Circa 37 Apartments, MVE Architects Rendering

SAN DIEGO-Sudberry Development Inc. has slated a groundbreaking ceremony for this coming Friday for the Civita master-planned development, where the San Diego-based development firm is under way on the first phase of the project, called Circa 37 apartments. The $59.5 million financing for the 306-unit Circa 37 complex, a project designed by MVE & Partners, includes a $47 million construction loan and a $12.5 million mezzanine loan arranged by the San Diego office of HFF.

HFF arranged the three-year construction loan through Wells Fargo Real Estate Group Inc. and the mezzanine loan through a life insurance company. The HFF team representing the borrower included director Aldon Cole and senior managing director Tim Wright. Cole describes Circa 37 as “the first project within one of the largest development sites in central San Diego.”

Available for first occupancy in April 2012, the 10.65-acre Circa 37 project will have 11 buildings with units ranging from one to three bedrooms and averaging 948 square feet each. Its planned community amenities include a clubhouse with fitness center, game room and roof terrace, a junior Olympic resort-style salt water swimming pool and an outdoor children’s play area.

The MVE & Partners web site describes Circa 37 Apartments as two- and three-story stacked flats in a design that is notable for a variety of elements, including “walkable streets and a hierarchy of parks and open spaces promote community gathering and interaction.” The complex “is further defined by pedestrian linkages between neighborhoods, open spaces, community landmarks and public transportation,” MVE says. It notes that parking is segregated from the street and located in garages and open parking within the smaller blocks.

Civita, which was formerly known as Quarry Falls, is a 230-acre urban infill community, which upon build-out may include 4,780 residential units, 480,000 square feet of retail, 420,000 square feet of office, a civic center with amphitheater, a recreation center and public parks/open space. The Civita site is west of Interstate 805 at 5723 Mission Center Road in Mission Valley. The community will have access to the San Diego Trolley via a pedestrian bridge and is close to Qualcomm Stadium, Interstates 15 and 8, Highway 163, and multiple dining, hospitality, restaurant and entertainment destinations.