TCA Architects

Old Town Kern Vision Plan

tcaeditor - Sep 17, 2023

The Old Town Kern (OTK) Vision Plan provides a 25-year roadmap to revitalize this historic Bakersfield neighborhood, fostering economic growth, housing opportunities, and community prosperity. Focused on Baker Street, Sumner, and Lake Streets, the plan will transform these corridors into a vibrant downtown core, driving future development and creating jobs while attracting new residents. OTK’s rich history, particularly its connection to the Basque community and already established restaurants and businesses will be preserved and celebrated throughout the plan. The design integrates existing cultural elements and historic architecture, ensuring the neighborhood’s identity remains central to its revitalization. A key challenge was planning for the future high-speed rail that will pass through the area. A conceptual vision for how the rail could be integrated into the community was developed through a three-day collaborative charrette with community members and stakeholders. Aligning with the City’s local goals for land-use, parks, and mobility, The OTK Vision Plan offers a comprehensive, sustainable strategy for inclusive urban development. It provides clear recommendations and actionable investments to ensure the long-term success and vitality of the community; empowering residents and preserving the neighborhood’s legacy for generations to come.

CSUMB Master Plan Concept

tcaeditor - Sep 16, 2023

The CSUMB 2nd Avenue master plan achieves the Client’s and University’s design goals for a socially vibrant, wellness-focused community that is integrated with nature. The 72-acre development opportunity is located a half mile from the ocean and just adjacent to the CSU Monterey Bay campus. The largely undeveloped site with existing sporadic development presents an opportunity for a mixed-use, pedestrian-oriented development, ranging in market rate residential, to senior and family affordable housing. The Client and CSUMB envisioned a supportive community to the university and surrounding area. The concept starts with restorative design by transforming the asphalt parking lot into an active, pedestrian friendly community with housing for all ages. The existing Cypress Grove is preserved for its natural beauty and contribution to identity of place. To complement the natural beauty of the site, the architectural and landscape design will create beautiful spaces that the community will cherish. The grading of the property influenced vehicular/pedestrian circulation, along with the preservation of cypress groves.

NewPark Place Master Plan

tcaeditor - Sep 07, 2023

In 2018, the NewPark Place Specific Plan was green lit with the ambitious goal of revitalizing the NewPark Mall. Brookfield stepped up to the challenge, acquiring the mall and enlisting TCA to spearhead the master planning process. Over several years of collaboration, TCA worked closely with Brookfield Residential and Retail to forge a new vision for the area. Out of the original 1,030,000 square feet of mall space, approximately 430,000 square feet are slated for demolition, including anchors like JC Penny, Burlington, Inline Shops, and Sears. In their footprint, a fresh 220,000 square feet will be dedicated to a new Costco and a Retail co-working center.

The southern parking lots of the mall will undergo a transformation, making way for five new residential developments – three wrap and two podium structures – delivering a total of 1,519 units and accommodating roughly 2,800 residents who will support both existing and revamped retail spaces. Careful attention has been paid to vehicular circulation and service access to both retail and residential parcels. A key element of the plan introduces an activated retail/residential street, fostering a walkable and interactive environment with parks, plazas, and commercial outlets.

To address the reduction in retail square footage, parking will be replenished through the construction of two proposed podium structures. Convincing the city of Newark about the merits of this concept was crucial, so Brookfield entrusted TCA to create an experiential video fly through showcasing the new vision, emphasizing connectivity, retail offerings, and the residential master plan. The master plan was met with enthusiastic approval, signaling the transformation of a struggling mall into a dynamic and thriving concept.

Currently, TCA is focused on designing the first phase of residential development, which will comprise of 319 units.

Click to watch the video fly through!

Tustin Legacy Master Plan

tcaeditor - Sep 06, 2023

Naval Air Station Santa Ana, established in 1942 and known as the “Lighter Than Airbase,” is renowned for its two iconic blimp hangars in Southern California. Although the base closed in the early 90s, its architectural significance endured, influencing the development of Orange County’s central landscape. Tragically, one of the hangars was lost to fire, but the surviving hangar continues to be a prominent feature in the master plan developed over the past thirty years.

Next to the established entertainment district lies a tract of undeveloped land. Originally intended for a 6-acre apartment project, the plans evolved to encompass over 50 acres of mixed-use housing typologies. Numerous visioning initiatives were undertaken to enhance circulation, create a sense of place, and develop an iconic design that integrates with the existing context. The current and proposed road framework and park system present both opportunities and challenges. Scenarios and massing studies focused on transforming the automobile-centric design into a pedestrian-friendly environment that complements the proposed park system.

The final master plan introduces up to 3,000 units in various product typologies and massing scenarios. The mix of product types, placement of community-serving retail, parks, and pedestrian connectivity establish a vibrant center for the Tustin Legacy Master Plan.

The Quarry

tcaeditor - Jun 24, 2023

A master planning concept vision revitalizes an expansive quarry into a dynamic waterfront community, centered around the creation of a marina. The design involves ingeniously flooding the quarry with bay water, facilitated by the construction of connecting canals, thereby transforming it into a deep-water harbor. This visionary endeavor paves the way for a diverse array of residential, commercial, and hospitality developments, including single-family homes, apartments, retail establishments, and hotels, promising to invigorate the surrounding landscape.

The unique topography of the site offers sweeping vistas and lends itself to a variety of architectural styles, adding to the allure of the envisioned community. Noteworthy features such as existing structures, including iconic smokestacks, are seamlessly integrated into the master plan, contributing a sense of history and character to the proposed development.

Carmel Cadman Bellevue

tcaeditor - May 25, 2023

Bellevue Washington’s Bel-Red area is an emerging hub at the heart of the tech sector, with numerous tech companies, including Meta, establishing their headquarters there. Once an underutilized, low-scale industrial area, it now hosts several high-density buildings. At the center of Bel-Red is a 7.5-acre parcel adjacent to the Bel-Red Train Station. Our client envisioned a mixed-use, sustainable development incorporating 500,000 square feet of office space and 1,000 residential units. The site’s varying grades required the architecture, parking, and retail concepts to be tiered, offering a variety of views to the surrounding areas.

One of the significant challenges in the design process was the limited information provided beyond the potential program. TCA needed to establish a comprehensive understanding of the land, including base plans, utility locations, grading, and future transportation corridors. Extensive research was conducted to detail all available site influences that could affect the design. At TCA, we go beyond design; we aim to provide ourselves, and our clients a thorough understanding of the property.

Santa Ana Vision 100

tcaeditor - Apr 24, 2023

At the heart of Orange County lies the Civic Center in Santa Ana, surrounded by a rich and diverse history in downtown Santa Ana. Recent years have witnessed a remarkable rejuvenation of the area, marked by new infrastructure, development initiatives, and the ongoing construction of a train line connecting Garden Grove to the Santa Ana station. However, the Civic Center itself, with its mix of city, county, state, and federal properties, presents a unique challenge due to complex ownership arrangements. These convoluted property lines have posed a significant obstacle to cohesive design, resulting in a lack of unified vision for the center of the Civic Center.

Recognizing an opportunity to harmonize the various property interests and leverage underutilized land, the City of Santa Ana embarked on a mission to forge a unified design concept. TCA was entrusted with the task of delineating this vision within a tight three-week timeframe. The goal was to create compelling graphics and a video flythrough to present to the Santa Ana City Council in a private session.

In record time, TCA developed preliminary sketches outlining a master plan concept centered around a centralized plaza/park, serving as a focal point for all Civic Center uses. Integral to the plan was the construction of a new Santa Ana City Hall, necessitating the decommissioning of the existing facility, which had reached the end of its serviceable life. Through strategic restructuring of parking agreements and land allocation, new parcels would be unlocked for residential, hotel, and convention center developments.

This bold and vibrant concept has generated considerable momentum and sparked numerous discussions within the community, signaling a promising future for the Santa Ana Civic Center as a thriving hub of activity and innovation.

Click to watch the video fly through!

THE ROYCE AT PARK PLACE

TCA Architect - Mar 15, 2023

The Park Place masterplan includes more than 105 acres of office, retail, restaurants, and residential housing in various typologies. The Royce has a unique campus environment with extensive on-site retail, amenity spaces and now, residential living in the city of Irvine. Two separate sites bring a total of 786 apartment homes ranging from studios to 3 bedroom floor plans and offer roof top decks, private pools, fitness facilities and various other community spaces for residents enjoyment.

Roquet Ranch

tcaeditor - Feb 28, 2023

The Roquet Ranch master plan represents a unique opportunity, characterized by its expansive 336-acre footprint nestled atop hills overlooking Riverside. The community vision prioritizes the preservation of the majority of the land, with only 115 acres earmarked for development. This approach underscores a commitment to maintaining the natural beauty and integrity of the landscape. Initially engaged to assess feasibility and conceptualize products for a plan designed by civil engineers, TCA’s role expanded significantly. They played a central role in defining product types, layouts for single-family dwellings, and refining amenity areas, thereby shaping the project’s overall vision and direction. TCA meticulously documented the master plan in a comprehensive booklet, detailing development characteristics and requirements for each parcel. This documentation serves as a guide for stakeholders and potential investors, ensuring clarity and consistency in project execution.

As of 2024, the parcels within the Roquet Ranch master plan have been brought to market, signifying a significant milestone in the realization of the project’s vision. This marks the beginning of a new chapter in the development journey, as the community takes shape and begins to take root in the Riverside landscape. Overall, the Roquet Ranch master plan represents a thoughtful blend of preservation, thoughtful design, and strategic development, poised to make a lasting impact on the Riverside community

Westminster Mall

tcaeditor - Dec 25, 2022

The Westminster Mall has long been a point of contention and visual blight within the community. Its partial vacancy and struggles with retail and dining establishments have been ongoing issues for years. Over the past decade, TCA has been actively exploring various redevelopment options for parts or the entirety of the mall, engaging with multiple developers to reimagine its future. Proposed ideas have ranged from smaller-scale projects surrounding the mall to complete overhauls of the expansive 147-acre property. TCA brings significant expertise to the table, particularly in navigating the complexities inherent in redeveloping mall locations. These complexities include dealing with multiple property owners, preserving essential loop roads for structural servicing, and addressing challenging grading conditions surrounding the mall.

Recent studies for the Westminster Mall have considered two distinct scenarios. Scenario one focuses on preserving the core structure of the mall while introducing residential components and complementary retail offerings to create a vibrant, adaptable community. Scenario two explores a more radical transformation, envisioning a mix of high-density rental and for-sale properties, along with lifestyle retail establishments strategically positioned to both serve the community and attract passing traffic to the site. Notably, Kaiser has expressed interest in the property due to its proximity to lifestyle retail options and its immediate adjacency to existing retail spaces.

TCA’s master planning approach involves a thorough investigative process to identify all potential factors that could influence the design. These factors, while not prescriptive in dictating the master plan’s final design, provide invaluable direction and ensure that the client is well-informed throughout the planning process.