A 1980s-era shopping mall turned mixed-use housing and a mid-rise multifamily tower with unusual rowhomes highlight the innovative multifamily developments to debut recently.
1. Art Installation Creates a ‘Digital Sky’
The lobby ceiling of Kirin Apartments, in Seattle’s Uptown Arts District, features a permanent art installation of a thousand translucent flags by Resolute and installed with LEDs by Sina Electronics. The 95-unit rental enterprise was designed by Johnston Architects for developer Hycroft Investment. Robin Chell Design (interiors), CT Engineering (SE), LPD Engineering (CE), PanGEO (geotech), Terrane (surveyor), Sider + Byers (M/P), AWA Electrical Consultants (EE), Karen Kiest Landscape Architects, and R|Miller Inc. (GC) contributed. “Kirin” is a chimerical creature in Chinese mythology.
PHOTO: RAFAEL SOLDI
2. 224-Unit Apartment Community Enlivens LA’s Koreatown
Sawyer, a new seven-story residential complex down the street from Los Angeles’s historic Korean Methodist Church, offers studios and one- and two-bedroom apartments, some with an extra den, and two double-height penthouses with mezzanines. Withee Malcolm Architects, a BSB Design Studio, led the project team for developers 411 Normandie LP and Airport Holdings LP: Nadia Geller Designs (interiors), VCA Structural (SE), Structure Six Engineers (CE), MNS Engineering (mechanical/plumbing/T-24 engineer), Amelect (EE), Pacific Geotech (soils engineer), Environmental Science Associates (historical consultant), and DSK Landscape Architects.
PHOTO: JIM SIMMONS
3. Salt Lake City Property Just a Hop-Skip-Jump to Light-Rail Transit
A two-story green wall sets off the lobby at Dixon Place (https://bit.ly/3sQ5MYC), a 59-unit Class A development in the Sugar House neighborhood of Salt Lake City, Utah. A five-minute walk to the S-line light rail stop, the 49,039-sf boutique property offers 35 one-bedroom and 24 two-bedroom units for its human occupants and a bark park for its canine ones. EV charging stations, too. MVE + Partners (architect, interior design), Loft Six Four (landscape architect), and Kier Construction (GC) delivered the project for Lowe Property Group.
PHOTO: RICHER IMAGES
4. Mix of Residents Strengthens This D.C. Community
Fifty-eight of the 194 apartments at 555 (at 555 E Street, SW) have been reserved for seniors 62+ (30-50% AMI); seven of the 58 serve seniors in transition from homelessness. All tenants—market-rate and seniors—share the high-end amenities, notably a rooftop pool and well-equipped fitness center. “Here, you see people in wheelchairs. That’s real life and part of what makes this a community,” said senior resident Andrew Evans. The team for developer CityPartners: FXCollaborative (architect), Rottet Studio (interior design), SK&A (SE), Integral Group (MEP), and Donohoe Construction (GC).
PHOTO: RICHARD POWERS
5. Suburban Boston Mall Reimagined As a Massive Mixed-Use Complex
Architecture/interior design firm PCA master planned Arsenal Yards, a seven-building, million-sf initiative on the site of a 1980s-era shopping mall in Watertown, Mass., 10 miles west of Boston. Boylston Properties and The Wilder Group were the developers for a 146-room hotel, a 10-story lab building, 50 retail shops and restaurants, and the 300-unit Blvd & Bond apartments. Two historic brick buildings, part of the landmark U.S. army arsenal (1813), were restored. On PCA’s team: Veitas & Veitas Engineers (SE), RJO’Connell & Associates (CE), R.W. Sullivan Engineering (MEP), RDH Building Science (envelope), Acentech (acoustics), IBI Group (landscape architect), Cranshaw Construction (CM/GC), and Plumb House (GC).
PHOTO: ANTON GRASSL
6. Luxe Megacomplex Just Bursting with Amenities
Apex at CityPlace, Overland Park, Kan., spans 693,000 sf in 13 buildings, including two office buildings, 18,000 sf of retail, and 366 luxury apartments and penthouse units with gourmet kitchens, quartz countertops, deep soaking tubs, and covered balconies and patios. Developer Block Real Estate Services provided an outdoor game center, a massage salon, an indoor movie theater, a dog spa, a Zen garden, and a swim-up hot tub bar. Hoefer Welker (designer, AOR, interiors) coordinated with MG2 (interior design), Bob D. Campbell & Co. (SE), Smith & Boucher (MEP), LAND3 Studio (landscape design), and Titan Built (GC).
PHOTO: NICOLE BISSEY
7. Atlanta Residences High on Hospitality
Star Metal Residences is The Allen Morris Company’s first development in Atlanta. The nine-story, 409-unit rental complex occupies three acres in an old industrial site in West Midtown. Oppenheim Architects’ design emphasizes hospitality in the rooftop pool and terrace, clubroom, lounge, bar, library, theater, game room, and community garden and greenhouse. Other project members: Dwell Design Studio (AOR, interiors), Square Feet Studio (interior design), Ellinwood + Machado (SE), Eberly & Associates (CE), Jordan & Skala Engineers (MEP), Site Solutions (landscape design), and Juneau Construction (GC).
PHOTO: FLYWORX LLC
8. San Diego County Enterprise Features Unusual Rowhomes
Designed by The Miller Hull Partnership for co-developers Malick Infill Development and Protea Properties, Parco consists of 127 rental units in National City, Calif. An eight-story tower of 94 studios and 14 apartments, communal lounges and kitchens, and outdoor space transitions to a four-story edifice with seven two-bedroom and culminates in a dozen two-story “rowhomes” that sit over single-story units. Also contributing: Tecture Design & Fabrication (interior design), DCI Engineers (SE), SWS Engineering (CE), H+W Engineering (MEP), McCullough Landscape Architecture, and Cannon Constructors (GC).
PHOTO: CHIPPER HATTER
9. Patience Pays Off for Affordable Housing Team in Northern Virginia
It took 13 years for owner Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing and KDG Architecture to complete the redevelopment of Queens Court Apartments, turning 39 prewar garden apartments into 249 affordable rentals—studios and one- to three-bedroom units—in Arlington County, Va. The 12-story tower, which earned EarthCraft Gold status, is a 10-minute walk to the Rosslyn Metro station. KGD Architecture piloted the project team of Aumen Asner (interior design), Ehlert Bryan (SE), Bowman (CE), Summit Engineers (MEP), Oculus (landscape design), and Donohue Construction Co. (GC).
PHOTO: JOHN COLE PHOTOGRAPHY
Related Stories
Student Housing | Mar 5, 2023
Calif. governor Gavin Newsom seeks to reform environmental law used to block student housing
California Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to reform a landmark state environmental law that he says was weaponized by wealthy homeowners to block badly needed housing for students at the University of California, Berkeley.
Green Renovation | Mar 5, 2023
Dept. of Energy offers $22 million for energy efficiency and building electrification upgrades
The Buildings Upgrade Prize (Buildings UP) sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy is offering more than $22 million in cash prizes and technical assistance to teams across America. Prize recipients will be selected based on their ideas to accelerate widespread, equitable energy efficiency and building electrification upgrades.
AEC Innovators | Mar 3, 2023
Meet BD+C's 2023 AEC Innovators
More than ever, AEC firms and their suppliers are wedding innovation with corporate responsibility. How they are addressing climate change usually gets the headlines. But as the following articles in our AEC Innovators package chronicle, companies are attempting to make an impact as well on the integrity of their supply chains, the reduction of construction waste, and answering calls for more affordable housing and homeless shelters. As often as not, these companies are partnering with municipalities and nonprofit interest groups to help guide their production.
Modular Building | Mar 3, 2023
Pallet Shelter is fighting homelessness, one person and modular pod at a time
Everett, Wash.-based Pallet Inc. helped the City of Burlington, Vt., turn a municipal parking lot into an emergency shelter community, complete with 30 modular “sleeping cabins” for the homeless.
Multifamily Housing | Mar 1, 2023
Multifamily construction startup Cassette takes a different approach to modular building
Prefabricated modular design and construction have made notable inroads into such sectors as industrial, residential, hospitality and, more recently, office and healthcare. But Dafna Kaplan thinks that what’s held back the modular building industry from even greater market penetration has been suppliers’ insistence that they do everything: design, manufacture, logistics, land prep, assembly, even onsite construction. Kaplan is CEO and Founder of Cassette, a Los Angeles-based modular building startup.
Seismic Design | Feb 27, 2023
Turkey earthquakes provide lessons for California
Two recent deadly earthquakes in Turkey and Syria offer lessons regarding construction practices and codes for California. Lax building standards were blamed for much of the devastation, including well over 35,000 dead and countless building collapses.
Multifamily Housing | Feb 21, 2023
Watch: DBA Architects' Bryan Moore talks micro communities and the benefits of walkable neighborhoods
What is a micro-community? Where are they most prevalent? What’s the future for micro communities? These questions (and more) addressed by Bryan Moore, President and CEO of DBA Architects.
Multifamily Housing | Feb 21, 2023
Multifamily housing investors favoring properties in the Sun Belt
Multifamily housing investors are gravitating toward Sun Belt markets with strong job and population growth, according to new research from Yardi Matrix. Despite a sharp second-half slowdown, last year’s nationwide $187 billion transaction volume was the second-highest annual total ever.
Multifamily Housing | Feb 21, 2023
New multifamily housing and mixed-use buildings in Portland, Ore., must be ready for electric vehicle charging
The Portland, Ore., City Council recently voted unanimously to require all new residential and mixed-use buildings to be ready for electric vehicle charging. The move amends Portland’s zoning laws to require all new multi-dwelling and mixed-use development of five or more units with onsite parking to provide electric vehicle charging infrastructure.
Reconstruction & Renovation | Feb 16, 2023
Insights from over 300 potential office-to-residential conversions
Research from Gensler finds that, surprisingly, the features that result in an unpleasant office often make for a superlative multifamily product.