Drake Valo
Commercial / Residential
The 5-story, 110,000-square-foot mixed-use building east of Drake University will be Phase 1 of a project that will eventually conclude with the development of the southern half of the block along University Avenue (Phase 2). The building will include 116 residential units and ~11,200 square feet of commercial space on the ground floor along Carpenter Avenue, which will include micro-retail units that will support entrepreneurial activity in the area. The dwelling units will be available in five different sizes: studios; studio plus; 1-bedrooms; 1 bedroom plus; and 2-bedrooms.
Woven Patterns
Strong urban living patterns co-exist here today in the lives of neighborhood residents, campus students/educators, and Dogtown businesses/patrons. As an interface to these vibrant patterns, this site can weave and bring together the people of this community while adding new market-rate and affordable dwelling density.
Porous Block
The public realm of the block will be porous and receptive to pedestrians. Auto access will be concealed from the streetscape and compressed wihtin the internal space of the block. Pedestrian pathways will become expansive as they link to existing and new public gathering spaces of varied scales both on and off site.
