The research facility, called the Lennox Innovation Center, will function similarly to the facility the company currently operates in Carrollton.
Lennox CEO Alok Maskara said the company has outgrown the Carrollton facility, adding that it will be a showcase for the company and bring additional jobs to the area.
“We want to put our innovation center here because we want to bring our customers here,” Maskara said. “We want everyone to see our history here.”
The details
The innovation center, located on the Lennox property at 2140 Lake Park Blvd., will be about 45,500 square feet, Senior Planner Derica Peters said. The Envision Richardson comprehensive plan designates the area as innovation/industry and a research and development is an approved use type, Peters said; however, the original ordinance, which was passed in the 1990s, did not include research and development and requires a special permit from city council.
The front portion of the new building will be two stories, but the remaining portion of the building will be single story and house a testing chamber, Peters said.
The facility will operate, develop and test new systems for commercial air conditioning units, which will require weekly deliveries.
What residents are saying
Several residents spoke out on the center, with some opposing its construction and others asking council for amendments to the plan. Residents expressed concerns about noise, traffic and population as the primary reason for opposition.
“We hear the very loud generators every week,” resident Anne Edelen, who lives adjacent to the Lennox building, said during the public hearing. “We hear trucks going in and out of there.”
City Manager Don Magner said the center will have to follow city guidelines related to noise.
“It’s pretty straightforward, “ Magner said. “If we get a complaint, we can go out, stand on the property line and we’ve got reading devices that can tell us the decibel levels.”
Additionally, Peters said the city has received 15 statements in support and 43 statements in opposition, including a petition from the Savoy Landing development property owners to the east of the building.
In total, Peters said about 30% of property owners in the notification area were in opposition to the request, meaning the request would have to be approved by a super-majority vote.
Council approved the request unanimously.
