Issues: This multi-use project includes 200,000 square feet of retail space, 400 residential units, and 3,800,000 square feet of office space. Site development was complicated by anti-development community bias, a high water table, and large surface parking areas.
Solution: The community, developer, and municipality, through an advocate process, created an urban design plan with an open space structure that is enhanced by public and private spaces, A water garden is the central focus, allowing the building to become the backdrop for a lushly planted park. Each site is situated to take advantage of views, giving MacArthur Place with a unique sense of identity. This identity is additionally reinforced through clearly organized gateways, spaces, roads, and building sites. All parking is either underground or concealed in parking garages that are used to buffer the site from industrial uses along the northern edge. The site is built up with underground parking structures, diminishing the water table problem. The plan encourages a pedestrian focus for each building, linking major buildings to each other and to the park. Outdoor spaces are tied to the retail stores and offices, infusing the area with a lively street life which makes the area a pleasant place to stroll, shop, work, and live.
