KTGY-designed Foursquare Senior Living Community in Portland Wins High Honors at BALA & 50+ Housing Council Award Ceremonies

Seniors – not just Gen Y & Xers – want Transit/Pedestrian Friendly Location

IRVINE, CA – February 13, 2012 – (RealEstateRama) — KTGY Group, Inc., Architecture + Planning, is pleased to announce its latest achievements in home design excellence. Foursquare Senior Living community in Portland, Oregon, received high honors at National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) 2012 International Builders’ Show (IBS) in Orlando, FL, at both the Best in American Living Award (BALA) and 50+ Housing Council’s Best of 50+ Housing Awards ceremonies on February 9, 2012.

Foursquare Senior Living, a new $29 million pedestrian-oriented 132-unit mixed-use senior housing community situated near downtown Portland, received three awards, a Platinum award in the BALA competition in the category of Multifamily, On the Boards; and a Gold award in the Best of 50+ Housing Awards competition in the category of Best Market Rate Rental – On the Boards plus a special Innovation award.

“The main thing older adults are seeking, especially in the rental market, is a sense of community,” said KTGY Principal Manny Gonzalez, AIA, LEED AP and lead designer on the project. “The majority of senior renters are single and living in an active adult community gives them opportunities to socialize and do things they never would living alone at home.

“Also, being close to transit, access to dining and entertainment and the ability to enjoy some of the things that come with urban city life for seniors are important amenities outside the multifamily community itself,” Gonzalez said. “The age-old standard of ‘Location, Location, Location’ makes all the difference to these seniors.”

“Inside the senior living community, residents want those amenities that they typically leave behind in a single-family home such as gardening, a ‘bark park’ with dog washing area, and a workshop and hobby area for the do-it-yourselfers and crafty-types,” Gonzalez said. “Foursquare Senior Living is the next generation of housing, which offers a location for seniors on a future trolley line in a downtown location and amenities. Like Gen Y and Xers, grandma wants resort-style living with a bevy of amenities, activities and services under one roof and within walking distance.”

Another desired amenity is including eco-friendly features and amenities. According to Dr. Greg Campbell, executive director for Foursquare Foundation of Los Angeles, the developer of the project, “Our goal is to enhance resident comfort and health by maintaining a residential, smoke-free environment that promotes environmentally-responsible living and helps reduce our residents’ utility costs by incorporating the latest technology in energy conservation.”

Dr. Campbell stated that Foursquare Senior Living has an innovative green feature, a roof top garden terrace spanning nearly 7,600 square feet, which doubles as an eco-roof storm water treatment system. “It took elaborate planning but we are very excited about this unique amenity that residents can enjoy. The roof top garden terrace will offer great city views, comfortable lounging areas, outdoor kitchen with grills, and a gardening area,” Dr. Campbell noted.

Foursquare Senior Living will be built on the site of a former surface parking lot located at the southeast corner of 12th Avenue and Burnside Street, across the street from the Foursquare Church office. Foursquare Foundation is expected to commence construction in the spring of 2012 and be completed in approximately 18 months.

The mixed-use apartment community will feature about 6,300 square feet of ground floor retail and provide 132 one- and two-bedroom apartment homes for active seniors 62 years of age and over. The 1.36-acre community offers 110 one-bedroom, one-bath homes with approximately 600 square feet and 22 two-bedroom, two-bath homes with approximately 900 square feet. Both plans offer a flexible, open layout and have either a private patio or balcony.

The design organizes the apartment homes around a central courtyard and provides intimate “outdoor rooms” for residents to relax. Residents are treated to a 4,869-square-foot recreational center along with a hobby/craft room, a computer center, and a fitness center across the hall.

Gonzalez stated that the retail and the residential lobby, with five stories of residential above, create an urban edge facing Burnside Street, which allows easy access to transportation. “A future trolley line is planned along Burnside Street, which will provide convenient transit for residents across the Willamette River to Downtown Portland. On the side of the building facing Ankeny Street, the building has been designed to step down to four and then three stories to respect the single-family neighborhood,” said Gonzalez.

Last year, the Foursquare Senior Living community received a Gold Nugget Award of Merit in the category of On the Boards, Multifamily Community.

NAHB’s 50+ Housing Council launched the Best of 50+ Housing Awards to encourage quality and innovation in the 50+ housing market. The Council provides information, education and networking opportunities for its members and provides advocacy support to NAHB on key 50+ housing issues. See a complete list of this year’s winners at www.nahb.org/50plusawardwinners.

For more than 25 years, the Best in American Living Awards, commonly known as BALA, have raised the bar for design excellence in the building industry and have highlighted those builders, architects, interior designers, remodelers, developers and land planners who have achieved superior levels of creativity and innovation. See a complete list of this year’s winners at www.nahb.org/bala.

Other 2012 BALA award-winners, designed by KTGY, include a prestigious Platinum award for Primera Terra in Playa Vista, Calif., in the category of Neighborhood Design; plus two BALA awards for Paragon at Old Town in Monrovia, Calif., a Gold award in the category of Rental Development up to 4 Stories and a Silver award for Smarter Growth Community; plus a Silver BALA in the category of Multifamily Housing up to 5 Stories for Fusion in Sunnyvale, Calif.

About KTGY Group, Inc.
Celebrating its 20th year, KTGY Group, Inc., Architecture and Planning, provides comprehensive planning and award-winning architectural design services for residential communities, retail, hospitality, mixed-use and related specialty developments. KTGY delivers innovative solutions that reflect clear understanding of development, market trends and financial performance and takes particular pride in its highly motivated and principal led studios. Serving clients worldwide, KTGY maintains offices in Irvine, Oakland and Santa Monica, Calif., Denver, Colo., and Tysons Corner, Va. See www.ktgy.com.