Two Housing Communities Slated for Construction in Calif.
Architecture and planning firm MVE Partners announced that two housing complexes they have designed are slated for construction.
Eugene Gilligan, Contributing Writer
Irvine, Calif.–Architecture and planning firm MVE Partners announced that two housing complexes they have designed are slated for construction, both located in master-planned villages.
In Northern California, MVE is designing Crescent Village in San Jose, a mixed-use neighborhood with 1,750 residential units, slated to be rentals, developed by The Irvine Company Apartment Communities. The four-story apartments sit on nearly 40 acres, and feature five residential podium buildings.
In Southern California, the Westside Apartments at Civita will feature 306 residences, which will be a mix of rentals, condominiums, and perhaps seniors housing, designed by MVE Partners for Sudberry Properties, Inc. The community, located in San Diego, will be part of a larger master-planned district.
Both Civita and Crescent Village are situated near mass transit, and will feature village-enhancing amenities such as signature towers and wayfinders, commons areas and green spaces, and housing and retail fronts designed to engage the street and sidewalk, and spur pedestrian activity.
Civita is slated to start construction later this year, with Crescent Village scheduled to break ground in 2011.
These types of pedestrian-friendly communities continue to migrate south, says Darin Schoolmeester, principal at MVE Partners.
“They have moved from Seattle and Portland all the way down to Southern California,” Schoolmeester says.
The focal point of Crescent Village is a five-acre park, with the mixed-use element surrounding it, he says. Five different villages are actually part of Crescent Village, and since MVE master-planned the community, this allowed for distinct features in each village, while at the same time staying true to an urban, pedestrian-friendly vision, Schoolmeester says.
For Civita, MVE Partners designed the Creekside District portion of the development, which will include a mix of rental apartments, condominiums, and perhaps, seniors housing.
Demand for transit-oriented, pedestrian-friendly developments will continue to increase, Schoolmeester says.
“We’re finding that people want to be near their jobs and shopping areas,” he says. “They want less of the encumbrances of the single-family home lifestyle, such as caring for landscaping. They also want to connect more with their neighbors, and are looking for communities that enhance those opportunities.”
