121.
The majority of the parking is located in the parking garage, and at the side or back of the
building. 9’x18’ parking spaces are being requested where head to head parking is
proposed. This is a variance to the city’s requirement that head to head parking spaces be
9’x19’. Staff researched and found that 9’x18’ is typical in the majority of neighboring
cities (Grapevine, Irving, Lewisville and Carrollton). Staff can support adding this as a
condition to the Planned Development.
A large multi-tenant loading zone is proposed to be located on the southern side of the
building and will have three dock high doors and an area for a dumpster and recycling. A
grey wing wall is proposed to screen this area from the properties to the south. The Zoning
Ordinance calls for all retail, commercial and industrial structures have a loading zone for
each 20,000 square feet. The ratio being requested for this site is one per 70,000 square
feet. Staff supports this exception, as the frequency of loading/unloading for a professional
office use is much less than retail or industrial uses.
.
Tree Mitigation
The site does have some existing large trees on it; however, due to numerous factors (i.e.
the location of the building, parking, and poor quality of the trees) none are proposed to be
preserved. The tree mitigation for this site was initially estimated to be approximately
$63,500. The applicant is proposing to offset the majority of the fees by upgrading the tree
sizes from 3 caliper inches to 4 caliper inches and adding 13 extra overstory trees that are
above and beyond what is required by ordinance. The fees have been reduced to $19,100
and will be due at time of Tree Removal Permit.
Landscape Plan
27% of the site is devoted to landscape area, meeting the minimum requirements for
perimeter and interior landscaping and exceeding the requirements for nonvehicular
landscaping. There are 132 overstory trees proposed, and as mentioned above, there are
13 additional proposed trees to be provided above and beyond what is required by
ordinance. 50 Cedar Elms are proposed along the perimeter street frontage of the site. 60
Chinese Pistache trees are proposed in the parking lot islands and 22 Bald Cypress are
shown in the open spaces. Shrubs and groundcover are proposed directly abutting the
parking areas. The quantities are required to be shown and this is listed as a condition
within the staff recommendation.
Elevations
The majority of the three-story office building is proposed to be approximately 49’ in
height measured to the top of the parapet. Large grey metal panels with vertical metal faux-
wood slats are shown at the entry tower and extend to approximately 59’ in height. A light
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grey metal roof mounted screening wall extends to approximately 64’ in height. This will
screen the mechanical equipment. The majority of the building is proposed to be
constructed of a grey tilt up concrete with dark grey accents and grey reflective window
glazing. The rendering provides a good illustration of the combination of building
materials as well as the building’s articulation both vertically and horizontally. The
architecture of this building is what was envisioned along the SH 121 corridor and will
provide an attractive gateway into Coppell from Freeport Parkway.
The parking garage is shown to be approximately 15’ in height with a canopy structure
extending to 24.5’ in height. The structure is proposed to be concrete with a dark grey color
to match the accent color of the main building. A metal breezeway is proposed to connect
the two structures. We have included a condition in staff’s recommendation allowing the
Director of Community Development the authority amend the PD if an additional level of
parking is applied for in the future.
Signage:
The building signage meets the requirements of the sign ordinance and no special
exceptions are requested. The sign plan shows “VariSpace Coppell” at the main building
entry and on the parking garage south elevation. There are four, 40.5 square foot building
sign areas depicted for tenant names (two on the north, one on the west and one on the
south elevation of the office building).
The applicant is asking for an extra 60 square foot monument sign along the frontage of
Freeport Parkway in addition to the one proposed on SH 121. Typically a site of this size
would be allowed two monument signs by right (one per street frontage), but because this
site is rectangular in nature, the required 500’ of frontage on Freeport is not present to be
granted an extra monument sign for this frontage. Staff is recommending allowing for this
as it will help identify this site which will be addressed off North Freeport Parkway. We
would ask that the address numbers reflect the correct address of “450”.
A 60 square foot multi-tenant sign is proposed interior to the site and will be visible as one
enters the site from Freeport Parkway. Due to this being internal to the site, and it being
more of a campus type sign listing the tenant names, an exception can be supported by staff
allowing a third monument sign.
Directional signage is also included as a condition requiring a variance. Typically,
movement control, or directional signs, three square feet in size are allowed by right with
no limits to the number. The applicant is proposing five signs, twelve square foot in size.
Staff is recommending an exception in this situation, because the directional signage will
contain information for multiple tenants than what is typical for a single tenant site,
requiring a larger size to maintain legibility. All the signage is proposed to be constructed
using the same materials as the building and will match to give uniformity to the site.
RECOMMENDATION TO THE PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION:
Staff is recommending approval of PD-306-HC, Lot 1, Block A, VariSpace subject to the following
conditions:
1. Additional comments may be generated upon detail engineering and building permit reviews.
2. The existing conditions drainage area map shall be included with the detail engineering plans.
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3. A Tree Removal Permit will be required prior to the removal of any trees. Tree mitigation fees of $19,100
will be due at that time.
4. The Director of Community Development shall be authorized to administratively review the addition of a
third level to the parking garage as an amendment to the Planned Development.
5. The shrub quantities and sizes shall be noted in the landscape plant chart on the Landscape Plan.
6. The address of 450 N. Freeport Parkway be reflected correctly on the plans.
7. An additional single-tenant and an additional multi-tenant monument sign be allowed on-site.
8. Directional signage be allowed as shown on the sign plan.
9. Parking space sizes be allowed as listed on the plans.
10. The loading zone be allowed as depicted on the site plan.
ALTERNATIVES:
1. Recommend approval of the request
2. Recommend disapproval of the request
3. Recommend modification of the request
4. Take under advisement for reconsideration at a later date
ATTACHMENTS:
1. Site Plan & Garage Floor Plan
2. Tree Survey & Landscape Plan
3. Elevations/Rendering/Color Board
4. Signage Plan