Looking for ways to combat suburban sprawl, developers bring to market creative, high density communities in the outskirts of mature locations throughout the United States. From Townhomes for mixed-use apartment for "Big House" design, new development which offers a stylish rich population of housing options outside the city limits. Here is a case study of three new projects that stand out for their design and innovative use of land-produce the apartment community appeal any competitor in the single-family homes.

City embracing "Double Density" For Attacking Design

When it comes to the density of a city suburb will allow, bold design can make all the difference in the world. Case in point: Waterford Place, a $ 125 million mixed-use development that Shea Properties was opened in late 2003 in the City of Dublin, East Bay suburb of San Francisco.

Development, which combines 390 apartments and 125,000 square foot anchored retail store-room, sitting on the ground that was originally called for 16-acre shopping center. But after some extensive studies, Shea, based in Aliso Viejo, California, concluded that the area will not really support such a large, retail-only project.

So Shea suggested the city's half the land set aside for multi-housing community with 30 units per hectare. "We knew that we were really pushing it because we were just working with the city two years earlier, and they allow the highest density is around 22 units per hectare," said Don Gause, Senior Vice President of Shea Properties' residential development division .

City of Dublin, however, agreed to the 30. But then Shea pushed the envelope once again: This illustrated that the development could be built as a four-story project with a density of 49 units per acre, more than double what the city had previously allowed.

What surprised many people, the city's developers in the offer. "The project itself is the most solid we have in our society. This is the first major project with that many apartments in one location here. So it is something new for us, and we took the opportunity at [Shea]," says Janet Lockhart, Dublin mayor.

This brave Agreement, however, one based on the strict condition: That Shea provides the city with wonderful people with a well designed and, more importantly, private parking. "Our first major concern is that they are not attached to an apartment building out there with cars in the surrounding sea," said Lockhart.

As a result, Shea, along with the design firm Architects Orange, chose to create a "donut" community, where the parking structure located in the center and apartment properties wrapped around it.

"This is the first time this has been tried in the West Coast-place parking structure on the inside and outside the apartment building, and it has worked really well for us," said Lockhart. "The look of this project is very different from the standard of your apartment building, and the density is not an issue from the outside because it seems so big without all the cars around him."

While winning over the city was a major victory, there are still obstacles to be overcome. Site, for example, set some substantial planning challenges, including that the land was about an acre short of what is really necessary.

Shopping center needed a little more than 8 hectares, as well as housing components to max out the 390 units proposed for the property. "And this is a 16-hectare site," Gause said. "So what we need to do is to overlap the shopping center with housing and that is where the use of mixed elements really come into play."

Although mixed-use developments can often prove complicated, Gause explained that Shea's multi-faceted business model to give a big edge and allows for continuous development process: The company develops and manages commercial and residential properties, with two separate divisions to handle each type of real estate .

"A key point of this project is the ability of our Shea Properties' commercial division and development of multifamily groups to work together," Gause said.

Alliance makes it easy to work through the issues of security (eg housing group will manage all entryways shift full time as a porter is on the development staff), as well as voice control / quality of life (such as restaurant space located under the shelter needs vented to the roof, and restaurant equipment located on any roof should be acoustically treated so that no sound could be heard in the apartment below).

In addition to the two business units working together, as well as the architect. Architects Orange (based in Orange, Calif.), the lead designer on the side of the housing, in collaboration with the designers from The Shops at Waterford, SGPA Architecture and Planning of San Diego, to design both retail and residential components with Mediterranean influences:

And while Shea reclaim the site when the now declining high-tech industry is still inflated, Waterford still proved successful, with the apartments there currently 95 percent occupied.

"When we acquire the property, there are a large number of jobs will go into the East Dublin area," Gause said. "A lot of tech jobs are gone, but with Dublin City focuses on the use of the land here is, by mid're building for the central office, we know that in the long run this is a big bedroom community."

And the city, too, is very satisfied with the project that has become a model that other regional municipalities eager to imitate.

"Waterford has a real added benefit to our community, and has shown that building a multi-use project with housing and shopping centers so close together is really helpful," said Lockhart. "We have a lot of cities our neighbors came and saw the project, and they were very interested to put something similar in their own communities.

"In the end, Shea took the opportunity in bringing this project to us, and we took a chance on the density and the development of a completely different style than we used to," said Lockhart. "But I think we all win."

From the Parking Lot for parking-Court Townhomes

In class, the North Dallas suburbs Prestonwood, a former parking lot of a shopping center getting new life as a 207-unit townhome community designed in the style of the Big D has ever seen, according to the project developers and architects.

Developed by ZOM Texas Inc., which Estancia Townhomes bringing some Southern California flair to the Metroplex area. "The idea of beginning more than townhouse development similar to what you'll see in Washington, DC or New York, more kinds of brown stone. After discussions with ZOM, we found they were interested in pursuing something far more unique that will truly stand out , "said Ronald E. Harwick, Vice President and founding partner James Harwick & Partners LP, the architects Estancia Townhomes.

Inspiration for people to come in the form of the era of the 1930s, the bungalow-style, housing pages of the type popularized in Southern California, where the key element motor court. "We did a lot of research related to the style and feel of this product, read books and magazine articles on Southern California parking courts and [find] how it was done last year," said Harwick.

The result: a product of pure townhome with direct access, two car garage, hidden pages, an internal community roads and bungalow-style stucco and Spanish architectural accents.

This site formerly part of the parking lot of 90 acres of shopping center experience a conversion to high-tech network services and Web hosting requirements for parking facilities by allowing low-alternative space for the reconstruction occurs on the left-over parking.

The appeal of the location of the mature suburbs, and the fact that the limited availability of land seems to call for infill housing solutions for local needs, drive ZOM to get 15-acre park back in 2002. In addition, the previous owner had been categorized packages for multifamily even being used as a parking lot, giving ZOM provides a headstart in the region with the development of a quality rental.

"What motivates us is that this is a quality location, good income in the area, and shopping and entertainment venues nearby," said Kevin Wisdom, Executive Vice President of ZOM Texas Inc. "There's an opportunity to provide a different community a strong architectural image at the level of the exterior and finishing steps above the competition in the country. "

To help in pinning down what the market can handle Prestonwood, Wisdom turned to Foley & Puls Inc., a company that provides strategic real estate market research for developers, investors, asset management companies, property managers and lenders in the fundamental details that affect the performance of a project multifamily. According to Michael Puls, founder of Foley & Puls, the company broke market to determine what type and size of units that perform better and then analyzed regional income levels to determine if the household income can support the proposed structure of the property price, which is currently under construction, but has begun leasing.

"By looking at these factors, we came up with a unit mix that has the possibility of a higher success based on the market," Puls said. "In the case of Prestonwood, a little mix dictated by the site and product concept Townhomes two car garage. But our other project than the North Dallas rental property and structures to Kevin was achieved in the marketplace."

On the design front, a narrow, elongated site proved a challenge in an attempt to reach the 14 - to 15 units per acre density that aims to ZOM, but Harwick find your way around obstacles. "Density and unit-size of the challenge was overcome by using a module building highly efficient, we try to maintain a minimum number of unit types," Harwick said.

Townhomes property features individually plotted which is part of a larger, four-to six-unit building. "By doing that, it becomes much more efficient plan, and we were able to squeeze it all on one site," said Harwick.

One Puls' recommendations, including a two-story ZOM see site plan than the three first floor. Although the three-story clear approach will allow for more density, Puls predicts that the older demographic prevalent throughout Prestonwood will be more likely to receive a two-story walk-ups.

In a kind of compromise on this question, mostly two-story Townhomes with the third-floor attic elements found in some. In another nod to the lifestyle preferences that might be residents, the architects designing a lot of two-to four-bedroom floorplans, which average 1680 square meters, with first floor master bedroom to accommodate people who are empty nesters who want a convenient basically just stay on the ground floor with guest rooms above.

To add diversity to the exterior Townhomes, architects adorned with elements such as the height of a window in a kitchen or a bay projection on several buildings. "The idea is to make it more clear to the individual so that each townhome will not be the same," said Harwick.

The individual plotted Townhomes ZOM also allows to easily convert people to a product to sell at a time when practically Puls think maybe now, given success Townhomes higher prices in the area. "It seems we only have a good chance to change the property to be sold to Townhomes, and I suggested that perhaps the time is right this second," Puls said.

Tributaries, Contours and Compete with Single Family

Anyone who says multifamily could not compete head-to-head with single-family homes? On the outskirts of Montgomery Cincinnati, Ohio, Apartment Investment and Management Co. (AIMCO) is proving it can be.

After a tornado tore through a community owned and operated by AIMCO here in 2002, redevelopment of the site is inevitable. "When I look at the site after the tornado passed, and realize that we can not fix what was there, the idea is that tears and build new ones," said Joe DeTuno, Executive Vice President of AIMCO rebuilding for. "And realize that we are in the middle of a very high-end community, I want to put in higher end products there."

DeTuno go to match the quality of the building to be established by AIMCO to the one in the neighborhood single-family homes, which average about $ 500,000. Having recently completed a community in Chandler, Ariz. with Humphreys & Partners LP's Big House design, DeTuno concluded that the best route to go.

"The idea is to create an environment, not just an apartment complex with a sea of parking and had nothing to do with anything," said DeTuno. "So what we do is adapt to the concept of a large house to fit this environment."

290 units Glenbridge manor, consisting of 10 - and 13-unit buildings spread over nearly 26 hectares, is Cincinnati's first Big House community. This, according to Mark Humphreys, CEO of Humphreys & Partners, has given AIMCO is a real competitive advantage.

"This property is different from other products out there," said Humphreys. "When a prospective tenant-by-choice who would be eligible for a home, but do not want to buy one-get out and look at other apartment projects in the market, there will be some who have installed one - and two-car garage, kitchen island, 11-foot-walk-in closets and all the facilities you'll find in a single-family homes. "

While the developer wanted a community that can compete with single-family homes, they also want one with a fair level of density. But one of their biggest challenges to overcome in future planning and design is the site topography which has many small rivers and walked past contours.

To maximize the density, the decision was made to use two-three-split design. In other words, buildings along the river were built to three stories on the side of the river and two stories on the front of the building, providing an additional four units per building on the site. As a result, this project could reach 11 units per hectare, less than ideal, but enough to satisfy AIMCO.

At first, the people around did not express concern about what will replace the destroyed communities. But design plans for a quick class to win their support.

"Once we show the design community, they realize that this is for their benefit rather than harm," said DeTuno. They acknowledged, according to DeTuno, Glenbridge manor clear high-quality, class A community of mostly two-story building: much more desirable than what lies at the previous site, a nearly 40-year-old complex of four-to six-story, brick walk-ups .

In the construction price of $ 61 per square meter, the cost of slightly more than the average apartment properties, according to the Humphreys. "The Big House design is very economical to build because it is designed somewhat like a hallway, where the unit is returned to the back and all plumbing stacks," he said. "The difference is that in a hallway, you have to build eight feet wide, 60-foot long hallway to the stairs two times in each building. We do not have that here."

Big House to take the general and divide it between all units, allowing Glenbridge manor apartments in an average of 629 square feet for one bedroom to 1518 square feet to three bedroom units. In fact, the only aspect that proved costly development is the garage. "Every garage in a big house like this cost about $ 4000 or $ 5000," said Humphreys.

In addition, Humphreys believes that manor Glenbridge goes well with the demographic of women-specifically designed to attract people.

"We target the design to the woman, who we believe is the main decision maker in which the family will live, at least if people are smart," he said sarcastically. "Women are generally more aware of what makes a better floorplan and can be received at home. So we designed for them."

And the public is doing quite well in front of the rental. After opening at the end of 2003, unit-price of $ 685 to $ 1580 - enough to receive attention from prospective residents, 60 to 70 percent of whom are eligible homebuyer.

"This project confirms the invalidity of the myth that you can not compete with single-family homes. So many developers are building old-style apartments and tenants complained they were losing their homes, whether it's no wonder there," said Humphreys. "I do not believe that Glenbridge manor is an apartment, we provide a home." Architecturemag.com