MVE & Partners to Provide Quality Island Housing Solution from New Regional Office In Honolulu

In a commitment to its longtime service in Hawaii and its ongoing mission to create high quality, resort, mixed-use and infill developments on the islands, California-based MVE & Partners has opened a new regional office at 1100 Alakea Street in downtown Honolulu. The new Oahu office will expand the firm’s current resort residential presence, while providing a local point of contact for the award-winning architectural firm to continue its mission of providing quality, urban mixed-use residential solutions in under-utilized, infill locations on Oahu, the Big Island and Maui.

“MVE is committed to designing creative urban residential solutions to improve the quality of life for the islands’ residents in order to help solve the deficit of affordable housing near employment centers,” observed MVE Founding Partner Ernesto Vasquez, AIA. “Having worked in Hawaii since 1985, the opening of our Honolulu office is the logical next step in our commitment to improving housing options on the islands, particularly on Oahu.”

A primary goal will be the development of innovative mixed-use urban residential designs that provide alternative solutions aimed at reducing island traffic congestion and commutes. As part of this commitment, MVE & Partners is particularly interested in providing housing near urban employment centers and potentially transit-oriented developments similar to projects MVE has been active in designing for the Northern California Bay Area. In addition, the firm is focused on housing to meet the needs of seniors on the islands.

“We’ve learned in working with public/private partnerships that there are creative development and financing structures that can be applied to make housing affordable,” Vasquez said. “We are passionate in providing quality urban housing solutions for the local Hawaiian community that are sustainable, affordable and reflective of the local culture.”

MVE & Partners is drawing from its extensive experience in creating similar mixed-use housing solutions to help address the need in Oahu. With the success of quality urban residential housing and transit-oriented development, the firm has demonstrated the feasibility of smart-growth, sustainable designs in improving the quality of life for diverse communities. Similar models will be applied in Hawaii, incorporating local traditional architecture styles into quality, pedestrian-friendly communities with mixed use retail on the ground floor.

MVE & Partners’ island design portfolio spans 21 years in Hawaii. Recent projects include The Peninsula Development at Hawaii Kai in the Hawaii Kai District of East Oahu, master-planned and developed with Honolulu-based developer Stanford Carr Development International (SCD); The Franciscan Vistas, currently under pre-development in Ewa, Oahu with UniDev LLC and St. Francis Development Foundation of Hawaii; Brigham Young University faculty and student housing on the north shore of Oahu; in addition, MVE was recently awarded the design of the Waikoloa Employee Housing on the Big Island along with a consortium of local consultants led by Unidev/ Hawaii.

“Over the years we’ve collaborated with MVE in creating more than 6,000 residences on Oahu, Maui and the Big Island and our joint vision has always been the creation of quality island housing and neighborhoods for the local people of Hawaii,” noted Stanford Carr, President of Stanford Carr Development. “MVE brings a wealth of expertise from working in the competitive mainland market, giving them a tremendous edge in bringing a superior residential product to Hawaii.”

Carr collaborated with MVE on The Peninsula at Hawaii Kai, a 590-unit for-sale residential development. The 46-acre village has been recognized with a Parade of Homes Grand Champion Award and three Gold Nugget Merit Awards. Since 2004, it has catered to a broad range of homebuyers with a mixture of architectural styles reflecting the cottage character of the Hawaiian lifestyle.

Currently, MVE also is working with Stanford Carr Development on the new, view-oriented community of Kehalani on the island of Maui, offering a wide range of housing opportunities for permanent residents. The 540-acre, pedestrian-friendly neighborhood is situated on a terraced site and includes a 200,000-square-foot town center.

In collaboration with UniDev LLC and St. Francis Healthcare System of Hawaii, MVE & Partners is currently providing design services for The Franciscan Villas, a $100 million senior residential care community situated on 23 acres on Renton Road in Ewa, Oahu, near the old sugar mill. The 340-unit residential community addresses the affordable housing needs of Hawaii’s growing elderly population. When complete in 2007, it will anticipate the future health requirements of residents with a property and case management office to coordinate services, as well as a senior community center and adult day care center.

The MVE & Partners and UniDev Team was recently awarded the development rights for providing much needed employee housing for the Big Island, County of Hawaii to collaborate with local teams and national team of development / design consultants in which MVE is collaborating with PBR Hawaii, Sam O. Hirata, Inc. and Rocky Mountain Institute.

“We will continue to work with MVE & Partners to bring affordable workforce housing solutions to Hawaiian residents,” commented UniDev Executive Vice President Jeff Minter. “Our mutual goal is the development of amenity-rich housing that people want to live in, not have to live in.”

Also under development is faculty housing for academic staff at Brigham Young University on Oahu’s north shore.

MVE & Partners’ History in Hawaii

MVE & Partners has actively participated in design projects on the islands for 21 years. This rich history includes collaboration on a diverse spectrum of project types, from custom home sites and condominiums to affordable living communities in the tradition of “Old Hawaii.”

On the island of Hawaii, the firm earned a 1999 ULI Award for Excellence for its master plan of the initial Phase of the highly acclaimed Hualalai Resort. In collaboration with Ka’upulehu Development Company and Kajima Development and working closely with Jack Nicklaus, MVE established an overall resort framework with residential neighborhoods that optimized fairway and ocean views at this 720-acre resort at Kailua-Kona.

Other resort-style residential projects include Pineapple Hill on the island of Maui, completed in 1994. As part of a carefully conceived master plan at the Kapalua resort, MVE developed a residential planning solution for 100 home sites on the 45-acre property, all with unobstructed views overlooking the Pacific Ocean and the nearby islands of Lanai and Molokai.

In a celebration of affordable living developed in concert with the State of Hawaii, MVE designed five individual villages that reflect Oahu’s architectural heritage at Iwalani at Kapolei on the Island of Oahu. Completed in 1998, the 167-unit project features contemporary Hawaiian Mediterranean styling with 50% of the homes designed as low-income affordable units. Also in the affordable category, the firm earned a Gold Nugget Merit Award for Kekuilani, a contemporary pedestrian-oriented village designed with traditional Hawaiian plantation architecture on the island of Oahu.

The new regional office will be overseen by MVE Founding Partner Ernesto Vasquez and managed locally by Associate Partner Geoff Miasnik. A Hawaiian-style ceremonial blessing event to celebrate the opening of the Alakea office is planned in June.

About MVE & Partners

MVE & Partners is one of the country’s most influential and diverse architecture, planning and interiors organizations. Celebrating over 30 years of excellence in design, the firm is a recognized industry leader in residential, commercial, mixed-use, hospitality, urban, transit-oriented and institutional design, as well as planning and interiors. MVE & Partners employs a renowned team of facility programmers, planners, architects, urban designers, computer specialists and interior designers in Irvine and Oakland, California. The firm’s differentiation is its ability to design highly functional and attractive architecture, creating environments where people aspire to live, work and play. Visit MVE & Partners online at www.mve-architects.com.