GlobeSt.com: How difficult is it to combine the cosmopolitan and beach factors into one apartment property?
Yau: This unique combination was somewhat of a natural fit for the project, given its location: Newport Beach address, adjacent to the urban professional addresses of Irvine. To us, the “Newport Beach vibe” is about an active community with indoor/outdoor living in a relaxed atmosphere. Through the use of large decks and amenity spaces, the project strives to create opportunities for community interaction—for both residents and guests, as well as the public driving by on Jamboree.
Placing the community's amenity sky decks along the southern edge and opening up the pool decks to overlook the San Joaquin Marsh & Wildlife Sanctuary and hills to the southeast provides the Del Rey Apartments with a vital connection to nature, which helps to emphasize outdoor living. We worked closely with Duane Border Design, the landscape architect, to create a lush palette of outdoor spaces which acts as a backdrop to these formal and informal social interactions, providing the residents with various outdoor spaces for different types of solitude or gathering.
GlobeSt.com: Why are apartment communities of this type needed in the Orange County market?
Yau: Too often, we see projects that are walled off to the surrounding neighborhoods in order to maximize quantity of units—with the leftover “courtyard” spaces shoehorned into being the resident amenity. By pulling the main courtyards to prominent exterior corners of the buildings, we are inviting the public to interact with the buildings in a different way, eroding the length of the street wall along Jamboree, while allowing for those areas to be truly welcoming amenity spaces for the residents.
GlobeSt.com: In which areas of the county (other than right on the coast, of course) does this approach fare best?
Yau: Each project has its own specific neighborhood-based personality, and at TCA we strive for our community designs to cater to and enhance that local flair. Our Southern California weather lends perfectly to indoor/outdoor living, allowing us to incorporate enlarged private patios, enhanced amenity decks and indoor amenity areas that open to outside through oversized doors and windows.
GlobeSt.com: What else should our readers know about Uptown Newport Village/The Del Rey Apartments?
Yau: The Del Rey Apartments is a one-of-a-kind community that will not feel very urban because of its abundant landscaping, numerous outdoor spaces and its opening up to the view of the San Diego Creek and hills of Newport Coast beyond.