Mesa Development

The long viewThe Three-Sixty Residences luxury high-rise condo development in downtown San Jose, California, is a positive public-private partnership in an urban setting, Gary Toushek discovers. Chicago-based Mesa Development is providing San Jose, California, with one of its first downtown luxury condo high-rises, and it happens to be one of the tallest residential buildings in the city. It also happens to be on a previously underutilized parking lot that the city had slated for redevelopment, so everyone wins.  Residents can live close to their work, with a view, and downtown core businesses get new customers. Rick Friedman, senior development manager of MesaÔÇÖs western region, describes Mesa as a real estate development firm operated by a relatively small (ÔÇ£lean and meanÔÇØ) in-house team of 18 individuals of diverse, established experience. ÔÇ£We leverage ourselves through outsourced service partners such as architects and engineers and whatever consultants we need, to do major development projects.ÔÇØ Mesa was founded in 2000 by Richard A. Hanson, who had previously been president of a much larger development company, and his vision was to have a small, nimble, entrepreneurial development firm that didnÔÇÖt have a massive overhead cost of staff and departments.Hanson wanted Mesa to focus on the high-rise urban residential market because demographics and proximity to workplace and all other major indicators pointed in that direction. As well as the younger, upscale buyers in their late 20s and 30s, the numbers showed that a lot of people living in the suburbs, such as empty-nesters, wanted to move back into the city to be closer to its culture, entertainment and shopping, and it was considered a major trend. ÔÇ£I think that despite the current downturn,ÔÇØ says Friedman, ÔÇ£this downtown living trend will continue, because working people donÔÇÖt like a long commute.ÔÇØ The company has been building several projects in downtown Chicago, and Mesa wanted to grow beyond Chicago while maintaining its lean in-house team, so the West Coast was chosen over the East, and specifically California, for its dynamics. In 2003 Mesa discovered an ideal property coming to market in downtown San Jose, the tenth most populous city in the US and the one with the largest median income. What was lacking was the high-rise condo development that was thriving in major cities such as Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego. The San Jose parking lot property was owned by the city and slated for redevelopment, and in a public competition, the city awarded the contract to MesaÔÇÖs proposal. Solomon Cordwell Buenz is the architectural firm on the project, Bovis Lend Lease is the general contractor, and BAMO Inc. provides interior design. Ground was broken on the Three-Sixty Residences project, named for its panoramic views, in February 2007. ÔÇ£There are beautiful views from everywhere in the building,ÔÇØ says Friedman. ÔÇ£ItÔÇÖs one of the highest buildings downtown, and there are unobstructed views of the valley, the hills and the mountains. From the north side of the building you can also see the San Jose airport, with planes taking off and landing in the distance. ItÔÇÖs part of the appeal of urban living.ÔÇØThe confinement issues that constrain a major construction site in a busy downtown area present an interesting challenge of coordinating arrivals and departures of crews and materials. ÔÇ£ThereÔÇÖs no staging area in this case; everything needs to take place within the site, so it becomes tricky. You have to work carefully with the city and the surrounding businesses so that thereÔÇÖs minimal disruption to their operation and customer flow. You donÔÇÖt want a bunch of large noisy trucks delivering or idling and impeding traffic. So you have to essentially orchestrate the activities daily via phone and two-way radio, because despite having a four-sided construction site, we have only one thatÔÇÖs available to trucks entering and exiting,ÔÇØ Friedman says. At almost 270 feet high, the 23-story tower will be one of the tallest residential buildings in San Jose. The project will include 11,050 square feet of retail space. Security will operate 24/7 and a concierge service will be available five days a week. On the fifth floor is an outdoor landscaped courtyard, a large pool and hot tub, a fitness center and a community room. The 213 units range from one-bedrooms at 800 to 900 square feet, to the six penthousesÔÇöfour on the 22nd floor and two on the top floorÔÇöfrom 2,700 to 3,400 square feet, with the upper two penthouse units including an expansive outdoor terrace. ÔÇ£We constructed a full-scale model condo, with two bedrooms plus a den, in our sales center in a retail space at the Fairmont Hotel in San Jose, at a cost of over a million dollars, as well as a five-foot-high scale model, part of our sales tool,ÔÇØ says Friedman. ÔÇ£The entire presentation was very well received by the city as well as the public, because of the luxury amenities and building quality, and thus far we have contracts for about half the units, including one of the penthouses.ÔÇØ Mesa purchased the parking lot property from the cityÔÇÖs redevelopment agency, so itÔÇÖs a public-private partnership. Friedman says itÔÇÖs been a pleasure dealing with the city, in terms of the permitting process and planning approvals received in a timely fashion. ÔÇ£WeÔÇÖre literally adding people to the downtown core and helping develop its critical essential mass. When the residents move in, theyÔÇÖll shop retail and theyÔÇÖll take advantage of San JoseÔÇÖs entertainment, cultural and dining experiences.ÔÇØ Three-Sixty is adjacent to the newly-restored California Theatre, the cityÔÇÖs opera, symphony and drama venue, and also near the convention center. And when there are concerts and events at the theater, Mesa has an agreement with the city that it wonÔÇÖt disturb or interfere with the proceedings with construction noise. The building is also designed and positioned with respect to the same concerns relating to acoustic enjoyment in the opera house. ÔÇ£And the city is grateful to have a first-class condo development in that location,ÔÇØ he says.Mesa has another project in the planning stage for San Jose, with a hotel on the lower level and condos above, on a site the City Redevelopment Agency refers to as Block Two. So far itÔÇÖs just a site under contract. ÔÇ£WeÔÇÖve been looking at private and public property, including greenfield or brownfield sites. Regions and counties have land that they term excess, and we often help with master planning, development planning and economic analysis. We feel MesaÔÇÖs value added is to have the vision and be able to orchestrate it by bringing together a team of experienced professionals and leading that team effectively to reach the desired outcome. But as always in business, it begins with an idea of how best to develop a site and relies on a thoughtful, creative plan on how to get the best quality result.ÔÇØ ÔÇô Editorial research by Jim Rose┬á