Inspired Neighbors

IT'S NOT UNUSUAL FOR ARCHITECTS to tour vintage neighborhoods to get inspiration for a new project. More often than not, though, these hunting expeditions take place many miles—even time zones—away from where the proposed development is poised to take shape.

That's definitely not the case with Bayport Alameda, an 87-acre project on the site of a former naval base in Alameda, Calif., an island adjacent to Oakland and just across the bay from San Francisco. The architects designing the 32 different elevations at this new community were able to plumb a rich and vibrant design vocabulary from the heart of Alameda, a former resort area that's known for its Victorianera architecture. In fact, Alameda boasts more than 10,000 buildings that were constructed before 1930.

“The architects came up from Southern California and took a tour through Alameda,” says Fran Leach, Bayport Alameda's marketing director. “There's a great eclectic set of architecture in Alameda, with everything from Victorian to Tudor to Spanish Colonial to Spanish Revival, so they loved that. They pulled as many details as possible in creating the houses for our project.”

PARK VIEWS: Diversity marks The Cove Collection from Santa Ana, Calif.–based William Hezmalhalch Architects. There are four plans available, each in three different elevations (Traditional, Santa Barbara, Italian), totaling 12 different looks. The homes offer up to five bedrooms and range in size from 2,357 to 3,173 square feet.

Bayport Alameda is the first project to be built on the 2,000-acre Alameda Naval Air Station, which was decommissioned in 1997. In 2000, the city sold the land to San Francisco–based Catellus Development Corp., which teamed up with Warmington Homes California (Warmington's development arm) of Costa Mesa, Calif., to carry out the residential end of its plans. The Warmington Group of Northern California (the building arm of the company), headquartered in San Ramon, Calif., is building 485 homes on a portion of the former naval facility, including 48 units at below–market-rate prices for those who qualify as moderate-income households. At build-out, projected for 2008, Bayport Alameda will also include an 11-acre central neighborhood park, four half-acre mini parks, bike lanes, walking paths, and a K-8 school.

“As we would do with any of our master plans, we made a fairly short list of four or five builders that we thought would do a good job with the product and that we thought the city would appreciate,” says Tom Marshall, senior vice president of the Catellus Residential Group (Catellus Development's residential arm), which acted as the master developer on the residential end of the project. “Warmington distinguished itself with the work they put into the initial stage. They really rolled up their sleeves and got into the product, which made it a pretty easy decision. This is a group of folks who do what they say they're going to do and don't cause a lot of fuss.”

Warmington can't have been unhappy with the architects that Catellus chose to execute that product. It's a group that's known for great design and good follow-through. The end result was four collections of two-story, neo-traditional architectural styles (Craftsman/Bungalow, American Traditional, Monterey, Cottage, and Spanish Colonial, from 2,035 to 3,730 square feet), with each collection being designed by a different firm. Three lot sizes are available—3,000, 4,000, and 5,000 square feet—and all the homes are alley-loaded. The single-family, detached homes currently range in price from $730,000 to $990,000. The first 12 of 48 homes targeted for moderate-income households are expected to be finished early this year and will go for $273,000 each.

COURTYARD CENTERPIECE: Robert Hidey Architects of Irvine, Calif., executed The Pointe Collection, the largest homes at Bayport Alameda. Rooms on the first floor of Plan 10, shown above in the Santa Barbara elevation, revolve around a central courtyard.

Robert Hidey Architects based in Irvine, Calif., executed The Pointe Collection, the largest homes, with three floor plans that all feature courtyards, up to four bedrooms, plus loft and retreat options. William Hezmalhalch Architects of Santa Ana, Calif., came up with The Cove, four home designs that encourage easy living—both indoors and out. HOVE Design Alliance in Newport Beach, Calif., designed The Harbor Collection, the smallest homes at Bayport but also some of the most popular. Buyers can choose from three different floor plans and six elevations, all with a minimum of three bedrooms. The Landing, Bayport's collection of 48 market-rate “duets,” or duplexes, was designed by RNM Architects in Newport Beach and will be available through a qualification process administered by the Alameda Development Corp. Because they are located on prime corner lots, the attached houses look very much like single-family homes, with separate entrances on separate streets.

“Given the tight quarters we were dealing with, it was important to have separate architects doing each product line,” says Marshall. “Of course, that creates quite a challenge for the builder.”

Another hurdle for the builder was a design requirement from the city of Alameda that dictated the use of high-quality windows that would match the architectural quality found in many of the city's character-rich neighborhoods. The Warmington Group approached Andersen Windows to develop a custom-tailored, competitively priced solution that could be used in each of the homes. The Andersen windows and patio doors on the Bayport project feature an exterior grille that meets the city of Alameda's requirements; natural wood interior; low-maintenance exterior cladding, and high-performance low-E glass.

Bayport Alameda has a lot going for it—great planning, great architecture, and a great builder—but just about everyone associated with the project will tell you that its No. 1 draw is its location. “The architecture and the concept have been very well received by buyers who love the alley-loaded, pedestrian-friendly plan,” says the Warmington Group's vice president of sales and marketing, Cheryl O'Connor. “But its success is primarily due to its location. Because Alameda is so close to all the major San Francisco work centers, and there hasn't been any new housing here in quite a few years, there's a lot of demand for single-family homes in a close-in location.”

DIGNIFIED DESIGN: Rich details and great architecture mark The Cove Collection. The Italian elevation of Plan 7 (above) is approximately 2,606 square feet and features a kitchen off an even larger great room and a sumptuous master suite upstairs.

Managing that demand has become one of Warmington's primary concerns. Because the lot sizes are so tight and the product offering is so diverse—12 unique floor plans with 32 different elevations from four architectural firms—the builder had to set up a construction schedule that called for 65 separate releases. Each release offers three to 15 homes from one of the three single-family collections. Homes are sold to pre-qualified buyers by lottery. “We usually have about 50 families show up for every release,” O'Connor says. “It's been tough, though. Some people have shown up for multiple lotteries and still haven't gotten a home yet.”

By the end of last year, Warmington had released 17 phases and 47 homes were occupied. “It's a challenge,” Marshall admits. “You want to mete out your product as the market desires it, at a pace where you can build some appreciation as you go. At the same time, you don't want to cut off the momentum, which is hard to do when you've got different product types and different concentrations. The real challenge is to market your way around those restraints. Warmington seems to be making it work.”

Homes from the Pointe, Cove, and Harbor collections were first offered in a range of prices from the mid-$600,000s to the $800,000s; currently, they're priced from $730,000 to $900,000. According to O'Connor, they're still value-priced relative to resale properties, which are still higher in the area.

HISTORICAL DETAILS: The Santa Barbara elevation of The Cove Collection's Plan 8 (right) boasts tile roofs, exposed chimneys, wrought-iron railings, and arched openings, all signatures of the Santa Barbara style.

“The project has definitely been a success,” says Marshall. “We raised prices because we kind of had to keep civil order there. But to get price increases and sustain the project, you couldn't get away with putting up just anything. That's not really our M.O., that's not Warmington's M.O, and that's not what the city of Alameda wanted.”

Kathleen Stanley is a freelance writer based in Washington.

Project: Bayport Alameda, Alameda, Calif.; Size:87 acres; Total units: 485; Price: $730,000 to $990,000 (single-family detached); $273,000 (moderate-income attached); Developers: Catellus Residential Group, Newport Beach, Calif., and Warmington Homes California, Costa Mesa, Calif.; Builder: Warmington Group of Northern California, San Ramon, Calif.; Architects: William Hezmalhalch Architects, Santa Ana, Calif. (The Cove); Robert Hidey Architects, Irvine, Calif. (The Pointe); HOVE Design Alliance, Newport Beach, Calif. (The Harbor); RNM Architects, Newport Beach (The Landing); Landscape architect: EDAW, San Francisco Each of th

GRAND ENTRANCE: Plan 10 from The Point Collection features a spacious entry that leads directly into an outdoor courtyard. Beyond the courtyard are rooms that families really use: the kitchen, nook, and great room.

EASY LIVING: The Traditional elevation of The Cove Collection's 2,925-square-foot Plan 8 would look at home just about anywhere.

FULLY LOADED: The Cove Collection's Traditional plan features four bedrooms, two-and-a-half bathrooms, an optional tech alcove, and, for the cook who wants everything, a wok kitchen.