New Genesis Apartments

New Genesis Apartments is a 106-unit, mixed-income, mixed-use housing redevelopment project that includes local retailers, affordable artists’ lofts, and supportive housing services. The project is located between downtown Los Angeles’s burgeoning historic core and the city’s Skid Row neighborhood, a 50-block area that is home to more than 4,600 people who lack permanent stable housing. Learn more.

Prospect Plaza

Prospect Plaza is a mixed-use affordable housing redevelopment project spread over five buildings and three blocks in Brooklyn’s Ocean Hill–Brownsville neighborhood. The $200 million project is replacing a former New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) complex with a mix of nearly 400 public housing and affordable rental apartments, retail space, and community and recreational facilities designed to support resident health in a rapidly developing area with significant public health challenges. Learn more.

High Point

High Point is a 129-acre (52 ha) mixed-income redevelopment project in Seattle focused on resident well-being and an enhanced quality of life in the surrounding area. Health-promoting features at High Point include a community clinic, pedestrian-friendly design, and homes designed to reduce the risk and severity of asthma. Learn more.

Mariposa

At Mariposa, an affordable housing redevelopment project located southwest of downtown Denver and redeveloped by the Denver Housing Authority, physical activity is encouraged through thoughtful design and programming choices. Located adjacent to a new light-rail station, Mariposa encourages the use of active transportation options with a bike-sharing program and supportive classes, and the community center features an attractive, interactive internal staircase and lots of programming to get people moving. Learn more.

The Interlace

The Interlace is a 1,040-unit mixed use development inspired by the old villages of Singapore. Developer CapitaLand Singapore Limited partnered with the Office for Metropolitan Architecture to create eight courtyards, cascading rooftop gardens, and terraces within a “vertical village” to provide views, ventilation, and green spaces for all levels of the 24-story complex. The hexagonal arrangement of the development was designed and tested to provide passive cooling and shade in Singapore’s tropical climate.

Physical activity, social interaction, and aging-in-place is encouraged through a wide range of facilities. There is a series of play pools, an Olympic-sized lap pool, three tennis courts, and a fitness center. Bicycle storage and parking facilities are provided underground and vast green spaces, covering over 112 percent of the original property, are provided at ground level and above. Community gardens, playgrounds, barbeque pits, dog runs, and outdoor exercise equipment promote outdoor physical activity and social gatherings. A running track around the perimeter of the Interlace is so wide it doubles as access for fire and emergency response vehicles. The universal design features of the Interlace, including specialized aging-in-place units and wheelchair-friendly fitness centers, was recognized by Singapore’s Building Construction Authority with the Gold Plus (Design) award.

Learn more about the Interlace in this case study and in ULI’s Building for Wellness: The Business Case report.

Via6

Via6 is a 654-unit mixed-use apartment complex spanning an entire city block of downtown Seattle, Washington. Developer Pine Street Group LLC and designers GGLO and Hewitt created this two-tower development as a “vertical neighborhood” of residential, leisure, and commercial spaces in an area formerly devoid of housing and street life.

The central location of Via6 ensures walkable access to a major transit hub, ground-floor retail, and carsharing services. The numerous amenities and facilities of Via6 itself aim to promote social interaction and physical activity. The ViaBike Club and the Velo Bike Shop are located on-site to provide residents and visitors with a bicycle washing station, a storage facility, lockers, showers, mechanic classes, stands, tools, and a bicycle lending service. An eighteen-foot chronograph in the lobby and two in-house event coordinators facilitate social events for residents to meet their neighbors. This LEED Gold certified building also features a green roof pavilion with indoor and outdoor gathering and barbeque spaces, rain water collection and irrigation, motion-detected lighting and climate controls, a ground-floor theater area, and a mezzanine with a fitness center, a game room, and communal lounges. Via6 remains, to date, the largest private development in Seattle’s history and has received commendation as a 2014 Urban Land Institute Global Awards of Excellence finalist, a 2014 high rise project of the year merit award from the Multi-Family Executive, and a 2013 Multi-Family Development of the Year from NAIOP Washington State.

Learn more about Via6 in this case study and in ULI’s Building for Wellness: The Business Case report.

The Century Building

The Century Building is the first affordable housing development in downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The building contains 28 workforce units, and 32 market-rate units, along with street-level commercial, retail, and amenity spaces. It was the first mixed-use residential development in Pittsburgh to achieve LEED Gold certification for green building practices, with recycling on every floor, Energy Star appliances, efficient light fixtures and windows, low-flow water fixtures, and dual flush toilets. The Century Building is the adaptive reuse of a historic 1907 office complex, developed by the TREK Development Group and designed by Koning Eizenberg Architects with Moshier Studios.

Asthma and allergy rates for residents have reportedly decreased, in part due to the property’s non-smoking policy, nontoxic building materials, open-loop geothermal system for consistent heating and cooling, recovery ventilation system for fresh air, and energy-wheel to manage heating and odors. A bright green bicycle mural on the building’s north wall welcomes city cyclists and calls attention to a collaboratively-financed secure Bicycle Commuter Center on site. The property also includes a fully-equipped fitness facility, a community room, and a green rooftop deck with views of downtown that serves as a gathering space for residents.

Learn more about the Century Building in ULI’s Building for Wellness: The Business Case report.

1221 Broadway

1221 Broadway, in San Antonio, Texas, is the adaptive reuse of an abandoned concrete superstructure into a mixed-use development featuring 307 rental units and 10,000 square feet of office space. The project was developed by Area Real Estate and designed by Lake/Flato Architects with O’Neill Conrad Oppelt Architects Inc. Downtown restaurants and entertainment and recreational opportunities are within walking distance via the historic Riverwalk trail, adjacent to the property. At a minimal cost, the developer installed a multitool bike repair station, a B-cycle bikeshare station, and 100 outdoor bike racks.

On site, 1221 Broadway encourages exercise and physical fitness. The developer subsidizes yoga and workout classes in a covered, open-air parking structure featuring 360-degree views of the city. Gym equipment and studio flooring are also available in two additional fitness centers on the premises. Residents can swim year-round in a resort-style pool or a heated rooftop pool. Programmed events and informal gatherings are held in central courtyards, which feature communal tables, barbeques, and exterior staircases that create a collegial feeling among neighbors. An abundance of trees and floor-to-ceiling windows bring natural light, fresh air, and shade into the complex. A dog park at the north end of the site provides an additional gathering space for residents and the over one hundreds dogs living in 1221 Broadway. The success of 1221 Broadway has been a catalyst for commercial development in a previously derelict district.

Learn more about 1221 Broadway in this case study and in ULI’s Building for Wellness: The Business Case report.

ECO Modern Flats

ECO Modern Flats in Fayetteville, Arkansas, is a one of-a-kind rehabilitation of a 1960s apartment building. Developed by Specialized Real Estate Group and designed by Modus Studio, it is the first multifamily building in the state to be certified LEED Platinum.

ECO Modern Flats is not only designed according to sustainable principles, it also promotes a healthy lifestyle for its residents. Bio-based spray foam insulation and non-VOC paints and finishes reduce the amount of chemicals that residents are exposed to. A ductless heating and cooling system reduces mold, mildew, and dust accumulation, as do concrete floors that do not harbor dust or other allergens and are easy to clean. A strictly enforced nonsmoking policy—the first of its kind in the region—protects residents from secondhand smoke.

Learn more about ECO Modern Flats in ULI’s Building for Wellness: The Business Case report.

Arbor House

Arbor House is a low-income multifamily housing development in the South Bronx, New York, that sets the bar high for green and healthy multifamily buildings. The project, developed by Blue Sea Development and the New York City Housing Authority and designed by ABS Architecture, aims to maintain healthy indoor air quality and to reduce the high asthma rates of the residents.

Several features of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)-platinum building were designed to achieve these goals. A living green wall in the lobby produces fresh oxygen, an air filtration system helps clean the air, and low and no-VOC materials were used during construction. The development also maintains a 100 percent no-smoking policy, designed to improve the air quality in and around the development, and an integrated pest management program eliminates the need to use chemicals to keep pests away.

Via Verde

At Via Verde, a 222-unit, mixed-income housing project in New York City’s South Bronx neighborhood developed by Jonathan Rose Companies and Phipps House and designed by Dattner Architects, Grimshaw Architects, and Lee Weintraub Landscape Architecture, urban agriculture dominates.

Garden amenities and facilities are located throughout the development, including a ground-level courtyard garden, a fruit tree orchard, a fitness garden, and a community garden on the fifth floor. A local nonprofit organization, GrowNYC, is managing and operating the gardens in the first two years of operation, with hopes that the Via Verde community will eventually entirely manage and maintain the gardens.

An assortment of organic heirloom herbs, vegetables, and edible flowers is grown in the garden and distributed to residents and the surrounding community. Residents also participate in monthly workshops where they prepare food and participate in tasting demonstrations and recipe giveaways.

Learn more about Via Verde in ULI’s Building for Wellness: The Business Case report.