Rick's Urban Design & Planning was hired to provide urban planning and engineering services to the operators of the Superior Readymix Company for the development of the 366-acre quarry site along the San Diego River in San Diego, California. RiverPark proposes to become a premiere full-service riverfront community in San Diego, and derives its name from its location on the banks of the San Diego River and because 54% (198 acres) of the 366-acre site is devoted to parklands. The Master Plan includes 2,156 multiple-family residential dwellings, over 1,500,000 square feet of office park, light industrial, and research and development, the restoration of the San Diego River, and a mixed-use “village” center with two floors of residential flats above small storefronts.
At over 97 acres, the employment lands of the project constitute of one of the largest concentrations of high technology land use in the region. RiverPark includes a range of uses that allow residents to walk to work and conduct a life centered on the San Diego River. RiverPark is next door to Mission Trails Regional Park and most of its parklands effectively extend Mission Trails Regional Park to the west for nearly two miles into the city of San Diego, restoring the previously hidden and overgrown river, and giving it back to the human and natural communities of the region. RiverPark supplements its 184 acres of conservation and natural open space with 14 acres of “recreation” parkland suitable for impromptu athletics and free-form play; parklands are linked to Mission Trails Regional Park and the greater Navajo, Grantville and Tierrasanta communities by means of a series of trails and enhanced public realms, paseos, and streetscapes.
Rick's assignment included processing a variety of complex and technical documents through the entitlement process, including a Tentative Map and Design standards that contain most of the components of a Specific Plan. The task includes coordinating the public input phase, assuring that the Environmental Impact Report is complete and on time, and working with City staff to address the vast range of issues related to the conversion of an active industrialized site along the river into a complete and functioning new-urbanist riverfront mixed use community. Innovations include new approaches to storm water runoff, pollution control, LEED philosophies, Green building, and New Urbanist planning practices. The team worked with Federal, State and local agencies, community groups, community councils, river advocates, naturalists, the Mission Trails Regional Park staff, and many active citizens from adjacent neighborhoods and throughout the region to create a 21st Century walkable, sustainable, and contemporary community.
KEY COMPONENTS
Urban Design
Alternative Analysis
Cost Estimates
GIS/Surveying
Project Management
Public Participation
