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posts in "Project Highlight"

Contrasting Whole Foods in Austin and Philadelphia

Posted on May 03, 2012 by David Leazenby

Downtown grocery stores are tough to implement. There is no way around it. Not even the most organic and flexible among us can pull off a new store perfectly and serve both pedestrians and cars equally well. I had the opportunity last week to visit stores in both Philadelphia and Austin and the differences are striking. I was expecting the Austin store to impress me. It's their headquarters after all; as well as a flagship store. Located downtown in the hip West Sixth neighborhood, it covers a full city block. (Inside, it is nothing short of grocery bliss, and if you can navigate the crowd you will be rewarded with some of the best barbecue in Texas according to my tour guide with Austin Eats.) However, I wasn't focused on the food on this stop. I had my eyes on how Whole Foods developed in an urban neighborhood, which they usually do so well with structured parking, mixed-uses, flexible store design, etc. In fact, a couple days earlier, I was in Philadelphia and spotted this iconic Whole Foods blended into the streetscape as if it were here for 100 years.
In Austin I saw something completely different. Of the four street frontages around the store, you will find the following: 1. loading zone 2. parking lot 3. parking lot 4. stair-stepped facade and signage camouflaging the real entrance. There isn't one comfortable walking experience all the way around the building. The best approach is by car, which I did a couple days later to take these pictures below. It's design would be very welcome in suburban areas that are trying to create urban districts, but yet are still auto-dominated markets. What impressed me most about the neighborhood is that the tallest buildings in downtown Austin are residential and are located within walking distance to a fantastic grocery store. That is tough to beat on the sustainability test. I just wish I didn't have to drive there.

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This entry was posted in Design, Project Highlight, USA West

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Ball State University rewarded for Thinking Mixed Use

Posted on March 13, 2012 by Milhaus Development

The National Association of Industrial and Office Properties (NAIOP) recently held the 2012 Indiana NAIOP University Competition, where student teams were challenged to create a development plan for a client seeking a new 500,000 square foot cross-dock distribution facility in the Indianapolis Metro Area. While other schools selected green-field sites outside of the city, Ball State University developed an innovative plan for the facility to be an infill project within a horizontal mixed-use district.

The Ball State team selected a site on Indianapolis’s Eastside that would give employees the ability to walk to work and surrounding retail amenities. Included in the proposal were sustainable features such as a photovoltaic roof system and an unprecedented partnership with Keep Indianapolis Beautiful, Inc. to use excess land on the site for the purpose of community gardens that would serve Indianapolis grocers and restaurants that seek locally grown food. “We knew going into the competition that we were going to take a much different approach than the other teams,” said BSU Co-Captain Jake Dietrich. “We found an infill site in a horizontally mixed-use district that allowed us to create a project that was not only financially viable, but environmentally sustainable as well.”

Ball State won the “Audience Choice Award” and was praised for their creativity by senior executives from industry leading companies such as Duke Realty, CBRE, Prologis, and Cassidy Turley. Keystone Construction Corporation’s Greg Martz was pleasantly surprised with what Ball State put together. “Ball State pushed the envelope with their proposal because it forced the audience to think beyond the bottom line. It was an absolute success.”

Congratulations to the Ball State University team on their award and for choosing to “Think Mixed Use™.”

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This entry was posted in Project Highlight

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New Mozzo Rendering

Posted on October 21, 2011 by Milhaus Development

Here is a new rendering of the Mozzo Apartments, which we have proposed to be developed at 531 Virginia Avenue in the Holy Rosary Neighborhood in downtown Indianapolis. The 4-story mixed-use building comprised of 64 units and a corner cafe space are designed to provide flexibility with the new Cultural Trail. North of the corner space, the first floor spaces will be available for residential or commercial uses. The building will include a mix of studios, one bedroom and two bedroom units. We plan to start construction in the first quarter of 2012.

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This entry was posted in Project Highlight, USA Midwest

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Great places need enough residences

Posted on October 18, 2011 by Tadd Miller

Developed by Woodbine Development Corporation and now fully owned by Macerich, Kierland Commons is a very successful and award winning project. It’s retail spaces are well-leased and has heavy volumes of very diverse, multi-cultural and high-end traffic. For the residential units it has a great sales team led by Bill Hammond of Signature Properties and they are offering a terrific residential product. The amenities, quality, unique design, mountain views and finishes exceeded my expectations. However, I am not sure this is the place where I would want to purchase a home. Although I am a strong supporter, investor, and promoter of building residential into large-scale retail projects, I believe there is one critical element to this concept that was missed at Kierland Commons - and its perhaps not the developer's fault. In order to create a sustainable residential neighborhood and a place that feels like home, it is important to create enough residences to build value around each other. The 84 units at Kierland Commons seems to be floating in the middle of a mall, with no real hopes for neighborhood expansion. With such a small number of units, it makes me wonder if the residential will always be a second class “tenant” dominated by the retail space? It’s a fantastic place and I wish more units could be incorporated there. I am not sure if the 84 units was negotiated by strict zoning guidelines. However, this project demonstrates the effects of building too few units in a major retail center. A critical mass of residential units (at least 200) and at enough density (at least 25/acre) are critically important. I could see this being a great hotel location, a place to spend a night away near the shops and dining, but a long term residential commitment with so few neighbors seems less likely. Just like the retail space in a new development needs a critical mass of shops, the residential product needs to have enough people living there to build a true neighborhood. It creates stability and adds more long-term value.

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This entry was posted in Our Philosophy, Project Highlight, USA West

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Stacked Big Boxes in Houston

Posted on August 30, 2011 by Tadd Miller

On my way out of Houston recently I came across Trammell Crow’s stacked big box deal at the corner of Richmond Ave. and Wesleyan St. in the Greenway neighborhood. It includes a Costco superstore as it's base and an LA Fitness stacked on top. It is flanked by two-story office/retail b-shops, and attached to a Morgan Group apartment project called 33. It is clear that the national credit tenant is driving the requirement for surface parking at the front door. Direct access from the parking garage directly into LA and Costco make it very convenient. However, the lack of integration with the residential makes it appear as if residents would need to drive from Morgan’s apartments to the Costco. It seems awkward that it is not more integrated with this large of an investment into a high density mixed use deal. A health center on the second floor seems like a pretty good use for space that would likely be un-leasable in a retail format. Although disappointed in the limited pedestrian connectivity, it is nice to see some creativity/flexibility from these national retailers by at least stacking these boxes. Would love to recreate something like this in downtown Indianapolis. Urban residents need these services and this is the only way to get these retailers to fit on the available land.

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This entry was posted in Project Highlight, USA West

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Merrick Park in Coral Gables

Posted on August 17, 2011 by Tadd Miller

In a different economic time I am sure Merrick Park would have been one of the award winning mixed use projects of the last decade. Unfortunately, Rouse’s vision in Coral Gables has been severely affected by the economic downturn. The concept is exciting, and the central courtyard and attention to detail is impeccable. Yet, it had little traffic on multiple visits recently. It is hard to fault a specific project in Florida, especially in the hard hit Miami area. However, there are some lessons in its design and programming to take away from it. It feels somewhat dark entering in, it has storefront retail where there is no traffic, there is very limited parking, and the entire center faces inward on itself. These issues are compounded by the mixed use dilemma between the retail and residential uses (which comes first?). As readers here will know, it is very difficult for residential to be successful without quality retail underneath it. But also, if you have a bunch of empty residences, then it can also undermine the leasing of the retail spaces.

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This entry was posted in Project Highlight, USA Southeast

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829 Folsom - San Francisco

Posted on August 15, 2011 by David Leazenby

After touring a couple high priced towers in San Francisco, it's nice to visit a more approachable building that has less fuss, but still focuses on details. Designed by Forma, LLC in San Francisco, this 9-story mixed-use building known as 829 Folsom is simple and very well done. While its less amenitized than others in its market, it targets a different buyer. Some people do not want to pay for a pool deck, a fitness center or a large lobby awaiting their return every evening. Also, while it's views are less stunning than something like One Rincon Hill, its 69 units compete where it really counts today. Here you find much lower prices and less condo fees, too. Like other new condo and apartment buildings today, the focus on contemporary finishes is evident. White/chrome fixtures with dark counters and warm, natural colored cabinets seems to be the norm. In fact, here you can even get the one remaining studio unit without a parking space for $399,000 - a bargain for new product in the city. There are not many places in the US where you can sell units without parking spaces. They have sold 5 out of 6 in this building. Many housing trends originate in the Bay Area. Perhaps this is one coming soon to a neighborhood near you. The building also includes 2,652sf of space available for a commercial use on the first floor. Anyway, as promised, here are some pics below from my visit with Hugh O'Donnell, salesperson and excellent tour guide. My pics are nothing compared to their Flickr site.

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This entry was posted in Project Highlight, USA West

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One Rincon Hill in San Francisco

Posted on August 08, 2011 by David Leazenby

We learn a lot from studying other projects in different cities. Each place has its own unique market and culture that becomes incorporated into any given design. While in San Francisco this weekend I checked out the development progress in the Downtown and South of Market areas. With each year that goes by, this neighborhood continues its radical change from warehouses to people places. One of the more dramatic changes has happened in the Rincon Hill neighborhood (See also CurbedSF's Rincon Hill's page). What began with a city initiative to bring more housing near the Financial District and the waterfront has resulted in a new way to live in the city. It’s certainly less charming and with few slopes, but rather more modern and glistening. The glass, steel, and water combine for a new way to experience the city. Some there call it "Manhattan-like." But it’s different than that. The plan is for tall, carefully spaced, very slender, low profile buildings in order to preserve everyone's cherished views that make the city special. See more on the Rincon Hill plan here. I visited four condo projects on Saturday in South of Market, including Millennium Tower, One Rincon Hill, 829 Folsom and Blu. I found some spectacular views (and prices). See pics below of One Rincon Hill, developed by Urban West Associates in San Francisco. I'll post some pics of other buildings later this week.

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This entry was posted in Project Highlight, USA West

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Historic Mixed-Use in Fountain Square

Posted on August 02, 2011 by Jake Dietrich

The construction of the Indianapolis Cultural Trail, an urban pedestrian and bicycle path connecting downtown Indy neighborhoods, is nearing its completion. In addition to being a great recreational facility for the city, it also has potential for business growth due to the increased foot traffic walking past storefront windows along the Trail. One of the last pieces of the trail that is still under construction is the Southeast Corridor along Virginia Avenue. This section runs right into Fountain Square, a shopping and entertainment district that strongly lives by their slogan “funky, artsy, retro…anything but square.” It is widely considered one of Indianapolis’s most culturally rich neighborhoods.

The commercial anchor to the neighborhood is the Fountain Square Theatre Building, an entertainment, shopping, and office cornerstone for the city originally constructed in 1928. The building saw great success for four decades until it began to slowly see a decline in the late 1960s. However, since the Fall of 1993, current owner Linton Calvert has been restoring the building with the ultimate goal of trying to restore the building's original character as best as possible. During lunch one day, Linton was kind enough to show our Milhaus group around the building. Within the brilliantly restored mixed-use building we saw uses such as entertainment, hotel, recreation, restaurant, café, bar, social gathering, and business. We could easily understand why the building is often the destination of company retreats, weddings, social gatherings, and plain good old-fashioned fun. For more information on the building or facility reservations, please visit their website.

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This entry was posted in Project Highlight, USA Midwest

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Sophia Square Anchors Downtown Carmel

Posted on July 27, 2011 by David Leazenby

We had the opportunity recently to tour the new Sophia Square project on Main Street in Downtown Carmel, Indiana. Standing in contrast to its suburban locale, this four-story, 240,000 square foot, mixed-use development by Keystone Construction now anchors the Arts & Design District. What began with the Carmel Redevelopment Commission purchasing the entire block situated on the Monon Trail in 2007 has now resulted in 202 apartments, 40,000 square feet of commercial space, and 400 public underground parking spaces. The building is designed in a "donut" format with a courtyard and pool in the center. Because of the public subsidy in the project, the parking garage and most of the courtyard must remain open to the public. With perhaps the most stylish interior design in this market for an amenity center, Sophia Square promises to attract those creative professionals seeking to be close to the employment and attractions of the Arts & Design District. Apartment leasing is about 1/3 complete in only a few months. In addition, its location happens to be the among the top two busiest daytime stretches of the Monon Trail on weekends. You can't get a better marketing window than that. Check out the pictures below.