Talking Stick - July/August 2009 - 30

The Other Side of the Street Experienced Guidance Experienced developers and architects can provide guidance in identifying and maintaining strong relationships between higher education institutions and community stakeholders, including city planners and local and state municipalities. They can be of particular help to campuses in small cities, which are often surrounded by neighborhoods of singlefamily homes, for the new student housing project must be constructed with an adequate scale and density and an appropriate mix of residential and commercial components in order to become economically viable. two- and four-bedroom suites; faculty apartments; over 25,000 square feet of living-learning and academic support spaces, including a fitness center, games room, music practice rooms, and community kitchens; a 24,000square-foot dining/conference facility; a Barnes & Noble bookstore; and 3,000 square feet of retail space for a university-affiliated credit union. to others’ needs and ideas was a fundamental component of project management team membership.” A two-year planning process included evaluation of the real estate market and potential development sites, meetings with municipal agencies and community organizations, and several months of testing various programmatic scenarios and investigating the market potential of the various components. Only then did the architects begin the design process. The mixed-use facility was designed with ground-floor retail stores in two midrise structures flanking a small street and connected with an elevated pedestrian bridge at the residential level. The traditional Georgian architecture reflects the prevailing campus vernacular, with high quality brick and pre-cast exterior skin over an economical poured-inplace concrete structure. David McDonough, director of real estate services for Johns Hopkins, describes how the project succeeded in meeting the needs of both the university and the community: “After three years of continuous meetings, a project emerged that is an intermediary between Hopkins’ campus and its neighbors. As an anchor, the project revitalizes an urban neighborhood next to an urban campus – it is nothing short of transformational. We have the finest bookstore in the country representing the best of Hopkins. At the same time, the functionality of that building is extremely important for neighbors and Hopkins.” When Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, needed more student housing for juniors and seniors, they realized they would need to build off campus; in 2003, the university’s Commission on Undergraduate Education recommended that they develop enough new residences to guarantee four years of student housing to all arts and sciences and engineering undergraduates who needed it. Fortuitously, the nearby Charles Village community had begun A site map of The Continuum in Gainesville, Florida at the same time to seek redevelopment options that would help reverse the neighborhood’s declining economy Carol Mohr, senior director of and rising crime rate. Through a housing and dining at Johns Hopkins, partnership with Baltimore-based explains the central challenge of the developer Struever Bros. Eccles & project: “Because of the multi-use Rouse and Alabama-based student aspect of the project and the wide housing developer Capstone array of objectives and agendas, being Development Corp., the Charles a member of the project team was a Commons project was created to meet challenge. Given that this was the first the needs of both the university and project of its kind for our department, the community. The project added we charted new ground virtually every 618 undergraduate student beds in day. In retrospect, it’s important to note that flexibility and openness 30 Talking STick
Talking Stick - July/August 2009

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