Our Approach

We started with the intersection. The corner condition demanded a building that reads as two faces: one addressing the main commercial corridor, the other engaging the residential street behind. Rather than force a single mass, we broke the eighteen units into three staggered bar buildings, each stepping back to create outdoor rooms—balconies, terraces, and a central courtyard that brings daylight into the core of the plan.

The ground floor was designed as commercial first, housing second. Each retail bay receives double-height glazing, dedicated utility meters, and direct street access—no awkward lobby corridors, no service conflicts. Above, the residential units are stacked as three-story townhomes with internal staircases, giving each household vertical privacy and a direct connection to outdoor space on every level. The top-floor balconies capture southern exposure; the mid-floor living rooms open onto Juliette terraces; the ground-floor units activate the sidewalk with stoops and planters.

Parking is screened behind the commercial frontage and accessed from the alley—preserving the street wall and eliminating curb cuts on the primary facade. The structure is Type V wood-frame over a Type I concrete podium, a cost-efficient hybrid that met code while allowing the open retail spans the tenants demanded. Solar arrays on each roof offset common-area electrical loads, and mini-split heat pumps in every unit provide zoned comfort without the ductwork penalties of central systems.

We shepherded the project through a complex entitlement: a zone change, a density bonus application, and LADBS plan check for mixed-use occupancies. Our documentation integrated architectural, structural, and MEP systems from schematic design through construction administration, catching conflicts before they reached the field. The result is a fully occupied development—retail leased to local operators, residential units at 100% occupancy within sixty days of certificate of occupancy—proving that thoughtful mixed-use design can outperform single-use product on the same land.