I just finished an article for the Colorado Real Estate Journal about mixed use communities.  As more and more people seek to live in “walkable” communities, finding a solution to successfully integrate housing and retail becomes critical.  For an apartment community, the idea of leasing units off paper is common and happens with a high degree of certainty.  In the retail world, if your location isn’t fire hot, no one will sign a lease until the space is finished.  So, how do you mend this disconnect?  Click on the line below to learn more about Mixed Use Horizontally Integrated (MUHI) communities, which is my take on how to resolve this issue. 

MUHI Communities

As part of our “Art of the Small House” event, our goal was to design simple sustainable housing with factory produced living components.  While modular components are not a new building concept, we believe that there is a missing link to help make them more affordable and a potential learning tool for people wanting to gain knowledge of new trades through the assembly line process.  This type of production has the capacity to empower the community through vocational experience and volunteerism.  We feel the use of modular components could be helpful in times of a disaster where there is a need for quick housing.  Modular components, like SIP panels, lend themselves to green construction practices their standard sizes, and they cut down significantly on job site waste because of the factory’s ability to store and re-use material.  They also reduce transportation emissions by delivering an almost completed home to a site once, versus all the materials being delivered to the site at different times.  For more information on our idea, click on the link below.   

Modern Modular

Today, Rodger Hara, the Principal of Community Builder Realty Services, agreed to be a guinea pig for our first webinar, and gave an excellent presentation in our office regarding FHA/HUD financing, tax credits, and private activity bonds.  Rodger is an expert on the topic and shared some great information with our team, as well as several of our clients.  This was such an important presentation, because due to the current lending situation, many of our clients that never considered pursuing FHA/HUD financing are now looking into it.  Rodger did an excellent job explaining the nuances of FHA/HUD financing and providing a great overview of the subject.  If you missed the webinar and are interested in learning more about this topic, please click on the links below to access a variety of resources.  If you would like view and listen to a recording of the webinar, please send me an e-mail (info@kephart.com) or give me a call at 303-832-4474.    

Click here to view and print handout

Click here to view questions and answers

Click here to view article recommended by Rodger 

On Steve’s and my trip through Cincinnati/Cleveland last week, we stopped in on Riverpointe – a condominium community we had designed 5 years ago. We wanted to see how it was aging and to get feedback from our client.

Riverpointe is a cluster of two-story buildings and a clubhouse – perched high on a hill above the Ohio River, looking at views of Cincinnati.  

We sited the clubhouse very well. Walking up to the front doors, you get a hint of the tremendous view beyond. We created the strong axis so you can see through the building, framing the view nicely.  

And there goes Steve walking in. We really did pull off the Prairie-Style architecture, and Town Properties did well in executing the details. The wide overhang, ledgestone, heavy wood lintels, Hardie siding, and metal grille accents all come together.  Okay – perhaps the roof brackets could be amped up some.  

The club basically serves two functions – a main gathering room and the fitness center. They each have an outside entry (the fitness I believe is 24/7) and are connected inside. I could spend some time on that treadmill – particularly with the great view. You are seeing the tarp on the pool which is covered in the wintertime.  

The Prairie/Mission style theme carries into the inside. I like it when the outside architecture reveals itself indoors. The warmth of the exposed wood and stone makes for a comfortable seating area.  

Speaking of bringing the outside in, the reverse works as well. Here we take a seating area and move it outdoors with an exterior fireplace.  A cozy way to enjoy the views.  

So we asked our client Ron: “What would you do differently at the club?” His response: “Not a thing. The lock off at the club is particularly convenient, allowing residents to rent the great room and veranda for events – which they do frequently.”

I’d say, all in all – a job well done!

They say that “there is no business like show business,” but after working with a team in the office to create a video to win a Ford Fiesta…I’m not so sure.  We just submitted our video entry to win a 2011 Ford Fiesta in response to Ford’s Fiesta Movement contest.  Ford is on a national search for 100 “agents” to be the first people given the opportunity to experience the new and very sporty Ford Fiesta.   If KEPHART ends up being one of the select few chosen to be agents, we will receive full access to a Ford Fiesta for six months.  During that time, we will be assigned monthly missions that we have to complete while using the vehicle that will take us on new and glorious adventures full of fun and excitement!  My hands are quivering just typing about it!  

So, by now, you’re probably wondering why an architecture firm would enter a contest to win a car.  At KEPHART, one of our core values is “responsibility to the communities we serve.”  One of the many great things KEPHART does to embody that core value is paying for, and encouraging employees to use public transportation.  Being an employee that often has to leave the office during the day for meetings, the idea of riding the bus to work every day poses a big challenge.

To ease the fear of us public transportation Neophyte’s getting around town, the company came up with the brilliant idea of creating what we lovingly call the “KEPHART bike fleet.”  (At least that’s what we call it in public).  Anyway, several employees were kind enough to donate their unused or unwanted bikes to the cause, so we now have a motley crew of cycles to use, which is great…unless you have a meeting more than a couple of blocks away.

That’s why we entered the Ford Fiesta Movement.  What better way is there, for the bus riding mavericks of the office, to get around to client meetings than in a Ford Fiesta!?!  It has to beat the experience of balancing rolls of drawings, architectural scales, and bum wad on the handle bars of a bike that is three sizes too small.  To experience what life has been like at KEPHART, for those of us who ride public transportation, and don’t have access to a smooth Ford Fiesta, please click here to view our video.  I promise that you won’t be disappointed!

After my cameo appearance in the video, I have made the decision not to quit my day job (once you watch the video, you’ll see why!).  I think that decision will prove to be a wise one, because soon we’ll have a sporty new Ford Fiesta sitting in our parking lot, and I don’t want to miss the chance to sit behind the wheel.  I can smell the new car scent already! 

Stay tuned to KEPHART ideas for more updates on this exciting adventure…and other thrilling information!  And even if we don’t win the car, I feel like we won already.  Creating this video was a great team building experience, and I’ll always have great memories of all the blunders the ensued during filming!  

Click here for more information on Ford’s Fiesta Movement

This year’s Pillars Conference was rather well attended.  Opening sessions tackled what the next 12 to 18 months may bring.  What I heard was that capital preservation is the common theme linking all the various companies.  Once the multifamily development scene turns around again, the goal is to have as few problems to deal with as possible.  As a designer, it’s interesting to hear the experts talk about negotiating on distressed property situations….what is NOT distressed today?!?  We are often on the sidelines with the rest of the design team wondering why things aren’t moving faster…the deal has closed and the carry has started.  Well, having insights as to pending conversations about how a deal may need restructuring, or timing delivery with a better window for projected rent growth makes it easier to understand how we best partner with our clients.  This is one more item for our checklist of project start-up questions.

There are lots of factors that people smarter than me will be following in order to make the best decisions for their companies in the coming days.  We are seeing a trend towards smaller, simpler developments that are able to execute faster…pretty much the garden apartment formula.  A number of clients we are working with are valuing the trade-off between fewer floor plans and the economy of production, versus designing to capture every possible renter profile and dealing with the construction complexity that goes along with that decision.  This is an observation was shared by a couple of us that spoke together on the Design Trends panel at the conference.  Other design trends we discussed included:  Gen Y influence, maxing out wood construction, and sustainability.  Anything that you can do to educate yourself about Gen Y will be time well spent.  For older guys like me, it is hard to innately know what matters to Gen Y.  It’s really about taking the time to find out.  We have learned plenty about what Gen Y values…or doesn’t value when it comes to clubhouse design.  I would have never been able to predict 5 years ago that the Nintendo games my children were playing would evolve into ”Wii Rooms”…it really is about learning to continually be relevant, which is a perfect segue to the closing session at Pillars.

Gary Hamel was the closing speaker, and the information and observations I took away from him were well worth the trip to San Diego.  We all know things are different now, and we need to adjust.  How will you adjust?  Hunkering down and waiting for things to blow over is not a preferred strategy…that observation was made throughout the conference.  Take action now that positions you for the future.  Tap into the human capital in your company. 

I’m coming away from the conference reminded that I have a wealth of talent back in Denver and allowing that resource to make things happen is what leadership is really about.   

For more information about the NAHB Multifamily Pillars Conference or Gary Hamel, please click on the links below.

NAHB Multifamily

Gary Hamel

The concept of using one of the 3-story buildings as a backdrop for the fitness center and clubhouse works.  It definitely jazzes us to see the play of the stucco colors against the stone. 

Reassuring that the markers we used on paper have translated so well into the field. 

The expected play between the roof of the mail kiosk and the surrounding buildings is happening. 

Trammell Crow Residential - our client and builder - is doing an excellent job in executing our details.  This is evident at the “lantern” on our clubhouse. 

The lantern is a beacon at night to help bring the residents home.  (note to self…get a photo at night for next blog entry.) 

More of TCR’s craftsmanship is shown in this detail at a building entry.  The stone, steel awning, and siding of the breezeway all come together cleanly. 

The serenity and sense of place does happen outside of the clubhouse. 

We look forward to the completion of the pool deck and trellis.  Glad the view of the Rockies we had hoped for is so powerful.  (2nd note to self…for next photo blog entry turn on the spritzers in the pool and get someone to model a lounge chair on the lounge shelf in the pool.

WOW—Two Days at the National Apartment Associations Student Housing Conference, and I feel like my perspective in general has received a complete overhaul.  First of all, I attended the conference because KEPHART is actively looking for ways to diversify and expand on our present skill sets and expertise.  We feel our comprehensive knowledge and experience with market rate multifamily provides an excellent foundation upon which to build an expertise regarding student housing.  I’ve been pushing this market due to my innate curiosity regarding how people live in various stages of their lives, but also because I have a passion for designing small spaces and doing more with less.  Student Housing is ripe with those kinds of puzzles to solve. 

This conference opened my eyes to a number of the puzzles that have to be solved from creating relationships with universities (which can be every bit as sticky as municipal entitlement) to technology and generational influences.  These last two have become a bit of an obsession for me over the last couple of days.  I am a dinosaur.  At the ripe age of 30-something, I am a dinosaur.  The worst part, is the fact that I’ve been in denial.  I have become trapped in the stogy mindset that  kids these days are way too into exposing themselves on the internet.  I am one of those holdouts without a FaceBook  or MySpace page and truthfully when I get an invite to one of my friend’s pages I grumble that yet another victim has fallen prey to this fad.  I know I am not alone in this because when our marketing consultants pushed the idea of blogging in one of our management meetings, it was as if a stink bomb went off.  All our seasoned (and by that I mean old) leaders started fanning the air and guffawing, “Why do we need that?”

Prepare for the mindshift.  I remember when I was back in middle school and my mom forced me to take typing.  “What the heck do I need that for,” I thought.  Yes—the irony of that as I click away on my computer on my flight back.  Then I took a computer class that was mandatory in High School.  I couldn’t even imagine then how I would apply what I learned.  Fast forward to social networking—yes, that’s what all these websites are called and I didn’t even know it until two days ago.  In times like these, we need to adapt and change more than ever and I recognize this.  A magazine called Fast Company was recommended at the conference.  As I was rushing to the gate, I passed a newsstand that had it in prominent view.  I swear I’ve never seen this magazine before or maybe my eyes just hadn’t been open like they are now.  If you aren’t familiar with it, do yourself a favor and snag a copy.  It is a publication dedicated to open minds and smart evolution. 

The letter from the editor Robert Safian notes that this month marks the 200^th anniversary of Darwin’s birth and cites the following quote: “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is most adaptable to change. “ Change is what it is all about.  So world, bring it on.  I now have a LinkedIn page, I sent my first Tweet, and here is my first blog.  My next mission is to turn my fellow manager dinosaurs into their next mutated form.

One thing to know about KEPHART, we will continue to adapt, change, grow, get smarter and diversify.  For those of you ahead of us, we’ll be walking in step soon. For those looking to follow, we will always be happy to share what we know.  We are excited about the future and we are happy to be at the party
(even if our arrival is a little overdue).

Please check back soon to see what’s going on in our world.