Project Data:

Completion Date:     6/26/2020

Square Footage:      49000

Building Use:           This adaptive reuse of an underperforming commercial building into an affordable housing community preserves the original character of the building’s International Style architecture and provides extensive amenities and connectivity to local city life.

Design Architect:      Studio One Eleven

Project Description:

Originally built in 1965 as a bank and five-story office tower, the building is an outstanding example of the International Style of architecture, which has roots in the Modernist design movement of the twentieth century. It is the first redevelopment under Santa Ana’s new Adaptive Reuse Ordinance, and the project repurposes the existing building into 58 affordable live-work lofts and townhomes and converts an underused surface parking lot into a lush garden and playground. In converting the building to an affordable housing community, it was critical to the architects to preserve the character of the existing structure. This integration of affordable housing, arts programming, and sidewalk improvements address the needs of the community and uplifts the area.

Ground floor art spaces and Live/Work lofts activates the street edge, supports the business of artists and engages the neighborhood. Streetscape improvements include a traffic-calming bulb-out at Sycamore and Seventeenth Street and a new bike boulevard on nearby Bush Street connects the project to downtown Santa Ana. Restored ribbon windows wrap the tower building on all four sides, providing ample natural light. Ten newly constructed townhomes line Sycamore Street with front porches, and the former asphalt parking deck has been transformed into a lush courtyard with orange trees and a children’s play area. The existing subterranean parking below remains for residents and serves the building with direct access to the lobby. The new landscape design incorporates the original circular planters at the front plaza and carefully preserves the existing mature palm trees, while providing new street trees surrounding the building.

Located near Santa Ana’s arts institutions, shopping and employment centers, the pedestrian-oriented site has an excellent Walk Score of 90. The project supports the City’s mission of developing Main Street into an arts corridor, bringing exceptionally high-quality affordable homes to a community that will benefit from an infusion of resident artists. The redevelopment includes 6,000 square feet of amenities for both building tenants and the public, including art studio spaces, a dance studio, an art gallery, and two music studios.

The developer secured funding from the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities Program (AHSC). AHSC is one of California’s largest funding sources for affordable housing and combines affordable housing with high-quality transportation investments to foster healthy and well-connected communities.

The project is LEED equivalent, as it followed the LEED sustainability standards through design and construction. The preservation of the structure minimized the amount of materials demolished and sent to landfills and thereby avoided significant GHG emission contribution as a by-product of embodied carbon. The new construction portion of the development exceeded the code energy requirements by 25%, due in large part due to the double walls used for architectural relief and increased insulation. Additionally, a high efficiency domestic hot water system cut the project’s power requirements nearly in half.

As a testament to the benefits of providing dignified, equitable housing, the building owners report inquiries from potential renters who are unaware of the building’s affordable status; they are simply people that express a desire to live in such a beautiful place and be part of a flourishing community.