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
Projects | Mar 9, 2022
New 243-unit luxury apartment community opens in St. Paul, Minn.
Waterford Bay, a four-story, 243-unit luxury multifamily development recently opened in St. Paul, Minn.
Mass Timber | Mar 8, 2022
Heavy timber office and boutique residential building breaks ground in Austin
T3 Eastside, a heavy timber office and boutique residential building, recently broke ground in Austin, Texas.
Multifamily Housing | Mar 4, 2022
221,000 renters identify what they want in multifamily housing, post-Covid-19
Fresh data from the 2022 NMHC/Grace Hill Renter Preferences Survey shows how remote work is impacting renters' wants and needs in apartment developments.
Projects | Mar 2, 2022
Manufacturing plant gets second life as a mixed-use development
Wire Park, a mixed-use development being built near Athens, Ga., will feature 130 residential units plus 225,000 square feet of commercial, office, and retail space. About an hour east of downtown Atlanta, the 66-acre development also will boast expansive public greenspace.
Multifamily Housing | Feb 25, 2022
First set of multifamily properties achieve BREEAM certification in the U.S.
WashREIT says it has achieved certification on eight multifamily assets under BREEAM’s In-Use certification standard.
Multifamily Housing | Feb 24, 2022
First new, mixed-use high-rise in Detroit’s central business district in nearly 30 years opens
City Club Apartments completed two multifamily projects in 2021 in downtown Detroit including the first new, mixed-use high-rise in Detroit’s central business district in nearly 30 years.
Codes and Standards | Feb 21, 2022
More bad news on sea level rise for U.S. coastal areas
A new government report predicts sea levels in the U.S. of 10 to 12 inches higher by 2050, with some major cities on the East and Gulf coasts experiencing damaging floods even on sunny days.
Urban Planning | Feb 14, 2022
5 steps to remake suburbs into green communities where people want to live, work, and play
Stantec's John Bachmann offers proven tactic for retrofitting communities for success in the post-COVID era.
Senior Living Design | Feb 11, 2022
Design for senior living: A chat with Rocky Berg, AIA
Rob Cassidy, Editor of MULTIFAMILY Design + Construction, chats with Rocky Berg, AIA, Principal with Dallas architecture firm three, about how to design senior living communities to meet the needs of the owner, seniors, their families, and staff.
Multifamily Housing | Feb 8, 2022
Suffolk to build Alba Palm Beach
The project will feature 55 residences.