Mogavero Architects

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Work

Arden Way Apartments

  A transit oriented community serves as a catalyst for planned neighborhood revitalization and growth.  Arden Way Apartments is an infill development located near the Royal Oaks Light Rail Station, providing access to transportation to downtown Sacramento and other nearby neighborhood areas with jobs and services. Community HousingWorks’ sustainable, transit-oriented development features 128 new apartment homes. Improvements along Arden Way near the project include new sidewalks, landscaping, lighting, bike lanes, and easier access to the nearby light rail station. Two 4-story buildings provide affordable housing to the local workforce, families, seniors, and veterans. The buildings engage the street with windows, balconies, and ground floor patios to enhance interaction between residents and the community.  Ranging in size from studio to three bedroom, each apartment includes sustainable features; solar thermal hot water heating, Energy Star appliances, water-saving plumbing fixtures, dual pane windows, and energy efficient heating and air conditioning. A large shared courtyard between the two buildings, along with a resident garden, children’s play area, barbecues, outdoor seating, exercise path, bike storage, and swimming pool are shared outdoor amenities for residents. 4,000 square feet of ground floor community space includes a computer lab, multipurpose room, leasing office, and laundry facilities. SPECIALIZED APPROACHES  Transit oriented  Infill development  Solar thermal hot water heating and PV  Energy Star appliances  Water-saving plumbing fixtures  Dual pane windows  Energy efficient heating and air conditioning  GreenPoint Rated

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Lofts at Fort Visalia

 The Lofts at Fort Visalia is a development that truly reinvigorates downtown. It consists of 80 units of multifamily affordable housing and centrally located community & art gallery space.  In the heart of downtown Visalia, it occupies the site which formerly hosted the city’s first structure: a 60-by-60 square foot fort built in 1854 and demolished by 1855. To honor the rich history of the area, the Lofts at Fort Visalia echos the neighboring brick structures while providing a contemporary gathering space forfuture residents and members of the community.  This project provides multifamily housing units targeted to low-, very low, and extremely-low income households. The project was funded through the low-income housing tax credit program and includeda 55-year affordability covenant. The program includes several Live/Work artist lofts at the ground floor along East Oak to build upon the success of Arts Visalia, Dance Arts and the Garden Street Art Studio by extending an “art walk” along East Oak to further strengthen the arts community while providing affordable residences above the lofts.

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Southside Cohousing

The Southside Cohousing project involved guiding a group of 25 mixed-income families through the process of developing a medium-density cohousing community. Mogavero Architects’ services included project management as well as architectural design of this unique project, one of the first of its kind in Sacramento. Our project management responsibilities included site and neighborhood evaluation, evaluating government, private construction and financing programs, preparing capital, operating cost estimates and projections, and negotiating all agreements for construction loans and mortgage programs. Mogavero Architects negotiated the selection of a contractor and agreements with the selected builder, and coordinated the other project consultants including attorneys, mortgage brokers and property managers. Architectural design involved a lengthy and detailed community design process as we developed prototype units with groups of households for each unit type. In total, there are 25 units ranging from 1- to 4-bedrooms each. The wood-frame units surround an open space with a children’s play area and the 2600 square feet Commons House, the focal point of the community. Because of its proximity to downtown jobs, automobile use is a fraction of the norm. The community also includes solar photovoltaic panels, organic gardens, storage for 75 bicycles, and a shop with shared tools including those for bicycle repair. Though completed nearly three decades ago, the Southside Cohousing project remains a staple of the Southside Park neighborhood today, with some of the original tenants still occupying their units.

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Cashin’s Field

Nestled among the Sierra Nevada foothills, 51 units of affordable workforce housing showcase how community and nature can unite. Set to address Nevada City’s lack of affordable housing, the Cashin’s Field development aimed at transforming a vacant lot on the southeast side of town into 51 units of multifamily housing.  The site offers a mix of one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments and a community space within 7 buildings on the nearly 5-acre property.  As of December 2020, Nevada City faced a high cost burden rating with zero affordable housing units per 1,000 residents. Coupled with recent years of devastating wildfires, Nevada County’s housing crisis continues to be at the forefront of local legislation efforts.  Through the use of funds from the Disaster Recovery Low Income Housing Tax Credit, as well as other private and public funding sources, Cashin’s Field offers respite to those who meet the qualifying criteria for affordable housing eligibility. All units are designated for residents making 30-60% of the area median income, with ten percent of units reserved for households classified as “extremely-low-income.”  Cashin’s Field sought to meld nature with the new community of families by preserving forestry on the site and establish outdoor recreational spaces within it. The development features two play areas for children and a central village green.    

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North Creek Crossings at Meriam Park

North Creek Crossings at Meriam Park is an affordable infill housing development located on Maclovia Avenue in the Chico, CA community. This prominent development provides relief for the city’s expanding population and housing needs following the 2018 Camp Fire in Butte County. The 3-story buildings provide upscale apartment homes to the local workforce, families, seniors, and veterans. The development boasts 160 apartment homes as well as a 3,921 square foot community building, barbecue, picnic areas, and lush green spaces with playground equipment. The property is located near bike trails and shopping centers, including Chico Crossroads, The Village Center, Chico Marketplace, and Bidwell Park. Prominent property features will include solar power and a high efficiency irrigation system. Ranging in size from one to three bedroom, each apartment includes sustainable features, fully equipped kitchens, and laundry facilities. Construction began on the project in late 2021 and is expected to be completed in 2023. Civil Engineer: NorthStar Engineering Group, Inc Landscape Architect: Thomas H Phelps Landscape Architecture General Contractor: Sunseri Construction

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Mogavero Architects Office Building

Mogavero Architects purchased the Sacramento Regional Builders Exchange (SRBX) office building Summer of 2018 and immediately began a comprehensive renovation of the property. After an extensive overhaul, we moved into the building in May of 2019. The classic mid-century modern building’s exterior was highlighted by window walls and detailed brick work, but the interior was outdated, with a variety of rooms and compartments throughout both floors that harkened back to the building’s original use. SRBX had been the sole tenant since the building was constructed in 1951. With multiple renovations and additions during their tenancy, the building lost functionality as a modern office space. They truly wanted to hand the property off to a steward, someone who would invest in and breathe new life into the space. Our firm was the only one with a creative vision for how to do so. The renovation included adding over a dozen skylights to improve daylighting, and walls were removed to create an open floor plan. The original windows were replaced with aesthetically congruent modern windows that maintained the original character of the building while meeting more current standards for energy use. Interior walls and closed offices were eliminated to create open space, a large glass-enclosed conference room was created, and lots of skylights were added to bring in more natural light. On the second floor, we removed the roof of the old board room for the SRBX to create a roof terrace with views and seating areas for staff to enjoy. A spacious kitchen was added. The final result looks very similar from the exterior, but feels completely different inside, transforming this older and languishing building into a modern open and airy office space, and a new home for Mogavero Architects.

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Bakersfield Downtown Charrette

Mogavero Architects worked with the City of Bakersfield to implement a Downtown Design Charrette. The charrette came out of a community driven process called Vision 2020. The visioning process had been active since May 1999, and over 12,500 participants have actively participated. The City of Bakersfield has experienced much adversity throughout its history. In the early 1900’s the town was devastated by a major earthquake and has also the unfortunate experience of burning down twice. Due to these disasters much of the historic foundational presence is no longer there. Through the charrette, Mogavero Architects developed images that reinforce the vision of downtown and include implementation strategy for the future. Mogavero Architects facilitated the workshops utilizing local architectural, landscape and planning professionals as well as the general public. The final product included: A discussion on the context of downtown’s place in the larger community; A discussion of the existing conditions and images for the year 2020; A discussion of how to get there through catalyst projects, opportunity site projects and other activities; Discussions on financing, implementation partners, and schedules for the implementation of the various projects. In addition, the community wanted to create additional parks, streetscape improvements, and allocate district uses for cultural elements, government use, educational use, and retailing. Entrances and additional downtown housing are also important components to this strategy. AWARDS The Bakersfield Charrette project received an Outstanding Planning Project Award from the Central California Chapter of the American Planning Association.

Work

Sierra Oaks Building

ENERGY EFFICIENT UPDATES Mogavero Architects’ scope of work included tenant improvements for 15,000 square feet of office space. This project involved a two-story office building with parking provided on a subterranean level and at the first floor office level. This building represents a practical response to the combination of an extremely tight site, typical parameters of cost and design for speculative office buildings, and rising SMUD electric rates. The south and west walls are wrapped with a screen wall that serve two functions. It shades the clear untinted glass and provides surfaces which allow the non-heat- generating component of the sunlight to bounce back into the building, increasing the natural light level in the workspace. SPECIALIZED APPROACHES Ecologically sensitive techniques were combined with products that also kept green principles in mind. • Energy efficient design • Infill site location • Natural daylighting features • Natural ventilation features • Window shading • 90% of the reinforcing bars were of recycled steel • Construction/demolition waste programs were in force throughout the project.

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Zettie Miller’s Haven

Zettie Miller’s Haven is a special needs housing development located on appoximately 2.15 acres behind the Union Southern Baptist Church in Stockton, California. The project provides permanent housing for people with a disability, including three special needs populations: people with developmental disabilities, people with mental illness, and people with long term chronic illnesses with an emphasis on seniors. The buildings are generally three stories with “tuck-under” parking at the ground floor of the western and southern buildings. Tuck-under vehicle parking allows the site to be less dominated by parking, and shades many of the parking spaces. The buildings are oriented around a common green that serves as a central focus for the entire community. A south facing terrace that is slightly elevated, looks over the green and provide for a tranquil sitting area. SPECIALIZED APPROACHES Energy efficient design exceeds California’s Title 24 requirements by 15 percent GreenPoint Rated Gold Under-utilized infill location with existing transportation and services Uses lanscaped bio-swales to reduce and improve quality of storm water run off Uses “parking-sharing” by taking advantage of the staggered schedules of the adjacent church and management staff Energy Star appliances Building geometry allows most of the units to have natural ventilation Provides natural daylight on 2 sides of more than 75% of the residences Careful placement of shading devices to minimize heat gain from sunlight Providing roof geometry to allow for solar PV panels 225 KW PV system generates most resident needs Low VOC finishes

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WEST Apartments

LIVE WEST: The first residential project on the waterfront of the West Sacramento Bridge District. WEST Apartments is a mixed-use project on the Sacramento River across from Raley Field in West Sacramento. The project takes advantage of significant views overlooking the river, Tower Bridge, Raley Field and Downtown Sacramento. The five-story wood-framed building wraps a precast concrete parking garage. 287 residences consist of studios, 1, 2 and 3 bedroom units. Ground floor retail on Riverfront Street provides 8,000 square feet of active street frontage facing the Rivercats Baseball Stadium. The WEST building design features a special treatment of balconies at the building corners. The northwest corner features the main residential entry and a retail plaza at Riverfront and Ballpark. The building corner is capped with a trellis element over a common space terrace on the fifth floor. The project has a variety of private, common, and public open spaces. The private outdoor space around the pool is embraced within the northeast wing of the building. An ornamental iron fence is designed for views to the river and Riverwalk, while also providing a level of privacy and security for the residents. Open spaces on the east side of the project will be integrated into the landscape of the Riverwalk.