How a Master Plan is Transforming This Market

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SAN DIEGO, CA—The Ariva and Domain apartment communities, built in phases here in Kearny Mesa, flank Centrum Park and complement existing office buildings and retail, creating a true community feeling for the submarket, TCA Architects' principal and leader of the Los Angeles office Eric Olsen tells GlobeSt.com. TCA designed both communities for Sunroad Enterprises, and with Ariva recently completed, we spoke exclusively with Olsen about the project and the role of architects and developers in changing the shape of a community.

GlobeSt.com: How does the design of both Domain and Ariva by your firm represent the coming together of two projects into a cohesive whole?

Olsen: It all started from master-planning this project to work with the existing office campus to the west. When we originally planned Domain, the Phase 1 housing project, it incorporated this master plan that brought a public park, residential and mixed use to this office campus. In working with the City and the Kearny Mesa community plan, the idea was to create a residential destination, to create some public space that has a community benefit in addition to adding the housing element. Phase 1 is the first phase of residential construction in this master plan that's really five phases. Domain has 379 units of Phase 1 adjacent to Centrum Park, and Ariva on the other side of the park completes it.

Interestingly, the community plan in Kearny Mesa really called for public space like this. Kearny Mesa doesn't have a lot of public parks or existing space, so part of the master plan was to create the public space that the community really wanted, and it worked out nicely for the ownership. Phases 4 and 5 are mixed-use buildings that bridge the gap between office to the west and purely residential buildings to the east, and we planned this small connection road between Phases 4 and 5 to link the public park with the office campus. The idea is if you live in the area, you can walk over and grab a sandwich and eat it in the park, or if you work in the office buildings you can walk down and hit the convenience retail and enjoy the public parks as well.

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GlobeSt.com: How much of a role are apartment designers and developers playing in changing the shape of a community?

Olsen: From a planning standpoint, we talked about the public park and adding a horizontal mixed-use component to complement the office. On the architectural side, the new housing and mixed use play off the commercial buildings and create a cohesive community within a community so that this Sunroad project feels complementary. The residential is contemporary and borrows some motifs from the office buildings, so there's that connection—a tie—but then the purely residential buildings appear that they go with the master plan as well.

In phase 1, there is a recreational facility with an outdoor pool and a small amenity building that's on the centerline of a private drive and the park. It completes the connection between the office plaza and this courtyard looking down over the park.

GlobeSt.com: What are some of the latest trends you're seeing in multifamily design in San Diego?

Olsen: Everyone is looking for great amenities. They're looking for an onsite fitness center whereby they can drop their 24-Hour Fitness membership; they want resort-style pools and recreation centers where they can entertain. Some of the units are trending smaller in square footage to lower the price point and entry to get into the building, and then there is an increase in the square footage of the amenity space so you can entertain guests or hang out and feel like you're at a resort on the weekends.