Elements at Kowloon Station is an 82,750-square-meter (890,714-sf) retail complex at the heart of Union Square, the largest mixed-use development in Hong Kong. The high-end shopping center brings to the vast mini-city, built on reclaimed land, retail and nightlife opportunities for residents, businesspersons, and visitors. Situated near the southern coast of Kowloon, Elements at Kowloon was developed around two Mass Transit Railway (MTR) stations, providing vital links to Hong Kong and Lantau islands.
Located just east of downtown Seattle, the Bullitt Center is a six-story green building with more than 44,700 square feet of net rentable office space. The Bullitt Foundation, a nonprofit philanthropic organization with a focus on the environment, worked with local real estate firm Point32 to develop the $32.5 million building. Designed to meet the stringent requirements of the Living Building Challenge (LBC), the Bullitt Center produces all of its electricity on site via a 14,000-square-foot rooftop photovoltaic array. A variety of methods are used in the building to conserve and manage water, including the following: rainwater harvesting; a green roof and a bioswale to treat graywater; and composting toilets. Other green features include geothermal heating and cooling, the use of Forest Stewardship Council–certified wood, and the use of building materials and finishes that are free of 14 classes of toxic chemicals. In addition, although the building has no automobile parking spaces, there is ample bicycle parking in the basement and showers on every floor—except the first—for bicycle and jogging commuters.
ECO Modern Flats is a 96-unit multifamily rental project on a 2.9-acre site in Fayetteville, Arkansas, home to the University of Arkansas. The $7.4 million development project involved the complete renovation and repositioning of four three-story buildings first built between 1968 and 1972. The project includes both sustainable design and wellness features and has been targeted to an underserved rental market of young professionals 20 to 30 years of age
King’s Cross is a mixed-use, urban regeneration project in central London that is also a major transport hub for the city. Located on the site of former rail and industrial facilities, the 67-acre (27 ha) redevelopment is ongoing and involves restoration of historic buildings as well as new construction, with the entire plan organised around internal streets and 26 acres (10.5 ha) of open space to form a new public realm for the area. Principal uses include 3.4 million square feet (316,000 sq m) of office space, 2,000 residential units, 500,000 square feet (46,400 sq m) of retail and leisure space, a hotel, and educational facilities. The site is served directly by six London Underground lines, two national mainline train stations, and an international high-speed rail connecting to Paris.
Masonvale is an employer-assisted housing development of 157 rental units on 27 acres on the eastern edge of the George Mason University (“Mason”) campus in Fairfax County, Virginia, a suburban area of Washington, D.C. Located in a region known for its high cost of living, the university considered how to address its need for workforce housing options. Mason entered into a ground lease for the development of Masonvale, which provides conveniently located, high-quality housing—including townhouses and flats—at below-market rents. Rentals of units are limited to faculty, staff, and full-time graduate students at Mason and employees of the city of Fairfax and Fairfax County, with priority for new faculty.
The Rise is an exemplary model of transit-oriented, central-city development that successfully mixes large-format retail uses with smaller shops and housing in a well-resolved mid-rise form. Grosvenor Americas’ mixed-use, residential-over-retail building is located just south of downtown Vancouver, British Columbia, on Cambie Street, a major north–south arterial road and transit route. The building occupies an entire 2.3-acre block and includes 92 rental live/work units above 200,000 square feet of retail space, a one-acre fully internalized truck court and waste/recycling area, and three levels of underground parking with 520 retail and 121 residential parking stalls. The retail component includes three large-format stores, each situated on its own floor. Smaller streetfront shops line two sides of the building. The residential component sits on the roof of the retail podium in an open-air townhouse and flat configuration with units surrounding a functional, shared, grass-covered courtyard and community garden.
