Multi-Unit Residential Projects Honored for Excellence, Innovation

IRVINE, CA-McLarand Vasquez Emsiek & Partners (MVE) has been honored with five Gold Nugget Merit Awards recognizing three separate multi-tenant residential projects, at the annual Pacific Coast Builders Conference (PCBC) in San Francisco.

The Gold Nugget Awards are among the most coveted in the property development industries, recognizing excellence and innovation in design and construction.

"The Gold Nuggets are the result of a tremendous effort on the part of their judges," said Rick Emsiek, AIA, MVE president. "At MVE, we have developed a deep bench in the design of mixed-use, residential, and transit-oriented projects, and it is an honor to be acknowledged by such a prestigious awards program."

MVE & Partners' award-winning projects include Bluwater Crossing, a 51-unit, mixed-use, transit-oriented development in northern San Diego County, CA, that received two Merit Awards in the categories of Best Mixed-Use Project as well as Residential Attached Community of the Year. On 4.2 acres developed by Trammell Crow Residential, MVE also created an onsite village street scene with 18,000 square feet of commercial space to serve townhome work-live loft units.

A Merit Award in the category of Best Multi-Family Housing Project, 4 to 6 Stories, was given for The Park at Irvine Spectrum, a 1,456-unit project on 28.5 acres in Irvine, CA, developed by the Irvine Company Apartment Communities. The Park is divided into three architecturally distinct neighborhoods and offers residents a 2.5-acre commons, swimming pools, recreational areas, paseos and landscaped walkways designed to create a community feeling within the development.

The Uptown Apartments in Oakland, CA-a 665-unit, mixed-use, transit-oriented development-received two Merit Awards in the categories of Best Infill, Re-Development or Rehab Site Plan as well as Green Sustainable Community of the Year. Developed by Forest City Residential Development, the LEED Silver-certified Uptown apartment complex comprises three buildings and 9,000 square feet of retail space, interior courtyards with outdoor grilling and seating areas, large lobbies and a fitness center.

MVE & Partners' affiliate, MVE Institutional (MVEI), also won a Gold Nugget Grand Award, and two Merit Awards. The Grand Award recognized the United Arab Emirates (UAE) University Student and Faculty Housing project, in the International On-the-Boards category. Consisting of 710 units on 120 acres in Al Ain, the project features neighborhood parks, retail and resident services, recreational facilities, pedestrian improvements, shuttle stops and a rail link to the main campus.

MVEI also won two Merit Awards in the Best Campus Housing Project category, one for the 1,020-bed Torrey Pines Village at University of California, San Diego, and one for the 302-bed Sandhu Residence Hall at Chapman University, in Orange County, CA.