Multifamily developers and Building Teams continue to push the envelope when it comes to creating places that wow potential renters and owners. The following projects are indicative of the types of cutting-edge amenities and features that multifamily tenants and owners are coming to expect from new developments.
1. L.A. NEIGHBORHOOD GETS ‘MICROPOLITAN’ TREATMENT
The Micropolitan at Larchmont Village is a new 34-unit project designed by architecture firm KFA and developed by Micropolitan LLC in Los Angeles. Rents range from $2,600 for a studio or small one-bedroom, to $4,500 for the largest two-bedroom units. Amenities include a rooftop deck-cum-BBQ area, outdoor lounge, community room plus full kitchen, bicycle storage, and pet spa. Residents can walk to Hancock Park and Hollywood and are close to Paramount Pictures studio. Multiple rapid transit options are nearby. The apartments offer open floor plans, large balconies, walk-in closets, and high-quality finishes. More photos at: BDCnetwork.com/Micropolitan. Photo courtesy KFA
2. SUCH A DEAL! FREE COFFEE AT SMOKE-FREE TEXAS APARTMENT COMPLEX
The Mallory Eastside Apartments, a 281-unit complex in Richardson, Texas, 15 miles north of Dallas, started leasing in April. The smoke-free community is packed with amenities: a business center with free drinks at the gourmet coffee bar; a “tropical oasis”—pool, private cabanas, and grilling stations; a dog spa; and a Zen meditation garden. Plus fiber optic cable and a smart home technology package. The DART Arapaho station is an 11-minute jaunt. Hunt Companies developed the property with its affiliates, Moss & Associates (GC) and Pinnacle Property Management Services. Photo courtesy Hunt Companies
3. LEED GOLD APARTMENTS NEAR METRO LINE TO D.C.
The Maxwell, a LEED Gold mixed-use project in Arlington, Va., has 2,200 sf of ground-floor retail and three levels of underground parking. It’s an eight-minute hop-skip-and-jump to the Ballston-MU Metro station for the 16-minute trip to the Federal Triangle station. The 163 luxury units range in size from 538 to 1,027 sf. KTGY Architecture + Planning (architect) led the project team for owner/developer Crimson Partners and owner Washington Real Estate Investment Trust: RD Jones & Associates (interior design), Tadler-Cohen-Edelson Associates (SE), Bowman Consulting (CE, landscape architect), Alliance Engineers (mechanical), and Clark Builders Group (GC). Photos: Sam Kittner (exterior) and Whitney Cox
4. CONVERTED DEPARTMENT STORE IN ALABAMA NOW A MIXED-USE RESIDENTIAL HUB WITH A FOOD HALL, CO-WORKING SPACE
In the 1920s, the Pizitz department store was the place to shop in Birmingham, Ala. The store closed in 1987, but two years ago, general contractor Brasfield & Gorrie led the renovation of the landmark structure for the ownership team of Bayer Properties, Stonehenge Capital, and Wisznia Architecture + Development. In addition to 143 apartments, a ground-floor food hall (designed by Rule Joy Trammel + Rubio) opened in February; later this summer, 13,000 sf of co-working office space will become available. Wisznia and KPS Group were the architecture team, with LBYD (SE), Appleseed Golden (design-build JV for food stalls and restaurants), and Masonry Arts (terra cotta restoration). Photos courtesy Bradfield & Gorrie
5. DETROIT’S DUCHARME PLACE PAYS HOMAGE TO MIES’S LAFAYETTE PARK
Photo: Jason Keen
DuCharme Place, a 185-unit apartment complex in Detroit, takes its design from elements of Mies van der Rohe’s historic Lafayette Park, across the way from the four-building complex. McIntosh Poris Architects’ Michael Poris, AIA, says the new lifestyle community (still partly under construction) “builds upon [Mies’s] vision” to create a relationship with nature. Brick, metal, and glass were used to recall the modernist palette. Bicyclists and walkers will have direct access to the Dequindre Cut Greenway, a recreation path that links the neighborhood to the Eastern Market and RiverWalk, Detroit’s riverfront park. Photo: Ducharme Place
6. ‘FLATS 8300’ WINS HONORS FROM USGBC CHAPTER
Flats 8300, a 359-unit condominium complex in Bethesda, Md., recently won an Excellence in Green Building “Wintergreen Award” from the Maryland chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council. The project team—StonebridgeCarras and Walton Street Capital (developers), WDG Architecture (architect), Paladino (LEED consultant), LORD Green Real Esstate Strategies (energy consultant), and Donohoe (GC)—trimmed water use 40.3% and energy consumption 23.7% over standard code. Nearly three-fourths (74%) of the site is open space. Flats 8300 has a WalkScore of 88 and is seeking LEED Silver certification. The property is owned by Invesco Real Estate and managed by Bozzuto. Photo: Bozzuto
7. RESIDENTS CAN DIP THEIR TOES IN THIS SALTWATER POOL
A saltwater pool forms the centerpiece of The Southerly, a new 175-apartment enterprise in Towson, Md., outside Baltimore. JDavis Architects chose a spherical design for the building to surround the courtyard, which features a grilling area, fire pit, bocce and cornhole courts, and hammocks. A fifth-floor sundeck has a lounge and second café. The Southerly, built by Old Town Construction, attained National Green Building Standard certification. It is located within walking distance of Towson Town Center mall and downtown Towson. Rent base: one-bedroom, $1,595; two-bedroom, $1,850; three-bedroom, $2,275. Photo: Taylor Property Group/Klein Enterprises
Related Stories
| Aug 11, 2010
Citizenship building in Texas targets LEED Silver
The Department of Homeland Security's new U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services facility in Irving, Texas, was designed by 4240 Architecture and developed by JDL Castle Corporation. The focal point of the two-story, 56,000-sf building is the double-height, glass-walled Ceremony Room where new citizens take the oath.
| Aug 11, 2010
Carpenters' union helping build its own headquarters
The New England Regional Council of Carpenters headquarters in Dorchester, Mass., is taking shape within a 1940s industrial building. The Building Team of ADD Inc., RDK Engineers, Suffolk Construction, and the carpenters' Joint Apprenticeship Training Committee, is giving the old facility a modern makeover by converting the existing two-story structure into a three-story, 75,000-sf, LEED-certif...
| Aug 11, 2010
Utah research facility reflects Native American architecture
A $130 million research facility is being built at University of Utah's Salt Lake City campus. The James L. Sorenson Molecular Biotechnology Building—a USTAR Innovation Center—is being designed by the Atlanta office of Lord Aeck & Sargent, in association with Salt-Lake City-based Architectural Nexus.
| Aug 11, 2010
San Bernardino health center doubles in size
Temecula, Calif.-based EDGE was awarded the contract for California State University San Bernardino's health center renovation and expansion. The two-phase, $4 million project was designed by RSK Associates, San Francisco, and includes an 11,000-sf, tilt-up concrete expansion—which doubles the size of the facility—and site and infrastructure work.
| Aug 11, 2010
Goettsch Partners wins design competition for Soochow Securities HQ in China
Chicago-based Goettsch Partners has been selected to design the Soochow Securities Headquarters, the new office and stock exchange building for Soochow Securities Co. Ltd. The 21-story, 441,300-sf project includes 344,400 sf of office space, an 86,100-sf stock exchange, classrooms, and underground parking.
| Aug 11, 2010
New hospital expands Idaho healthcare options
Ascension Group Architects, Arlington, Texas, is designing a $150 million replacement hospital for Portneuf Medical Center in Pocatello, Idaho. An existing facility will be renovated as part of the project. The new six-story, 320-000-sf complex will house 187 beds, along with an intensive care unit, a cardiovascular care unit, pediatrics, psychiatry, surgical suites, rehabilitation clinic, and ...
| Aug 11, 2010
Colonnade fixes setback problem in Brooklyn condo project
The New York firm Scarano Architects was brought in by the developers of Olive Park condominiums in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn to bring the facility up to code after frame out was completed. The architects designed colonnades along the building's perimeter to create the 15-foot setback required by the New York City Planning Commission.
| Aug 11, 2010
Wisconsin becomes the first state to require BIM on public projects
As of July 1, the Wisconsin Division of State Facilities will require all state projects with a total budget of $5 million or more and all new construction with a budget of $2.5 million or more to have their designs begin with a Building Information Model. The new guidelines and standards require A/E services in a design-bid-build project delivery format to use BIM and 3D software from initial ...
| Aug 11, 2010
Opening night close for Kent State performing arts center
The curtain opens on the Tuscarawas Performing Arts Center at Kent State University in early 2010, giving the New Philadelphia, Ohio, school a 1,100-seat multipurpose theater. The team of Legat & Kingscott of Columbus, Ohio, and Schorr Architects of Dublin, Ohio, designed the 50,000-sf facility with a curving metal and glass façade to create a sense of movement and activity.
