How to Revive a Historic Retail District: An Interview with the Associate Vice President of Commercial Real Estate at the world-class University of Chicago in Hyde Park.

In the May/June 2015 issue of Urban Land, my article “Crafting Authenticity for Retail Destinations” looked at the elements that give shopping streets and centers the handcrafted, eclectic, uniquely local feeling that many consumers prefer over typical suburban malls. As part of the article, I talked to Jim Hennessy, associate vice president for commercial real estate operations at the University of Chicago, about the university’s partnership with the city to revive the historic 53rd Street retail district near Hyde Park. Below is a fuller version of my interview with Jim, in which he talks about the university’s involvement and describes ways to catalyze development by involving local restaurants and retailers and by incubating fledgling local businesses.

Sean Slater: Can you talk about the importance of 53rd Street to Hyde Park and the University of Chicago neighborhood?

Jim Hennessy: Historically, 53rd Street was a center of vibrant commercial activity in the neighborhood. In the early 1900s, the street was home to hotels, residences, live theaters, fine dining, local retailers, and a strong office population. Over time, that vibrancy dwindled, and by the early 2000s, the city of Chicago and the local community had asked the University of Chicago for its help in revitalizing the corridor. For the university, this was an opportunity both to support economic development and growth in our local community and to bring in new amenities that would enhance the Hyde Park neighborhood as a place where top scholars, researchers, and students would want to live, work, and study.

Slater: What guided the university’s decisions? 

Hennessy: The university’s decision to redevelop 53rd Street has been guided by a partnership with the local community and the city of Chicago. In 2002, at the request of the city, the university purchased two buildings that make up the Harper Theater complex, which had a strong architectural heritage as well as historical significance as a gathering place. We spent many years looking for the right opportunity for redevelopment, and the property was vacant for more than a decade before we began redeveloping it in 2011. It reopened as a neighborhood movie theater in January 2013, and its movies now play to sell-out crowds.  Another major part of the broader redevelopment effort was a shopping center called Harper Court, which was an important part of the community but was aging and lacking the kinds of retail that many community members wanted to see.

Through a series of community workshops that began in 2007, Hyde Park residents and business owners identified the need for more retail options and amenities along 53rd Street. The University of Chicago and the city of Chicago combined resources to redevelop Harper Court, a mixed-use project led by Vermillion Development that became the anchor for revitalization of the entire corridor. This project comprises 150,000 square feet of office space for university employees with approximately 75,000 square feet of retail, including LA Fitness, Chipotle, Ulta Beauty, and Starbucks, along with several local retailers like Ja’ Grill (Jamaican food from Lincoln Park), Porkchop (barbecue from Randolph St), and Nancy Krause Floral Design & Garden Antiques.

Development decisions have also been led by the desire to create more retail options so residents do not have to drive to Roosevelt Road all the time for basic retail needs. There have been 30 new retailers added to 53rd Street in the past three years, and two-thirds of these new retailers are local Chicago-based companies. The next major project slated (called Vue53) is the redevelopment of a vacant Mobil gas station site on the west end of 53rd Street. This underutilized property, extending for most of the block, creates a significant gap in the urban fabric. Vue53, a midrise mixed-use apartment building, will not only create jobs for the community but also bring affordable housing units within the 228-unit project. There will also be roughly 28,000 square feet of ground-floor retail with adequate parking. We think this project will continue to reinvigorate this western stretch of the commercial corridor.

Slater: As an institutional developer, how do you define your “return on investment”? 

Hennessy: While costs and revenues are part of this perspective, we put a greater emphasis on the qualitative return on investment. For example, our redevelopment efforts have added more than 1,400 office and retail employees to 53rd Street over the last three years. These employees are getting coffee, eating lunch, and shopping on 53rd Street, and they often stay for drinks or dinner and a movie after work. The value of this contribution is measured in the increasing success of local retailers, the added “feet-on-the-street” vibrancy, and the overall level of buzz on 53rd Street. Our redevelopment model is relatively simple: we want to create a catalyst that stimulates private development. In developments like Hyatt Place, City Hyde Park, and Vue53, we’ve seen the private market take notice and recognize there is demand for sustained development.

Slater: Restaurants seem to be a catalyst for the 53rd Street redevelopment. How did you attract all those Michelin stars, and how has it helped leasing?

Hennessy: We’ve been fortunate to attract some excellent restaurants to 53rd Street due to a variety of factors. Our partner, McCaffery Interests, has strong relationships with local restaurants such as the Promontory, A10, and Porkchop. Some of our restaurateurs, like Matthias Merges, owner of A10 and Yusho Hyde Park, had local family connections, as well as the vision to see Hyde Park five or ten years from now.

Restaurants are able to complement the office population and strengthen the street character with outdoor seating, ambient lighting, late night dining, etc. We’ve found that working with the restaurant design teams early on to help guide the program and coordinate development work helps to customize the venue for specific operators. For example, close coordination with the Promontory allowed us to integrate this important anchor restaurant and music venue with a yoga studio and women’s apparel retailer, all within a previously shuttered Borders bookstore. Recognizing the value of these anchor tenants as district catalysts justifies our willingness to help subsidize the initial build-out and operating costs, either through tenant allowances or rent abatement.

Slater: How have you been supporting new local businesses?

Hennessy: We’ve been using the multitenant building at 1500 East 53rd Street as our “retail incubator.” Some of the retailers have included local fashion designers; children’s apparel, books, and toys; men’s and women’s apparel; and housewares and gifts. This program gives innovative retailers the opportunity to “test-drive” their product in Hyde Park, while introducing the community to new businesses they might not have experienced. The goal is to nurture local, boutique retailers and balance the neighborhood with recognizable national brands. Retailers typically stay for six months, with the option to stay long-term if the neighborhood proves to be a good fit. We have converted several of these businesses to permanent status in available spaces in the area.

Slater: Have there been any side effects to the revitalization, such as higher property values, or neighborhood complaints? 

Hennessy: An important goal for the university is to catalyze private development, so we welcome increasing interest from outside developers. Hyde Park has a strong culture of community involvement, and residents and business owners will voice their opinions about individual projects and the impact of overall redevelopment. Through partnership with 4th Ward Alderman William Burns and open discussions and meetings with the community, our neighbors have become our partners in the revitalization of the district, and also see the benefits. For example, restaurants with a long-time presence on 53rd Street, such as Pizza Capri and Chant, are seeing more traffic as new restaurants like A10 and the Promontory come to the area and create more dining options for everyone.

Slater: What’s next? 

Hennessy: We see 53rd Street as an evolving environment. Our goal is to create connectivity and strengthen the entire street east to west, ideally attracting other investments to develop a vibrant overall district. This community connection is already occurring with City Hyde Park (anchored by Whole Foods) to the north and the successful Hyde Park Shopping Center to the south. We’ll know we’re successful when Hyde Park is widely seen as a great destination for dining, shopping, and entertainment for University of Chicago students, Hyde Park residents, Chicagoans from other neighborhoods, and other visitors.

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ELS is pleased to announce Carlos Alvarez, William S. Gordon, Jr., Kenneth M. Loretto, and Susan Vutz have been promoted to Senior Associate.

Am Amnuaydejkorn, Patrick Bartlett, Vince Taboada, and Kim-Van Truong have been promoted to Associate.

We thank and recognize these individuals for their project leadership, commitment to thoughtful design, and dedication to nurturing strong relationships.

SENIOR ASSOCIATES

Carlos Alvarez, Associate AIA, Senior Associate
Carlos joined ELS in 1998. His work includes Ward Village Shops in Hawaii, Downtown Summerlin in Nevada, City National Civic, and historic adaptive reuse projects. Carlos graduated as an architect, equivalent to a Master degree, from the University of Buenos Aires, School of Architecture and Urbanism.

William S. Gordon, Jr., AIA, LEED AP BD+C, Senior Associate
William joined ELS in 1998. His work includes Hillsdale Shopping Center in San Mateo, California; Glendale Galleria in Glendale, California; Sundance Kabuki Cinemas in San Francisco, California; and Fancher Creek Town Center, The Square at Campus Pointe, and River Park in Fresno, California. William received a Bachelor of Science in Art and Design degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Master of Architecture degree from the University of California, Berkeley.

Kenneth M. Loretto, AIA, Senior Associate
Ken joined ELS in 1999. His work includes NewPark Mall in Newark, California; Downtown Summerlin near Las Vegas, Nevada; and Hillsdale Shopping Center in San Mateo, California. Ken received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Brigham Young University and a Master of Science in Architecture degree from California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo.

Susan Vutz, AIA, LEED AP, Senior Associate
Susan joined ELS in 2015 and brings over 20 years of experience in the design of multi-family housing and community-based non-profit work. She is currently senior project manager for Balboa Park Pool Renovation in San Francisco, California. Susan received a Bachelor of Science degree in Architecture from California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo and a Master of Architecture degree from the University of California, Berkeley.

ASSOCIATES

Am Amnuaydejkorn, AIA, Associate
Am joined ELS in 2006. His work includes Wells Fargo Center for the Arts in Santa Rosa, California; Stonestown YMCA in San Francisco, California; Ward Village Shops in Honolulu, Hawaii; and retail roll-out projects. Am received a Bachelor of Interior Architecture degree from the University of Oregon, Eugene.

Patrick Bartlett, AIA, NCARB, Associate
Patrick joined ELS in 2012. His work includes design and construction administration for Downtown Summerlin near Las Vegas, Nevada, and Hillsdale Shopping Center in San Mateo, California. Patrick received a Bachelor of Architecture degree from California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo.

Vince Taboada, AIA, LEED Green Associate, Associate
Vince joined ELS in 2012. His work includes design and construction administration for VillaSport Athletic Club and Spa (multiple locations), City of Walnut Creek, and City of Berkeley. Vince received a Bachelor of Architecture degree from California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo.

Kim-Van Truong, Associate AIA, LEED AP BD+C, Associate
Kim joined ELS in 2007. Her work includes Santa Clara International Swim Center, UC Berkeley Hellman Tennis Center, and construction administration for UC Berkeley’s new Aquatic Center. Kim received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Architecture from the University of California, Berkeley.

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ELS Principal D. Jamie Rusin, architect, urban designer, father, author, cyclist, mentor, and great friend passed away April 21, 2016. For over 30 years at ELS, he led numerous projects with the common objective of bringing people together through great architecture and public spaces.

At the office, Jamie championed a culture of open dialogue, debate, and collaboration. His admiration for academia translated directly into his leadership. Involved in every aspect of a project from the initial sketches to the final details, he knew, mentored, and learned from his teams at all levels. His core belief that innovation is a product of process opened the door for many voices to participate, making each project distinct and memorable in its own way.

In the field, he was a constant student of the public realm and the people it served. His devotion to the end user provided a clarity and purpose to projects that were often complex and multi-faceted. This sensitivity to the way people interact, socialize, and enjoy the presence of others created projects with an inherent vibrancy.

Jamie will be dearly missed.

Donations in Jamie Rusin’s memory can be made to the Lustgarten Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer Research or to the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health.

For more information please contact Ryan Call.

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Piedmont Education Foundation (PEF) welcomes nine new board members including Clarence Mamuyac, President of ELS. All incoming board members have spent years volunteering and fundraising. Clarence is a board member and past president of the Piedmont Recreational Facilities Organization, and serves as a volunteer resource to the City of Piedmont, the Piedmont Unified School District, and several youth sports organizations for capital projects. He and his wife, Karen, moved to Piedmont in 1991, and both of their children graduated from Piedmont High School.

Piedmont Education Foundation is a community-based, registered 501(c)3 non-profit whose mission is to promote academic excellence, champion innovation, and provide sustained financial support to the Piedmont Unified School District. PEF raises more than $2.5 million annually for the K-12 Piedmont public schools, and is the steward for an Endowment valued at approximately $6 million. Responsible for providing nearly 8% of the District budget, the board actively engages the community on behalf of the Piedmont schools.

Link: PEF Welcomes New Board Members

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On June 6, 2016, the City of Berkeley broke ground on the first phase of the Rose Garden Trellis Restoration.

The Berkeley Rose Garden, one of the first Civil Works Progress Projects built under the Works Progress Administration and completed in 1937, consists of a terraced amphitheatre and 220-foot long redwood trellis. The garden was suggested by Bernard Maybeck, with final design by landscape architect Vernon M. Dean. Berkeley Rose Garden has hosted many community events over the years and is considered one of the finest rose gardens in Northern California.

ELS has worked with the City on the rehabilitation of the trellis, located on the central terrace. The original wood trellis provides shade and benches for viewing the garden, and is supported by large redwood posts that have been maintained and repaired by the City over the years.

Pictured above from left to right, Diana Hayton, Principal-in-Charge from ELS; Dennis Sheil, Project Manager from Anchor Engineering; Evelyn Chan, Associate Civil Engineer for the City of Berkeley Department of Parks, Recreation and Waterfornt; Tovah Cook, Designer from ELS; and Nasser Jandali of HM Construction were among the participants of the groundbreaking ceremony.

Link:

Berkeleyside: City begins first phase of Rose Garden trellis restoration

The Daily Californian: Berkeley Rose Garden undergoes restoration project

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ELS Architecture and Urban Design is pleased to welcome David Masenten, AIA, LEED AP BD+C as our new Director of Mixed-Use Practice.

David brings over 15 years of experience and management to ELS’ growing mixed-use portfolio. His strong background in urban design and experience with a wide range of project types fit in well with a diverse ELS portfolio that emphasizes quality public spaces and buildings that enliven their surroundings.

He has extensive experience designing large multi-use projects that incorporate the best green practices, including high-rise residential and commercial projects, large-scale urban master planning and urban design, corporate interiors for international companies, and town planning and commercial tenant fit-outs for national retailers. He has worked on numerous complex projects involving lengthy and challenging approvals requiring political outreach and public sensitivity. He has also worked strategically with developers to create economic strategies for long-range planning scenarios.

David joins ELS after nine years as a Senior Associate at Heller Manus Architects in San Francisco, where he worked extensively on entitling complex mixed-use high-rise projects in San Francisco, as well as managing master planning and urban design projects in cities across China, including Guangzhou, Zhuhai and Shanghai. David managed the planning approvals process for the first LEED ND-Platinum (Stage 1) project in the world, the Emeryville Marketplace, and helped lead the 15.5-square-mile Guangzhou South Axis master plan, a redesign of the city’s southern center which is currently under construction.

A registered architect and LEED accredited professional, David is a member of the American Institute of Architects, the U.S. Green Building Council, and the San Francisco Bay Area Planning and Urban Research Association (SPUR). He received his Bachelors of Architecture from the Rhode Island School of Design, and holds a Master of City Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

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ELS has been awarded a 2016 Top Workplaces honor by The Bay Area News Group. The Top Workplaces lists are based on the results of an employee feedback survey administered by WorkplaceDynamics, LLC. Several aspects of workplace culture were measured, including Alignment, Execution, and Connection.

We are honored to have been selected for the award, particularly as the judges were our employees! Many thanks to our team for taking the time to respond to the survey.

Link:

Bay Area News Group Top Workplaces 2016: ELS [pdf]

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ELS is excited to be listed among the Top 300 Architecture Firms, published in the August 2016 issue of Architectural Record! Firms are ranked by revenue for architectural services performed in 2015. We are honored to be part of the list for a third consecutive year, and would like to thank our clients, staff and colleagues for their support!

Link: Top 300 Architecture Firms

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ELS projects — Downtown Summerlin, NewPark Mall, Mueller Town Center, Hillsdale Shopping Center, and others — are featured in the July architectural design issue of Shopping Center Business.

Author Randall Shearin writes, “Keeping customers engaged today means creating a sense of beloning while placing amenities that please the senses.” Please click the link for the full “Designing for Customer Engagement” article.

Link:
Shopping Center Business: Designing for Customer Engagement [pdf]

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This is the second in a series of extended interviews Sean Slater conducted when he was writing about “Crafting Authenticity for Retail Destinations” for Urban Land. Here, he shares more of his conversation with Shaheen Sadeghi, president and founder of LAB Holding in Costa Mesa, California. Sadeghi talks about the thinking behind his company’s “anti-malls”: unique, local-feeling urban alternatives to homogenous shopping malls. They include the LAB (a former military night goggle factory repurposed as a retail center), the CAMP (billed as the first “green” shopping center of its kind), the mixed-use SoBeCa Arts District, and the Anaheim Packing District (a citrus packing facility turned into an artisan food hall and event venue).

Sean Slater: Why do you think so many people are looking for a sense of authenticity in the places where they shop and dine?

Shaheen Sadeghi: We’ve gone through a cultural shift in the United States. After World War II, Japan was destroyed, Russia was destroyed, Europe was destroyed. So the United States became the mass-production manufacturing base for the entire globe. You took one thing, and you just rolled it out. This was our mentality for automobiles, washing machines, fast food—everything. That’s how we built our middle class.

And then, after 50 or 60 years of this, mass production lost its appeal for consumers. Most recently, the economic downturn made us a lot more conscious about what we consume and how we consume it. We’re becoming more like the Europeans, who would rather buy one high-quality item than 10 cheap ones. We’re also realizing that, although mass production made us one of the wealthiest nations, we also have paid a price for it—culturally, environmentally, and in terms of our health.

Another factor is transportation. People today don’t want to get in a car and drive from Orange County to Los Angeles to eat. It’s not worth the gas, the time, the commotion. They want nicer restaurants right there in Orange County.

This is the moment for every city in every suburb to think about their own brand. Newport has a different brand from Laguna’s, which is different from San Juan’s. Localization is the way to create that uniqueness. The country as a whole is starting to do this. If I go to Portland, I’m not going to go to a restaurant and order a Budweiser. I want local, hand-crafted beer. If I go to Chicago, I want a real Chicago steak. I’m not going to Denny’s. Every major national fast food chain in this country should be at the drawing board trying to figure out what they’re going to do next. There might be a few exceptions, like Chipotle, but the others are all going to have to retool. Now it’s all about localization, personalization, customization.

Slater: How does LAB go about creating retail environments that feel hand-crafted?

Sadeghi: My in-house rule is that I don’t buy anything out of the catalog. When you’re buying things out of a catalog, your center looks the same as the others. So many of our projects involve local artisans.

Think of the iPhone. The telephone is a very small function of what it does. This little instrument offers so many layers of experiences: emailing, texting, taking photos. I can use it to turn the lights in my home on and off, and I can pay for an Uber ride. Consumers today expect this kind of layering of experiences wherever they go. It used to be that we’d go to McDonald’s, order something, they’d throw it in a bag, we’d eat it. Today, it’s not just about satisfying hunger. People expect the food to be good, they expect the atmosphere to be unique, they expect great service, and they also want to know what’s in the food. Was this tomato brought up from South America, through New Jersey, and shipped across to California, or was it grown locally? How many hormones are in my meat, and does it come from a local, grass-fed cow? And by the way, I want to meet the chef and hear their story. That’s what makes a place special.

Restaurateurs are realizing they can charge more by meeting these needs, because the valuation is not just based on the taste of a burger. The valuation has to do with the story of that burger and everything that comes with—the service and the quality and the environmental or organic aspects.

Slater: Do you think that larger retail development companies could create more authentic-feeling environments?

Sadeghi: Many of the big retail projects are driven by operating income and financing. They’re really not about creating culture or creating community. But in the future, I don’t think developers are going to be able to just buy some land, round up a bunch of national tenants, and move on to the next project. There’s something sad about that, because at the end of the day, local communities end up with poor-quality product.

We do what I call “reverse engineering.” We first look at what we want the product to be.  What does this community need? What does this neighborhood need? What can this building become? And then we follow through with the design. Otherwise, you might as well just build storage units. The old way of doing business is obsolete, when retail is changing so much and so rapidly.

So I think developers are going to realize that they have to create their own retail products in order to be authentic and local. Seven years ago, as a company, we started creating our own retail. We created a vegan restaurant, a wine bar, a coffee shop. We even made our own barbershop. I didn’t wake up in the morning and decide I wanted to run a barbershop—I know nothing about cutting hair. But I knew this project that we were working on needed a barbershop, because barbershops are the new dude spa.

Even if they have the money, my friends don’t get $100 haircuts. They don’t go to salons. They want the classic, old-school barber—25 bucks, you’re out of there, plus it’s a great experience, and you get a shave. There’s conversation, and you can watch the game. It’s a whole different experience. So we wanted to recreate this in downtown Anaheim. We built our own barbershop, because I wasn’t going to wait around to find the right salon chain at the International Council of Shopping Centers conference. It’s easier for us to do it on our own.

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This is the third in a series of extended interviews Sean Slater conducted when he was writing about “Crafting Authenticity for Retail Destinations” for Urban Land. He shares more of his conversation with Chris Meany, cofounder and managing partner of Wilson Meany, the owner of San Francisco’s Ferry Building. Meany talks about how the market hall concept of the Ferry Building came into being.

Sean Slater: Why do you think so many people are looking for a sense of authenticity in the places where they shop and dine?

Chris Meany: We’re dealing with a world in which you can now buy anything online and have it delivered. Office tenants now cram twice as many people into a given amount of space as they used to. And as populations move to cities, commute times have gotten to be so long that people are confronting real issues about how they spend their time. In places like the Bay Area, the economics of living mean that people can’t afford to live in a house the same size as their parents did. All these trends make people want to engage with the outside world differently. Retail is now no longer just about buying goods, it’s also about having an experience.

The population today is also quite jaded. They’ve seen everything. Thirty years ago, what did the mall bring you? A sanitized, much more manageable version of a main street. The retailers could control their environment. But then consumers started to realize they were mice being lead through a trap, and they rejected it.

So today, we have to ground our projects in something that is real, that gives an experience that people feel is legitimate, not contrived. Authenticity is not the same thing as historicism. An authentic retail environment can be a supercontemporary, futuristic looking thing. It’s all specific to the context.

When the Ferry Building was finished, it took about a year or two to really get humming. Then I started getting calls from people saying, “We want you to do another Ferry Building.” If you believe that you can take something like the Ferry Building and transport it somewhere else, then you miss what it’s about.

Throngs of visitors and locals peruse the marketlike tenants along the skylit arcade in the Ferry Building in San Francisco.

Slater: With the Ferry Building, you brought back the historic bones of the building, exposing the beautiful Great Nave to the public once again. But how did you hit upon the mix of retail tenants?

Meany: We needed something that would act as a destination draw, something rooted in the Bay Area. I thought of the local farmer’s market that was originally in front of the Embarcadero. I remembered when I had first come to the city years ago that a very popular draw was Macy’s Cellar in Union Square, where the store had its cookware along with a restaurant. Ghirardelli Square used to have a ground-floor gourmet market where people would buy bread and cheese and go outside and watch the water. People have always liked the retail/social experience of places like that. So my initial idea was to create that kind of experience, which had some antecedents in the Bay Area, and bring the farmer’s market back to the Embarcadero.

Then our development team took our architects to Harrods Food Hall in London, Pike Place Market in Seattle, Rialto Market in Venice, and a number of other places. It was about ten days of intense touring. Each team would come back, have a glass of wine, and sketch and talk. We were trying to find what we were seeing in these market places that was consistent that we could import. But we saw lots that weren’t successful, and it was because they mimicked others. The successful ones were all uniquely adapted to their particular place. They didn’t follow the rules. They were quirky, local things.

I think it’s why the project was ultimately successful. We said, “Actually, the Bay Area does have a food tradition. But it’s not Fisherman’s Wharf. It’s not Macy’s Cellar. The Bay Area has a series of artisans and chefs who share a belief in sustainable agriculture. So we’re going to invite them to cohabitate.” We would create a retail street with a series of stalls under the Great Nave.

Slater: Did you actively seek out tenants?

Meany: Very early on we identified Eleanor Bertino, who provides communication strategy services to the organic and sustainable food community. I retained her to be an ambassador. For three years, 1998 through 2001, my wife and I would go to the farmer’s market, and Eleanor would introduce us to people. By the time we started building the project, we had a lot of people who had softly signed on. Then 9/11 happened, and tourism here dried up for a year. Almost all of the people that we had tentatively signed up had to pull out. We had to start over again.

We’d go out and make personal appeals. And we were successful in getting people to believe that we were trying to do the right thing, that we were listening and we were crafting something that would work. But people were distrustful of us because we were a for-profit developer. Ultimately we got saved by a few of the tenants themselves. I can’t tell you what motivated them. We had now been talking for years to people like Peggy Smith and Sue Conley at Cowgirl Creamery and Steven Sullivan at Acme Bread. There were four or five tenants who were well known in the Bay Area. They said, “We will agree to go into your project, with certain conditions. You make individual deals with us, but if one of the other people back out, we all will. As long as you’ll give us co-tenancy rights, we’ll take the flyer.”

In the post 9-11 deal, raising money was really hard. So we got very creative. We thought it was inappropriate to just fund tenants. People try to buy tenants all the time. So instead, we crafted very small spaces. We had those spaces open directly onto this dramatic space, so that people wouldn’t have to rent congregating space. They would rent just what they needed. We tried to put money into the common areas so that the tenants wouldn’t have to. And then we said, “We’ve set it up so you have to raise small amounts of money. But you have to raise it.” Ultimately, we got everybody open.

Slater: A lot of the appeal of the Ferry Building is that it’s slightly different every time you go. Obviously the farmer’s market adds that because of the seasonal nature of the goods. But there are certain things I always want to see when I go to the Ferry Building. I don’t ever want Heath Ceramics to be gone, or the Gardener. The Slanted Door had better stay. How do you manage the need to be ever evolving while keeping the core tenants?

Meany: We were very clear at the beginning that we needed foundational tenants. If you’re a marketplace, you’ve got to have a place to buy produce. It turns out produce is a pretty low-margin business. It’s not so easy to keep a produce store in business. But we were quite committed to having one. And you need to have a butcher shop. You need to have a fish market. We wanted those tenants to have rent structures that would make sure they were always there as a backbone. With the other tenants, we thought half of them would work out, and so there would be various tenants rotating through. But we have had, to date, much less turnover than we thought we would.

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The new Legends Aquatic Center at UC Berkeley is scheduled to open in late September, and on Friday, August 26, 2016, water was filled into the 50-meter pool. The new facility, designed by ELS, will be used solely by Cal’s intercollegiate aquatics teams for athletic training.

Link:KRON 4 VIDEO: New aquatics center to open in September for UC Berkeley swimmers

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ELS is excited to be listed among the 2016 Architect 50, ARCHITECT magazine’s Top 50 firms in the nation! The program looks at how firms throughout the country compare across a broad range of categories, from design to sustainability, to business.

We are honored to be among the list for a fourth consecutive year, and would like to thank our clients, colleagues, and staff for their support.

Link: The ARCHITECT 50

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Supporting public radio in our community, ELS will match pledges during KQED Public Radio’s Pledge Challenge Grant that begins today through September 23rd. For every pledge to KQED, ELS will give a matching pledge, up to a total of $1000, during each of the following two Morning Drive breaks on Tuesday, September 13th at approximately 7:50 am, and Thursday, September 15th at approximately 7:20 am.

Listen for us on KQED 88.5FM San Francisco or 89.3FM Sacramento tomorrow or Thursday morning, and make a pledge if you’d like to support KQED public radio!

(Images created by NCPB Design for KQED.)

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ELS is excited to announce that Geno Yun, AIA, LEED AP has joined ELS as principal, leading our retail and mixed-use portfolio. Geno has more than 30 years of experience as an architect and has worked extensively on mixed-use and retail center design and planning, drawing on urban place-making principles to create public areas that encourage people to gather, socialize, and shop.

The hiring is a homecoming for Geno, who first joined ELS as a project architect in 1991. After 19 years with the firm, he became a sole practitioner before joining Gensler as a design director and regional practice area leader for retail centers. He has considerable expertise in designing, expanding, renovating, and repositioning retail and mixed-use properties. His clients have included Westfield, Simon Property Group, General Growth Properties, and Madison Marquette. In addition, he has directed the design of recreational, educational, performing arts, athletics, and community facilities.

Recent projects include Market Street Place in San Francisco, the repositioning of Pacific Place in Seattle, and retail and mixed-use projects in Shanghai, Sydney, Kyoto, Sao Paolo, and Costa Rica. At ELS, he will lead the retail and mixed-use portfolio, including the recently awarded Fashion Outlets Los Angeles project for Macerich.

A registered architect, Geno is a member of the American Institute of Architects, East Bay, and the International Council of Shopping Centers. He received his bachelor’s degree in environmental design from the University of Colorado in 1982 and his master’s degree in architecture from U.C. Berkeley in 1986.

Welcome back, Geno!

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ELS is excited to announce that Geno Yun, AIA, LEED AP has joined ELS as principal, leading our retail and mixed-use portfolio. Geno has more than 30 years of experience as an architect and has worked extensively on mixed-use and retail center design and planning, drawing on urban place-making principles to create public areas that encourage people to gather, socialize, and shop.

The hiring is a homecoming for Geno, who first joined ELS as a project architect in 1991. After 19 years with the firm, he became a sole practitioner before joining Gensler as a design director and regional practice area leader for retail centers. He has considerable expertise in designing, expanding, renovating, and repositioning retail and mixed-use properties. His clients have included Westfield, Simon Property Group, General Growth Properties, and Madison Marquette. In addition, he has directed the design of recreational, educational, performing arts, athletics, and community facilities.

Recent projects include Market Street Place in San Francisco, the repositioning of Pacific Place in Seattle, and retail and mixed-use projects in Shanghai, Sydney, Kyoto, Sao Paolo, and Costa Rica. At ELS, he will lead the retail and mixed-use portfolio, including the recently awarded Fashion Outlets Los Angeles project for Macerich.

A registered architect, Geno is a member of Contract magazine’s Editorial Advisory Board, a member of the International Council of Shopping Centers, and a past member of the AIA East Bay’s Board of Directors. He received his bachelor’s degree in environmental design from the University of Colorado in 1982 and his master’s degree in architecture from U.C. Berkeley in 1986.

Welcome back, Geno!

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On November 10, 2016, ELS family and friends celebrated David Petta’s 36-year career with a surprise retirement party at Dona Tomas in Oakland.

Since joining ELS in 1980, David has worked on most of ELS’s education, recreational and wellness projects. He has sought out opportunities to create interactive social environments in a diverse, sustainable urban context. His specific areas of concentration have been in the design of public realm spaces related to education, recreation and aquatics, community, and commercial in downtown and campus settings. David’s projects have been honored with one National AIA Design Award and six California Council AIA Design Awards, including three for the design of aquatics and recreation projects and three for design of schools.

David’s work has provided spaces with multi-use potential: recreation centers that serve as council chambers; retail centers that make a town square; and schoolyards that become a village green. These projects have been shaped by many individuals working together, addressing the specific needs of each user group, and have provided dynamic public space that in turn shapes the community. Through an inclusive, collaborative process that creates inviting, lively and thoughtful public spaces, David has elevated the design of schools, gyms and retail centers. He has built community through exceptional architecture in unexpected, everyday settings.

Congratulations, David! We’ve been lucky to have your mentorship and support at ELS.

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On Saturday, October 29, 2016, eight designers/architects from ELS attended AIASF’s fourth Equity by Design symposium. Susan Vutz, Lauren Wynveen, Tovah Cook, Diana Hayton, Scarlet Entwistle, Katharine Blackman, Kim-Van Truong, and Niknaz Aftahi are pictured from left to right, back to front. Our team shares their thoughts and experience at the symposium.

What is the Equity by Design movement, and how was this year’s symposium, “Equity by Design: Metrics, Meaning, and Matrices?”

Niknaz: Equity by Design is a movement which has been initiated to empower and inspire more women and minorities to stay and advance in the field of architecture. The idea is to bring voices into the implicit and explicit challenges we all face at the workplace, discussing how to either fight or embrace the challenges to overcome the hurdles. The movement systematically conducts research to better understand the existing gender-based gap and disparity in the architecture world, and suggests ways and methods to solve such problems. In the recent symposium that we attended, many accomplished female architects shared their stories, and talked about various obstacles they had to overcome along the way.

Kim-Van: Two years ago, I was able to attend the 2014 Missing 32% Symposium and the statistics that were presented were eye-opening. This year’s symposium was focused less on the presentation of the more recent survey results and statistics but more about the movement and how to move forward with this data. One of the presenters of the symposium stated that it’s hard to argue against data and it’s a tool that can be used to help initiate change. 

It’s also important to note that equity is about everyone and not just women. I would say that while much of the discussion focused on women there was also a lot of discussion surrounding diversity within the practice.

Diana H.: It was great to have our group of eight designers attend this year! I am very inspired by the work of the EQxD committee. The facts and data gathered from the surveys have provided me with a powerful and non-confrontational means to facilitate conversation and change on these important issues of equity and diversity facing our profession.

Lauren: I found that the theme “Metrics, Meaning, and Matrices” served primarily as a clever, alliterative title. The title implied that the focus would be on measured, quantifiable data, and establishing specific targets and goals. While the data was there, it was not presented in detail. I am looking forward to seeing the published data to better understand the “metrics” and “meaning.”

Scarlet: The symposium was a point for self assessment in my professional development. I was able to revisit and learn that I was not alone in the questions I had regarding career advancement and pay discrepancy. It was great to interact with other female and male architects/ interns, understand the research, and generate new questions regarding issues that I previously had not thought about asking.

What were your takeaways, lessons learned, or goals from your experience at the symposium?

Lauren: I really enjoyed some of the recommended readings that symposium provided.  I was impressed by the work of Renee Cheng. Cheng has created an educational program that shortens the timeline to obtain a license, by tying the pathway to licensure to an architectural degree program. If her program continues to succeed and is adopted by major universities, there will be an enormous increase of the number of licensed female architects in the profession. There still remains the problem of lack of diversity in the profession beyond just the “gender gap.” This seems to be a much more difficult problem that needs more discussion in the symposium.

Tovah: In the Culture with Intent seminar, we broke up into smaller teams by company size. My team of six discussed our personal values and how they may or may not align with work. Overall, the main value noted was “meaningful design.” Most architects seek jobs with meaningful design. The other top values represented were “creativity” and “respect.” My group personally valued “meaningful design,” as well as “transparency” in the company and leadership.

Niknaz: I learned: 1. Not everyone’s trajectory and path to success is the same. 2. It is important to be aware of our values and prioritize them, and work in a firm/team that has similar values. 3. Finding the right mentorship is essential for our professional development. 4. We should verbalize our pinch points, and evaluate our situation and performance on a regular basis. 5. Peer mentoring is important. 6. We should be creative in making our own path, rather than following the path that already exists.

Scarlet: I learned that I am not a super woman that can do it all, but on that note I also learned that I can do a lot. As a full time employee, mother of two young children, a teacher, and an intern pursuing licensing, it was very important and inspiring for me to see others that have gone through the same challenges of getting licensed and succeeding in the profession. I learned that balancing work with family is achievable but requires prioritization. One of my goals for 2017 is to finish my exams and get licensed.

Kim-Van: It would benefit firms to try to understand the factors surrounding career pinch points – professional milestones that hinder employee progression. The individual needs of employees need to be recognized at different stages in their careers in order to help better retain and support staff. It was also interesting to see that across the board in terms of age and experience, women are almost 20% less likely than men to want to be a firm leader. My hope is that EQxD continues their research to explore the reasoning behind this.

Diana H.: At the symposium we talked and thought a lot about implicit bias, flexible work schedules, meaningful performance reviews, firm culture and values, employee retention, increasing diversity and profitability – all important issues in our professional practice. The symposiums put a fresh light on my 25 years of practice, giving me a greater understanding of my own experiences in the profession and renewing my commitment to helping others have real career growth opportunities.

Any final thoughts or anything else you’d like to add?

Diana H.: Focusing more on employee development overall is really important right now – there is a shortage of trained architectural and design professionals, and the information in the EQxD 2016 survey identified key ways firms can retain the best staff.

Katharine: Despite hard-earned advancements in gender equality, women continue to suffer from systemic discrimination, both in society and in the workplace. On a daily basis, women confront issues of income inequality, restricted opportunities, and harassment; and the field of architecture is not exempt from these issues.  As a young woman beginning a career in architecture, I believe that a dedication to gender equality is of paramount importance, and should be reflected in the ethos of any socially responsible architecture firm.

Lauren: I think there is more than a missing 32%. The only way to balance out a built environment that has, for the entirety of recorded human history, been dominated by male designers is to have a period of female majority. Is that too radical a thought? You tell me!

Kim-Van: It was great to have a large ELS turn out at the event this year. We had ELS representation at almost each of the break out sessions so it was great to be able to share what we learned and experienced throughout the day.

Tovah: Overall, I loved the whole conference. They did a thorough job of breaking down the EQxD metrics for us, and as a whole, the audience spoke up about holes in the metric system. It sounded like people were also really interested in more metrics and topics about race in the workplace.

Niknaz: I enjoyed the conference, and found the whole event, including the talks and networking sessions, very inspiring. It encouraged me to be more aware, driven, specific, and ambitious about my professional goals, as well as prioritize and evaluate them on a regular basis.  

Everyone: Kat Gordon, a creative director in advertising and founder of The 3% Conference, spoke at the end of the symposium. She was really inspiring and brought a great perspective as a career driven woman and agent for change.

Links:

Equity by Design: http://eqxdesign.com/

The 3% Conference: http://www.3percentconf.com/

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On November 19, 2016, we celebrated the grand opening of the newly renovated Stonestown Family YMCA in San Francisco. The facility has served the neighborhood for over 60 years, and the renovation allows the Y to accommodate the changing needs of the community. The renovation included an upgraded reception area, new exercise studio and new gym equipment. As Josh Leonard, Executive Director of the YMCA of San Francisco, wrote, “In the end, we celebrate much more than a renovated building … we actually come together to celebrate what can happen when we all pitch in to renovate our community.”

Link:

“Renovating Walls & Building Communities” by Josh Leonard, YMCA of San Francisco

Stonestown Family YMCA Facebook – Renovation Photos

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Tiffany Y. Yuan
February 27, 1991 – December 8, 2016

It is with profound sadness that I share the passing of Tiffany Y. Yuan.  She was 25.

Tiffany joined ELS after graduating from the University of California, Berkeley with an undergraduate degree in architecture.  We recruited Tiffany through the firm’s participation at the annual UC Berkeley Career Fair.  She was a strong candidate and a leader amongst her peers at Cal; we were fortunate that she decided to bring her talents to ELS.

Over her four years at ELS, Tiffany made a significant mark on the firm’s work, collaborating with her colleagues on a number of assignments.  Most recently, she played key design roles on Hunan Television’s Production Studios located in Changsha, Hunan Province, China and on the Kinesiology and Wellness Building for Cañada College.  Her contribution on both assignments was exemplary, and earned the praise of fellow designers and clients alike.  Tiffany had amazing potential in the years ahead: as a graduate student at a top architecture program, as a design leader with ELS, or as an entrepreneur/owner in her own firm. She could have done anything – and she would have done it with excellence.

Tiffany approached her work with the intelligence and rigor of a young design star, all while being flexible, understanding and teachable. She was open to critical comment, constantly learning and improving, and eager to apply her latest experience to her next assignment.  She brought a strong work ethic, a graceful steadiness and a warm smile to all that she pursued.  Her lively spirit, positive voice and beautiful personality made her a great friend, colleague and person.

Tiffany’s passing leaves a giant void in our hearts – we miss her.

Clarence D. Mamuyac, Jr., FAIA
President/CEO, ELS Architecture and Urban Design

https://www.gofundme.com/in-memory-of-tiffany-yuan

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