Name: Watry Design, Inc.
Price range: $

The opportunity to build a downtown doesn't come often. Therefore, when Laulima Development had the opportunity to develop a city center in the city of Rohnert Park, it seized the opportunity. Station Ave will provide over 460 apartments, a 5 star luxury hotel and 27,000 square feet of office and retail space that focuses on sustainability and walkability. The project will feature bike paths, access to mass transit, a dog park and a playground. Of the 460 apartments, 15 will be designated as affordable housing.

Watry Design performed shared use and parking demand studies to help Laulima determine how much parking would be needed to support the project. It was ultimately decided that parking would be provided in two structures, one designated for retail and hotel users and one that would cater to residents.

Image for Station Avenue Shared Parking Study & Parking Structures

The retail structure will incorporate a facade featuring interchangeable supergraphics to advertise retailers. Vehicular gates will separate designated parking for hotel guests. Approximately 8% of parking stalls will incorporate EV charging stations.

The second garage will be wrapped on all four sides with residential units, which allows the project to maximize the number of housing units in a limited footprint. To fully integrate residential and parking, floor-to-floor heights for the garage will match that of the residential units so that tenants can exit their vehicle right on their own floor. Stairwells and elevator cores will also be shared by both buildings. In addition to bike storage, the parking structure will also provide additional storage for residents, and EV charging infrastructure will be designed into 10% of the total parking spaces. To provide extra security, the structure will feature gate controls to restrict access for residents.

Since the weight of the wrapped facility created concerns over uneven soil settling, the team designed a structural foundation solution that uses additional piers to create a more even and stable soil compression. Both structures will utilize a new precast system with 24 foot bay spacing, which helped keep the project within budget while also improving the user experience by requiring fewer columns.

Owner: Laulima Development
Design Architect: Good, Fulton & Farrell and MCG Architecture