Iris, the plant, is known for having showy flowers, and Iris, a $62.9 million San Ysidro apartment building planned by National Community Renaissance at 1663 Dairy Mart Road, will have its own blend of showy colors, although not the purple, yellow or white of its namesake.
Principal
Studio E Architects
Instead, Iris, as designed by Studio E Architects, will have red and orange metal balcony railings set against a gray building background on one side, scattered across the building, said Eric Naslund, a Studio E principal.
“We sprinkled them like confetti across the façade,” Naslund said. “We clipped these metal panels in bright colors to the railings. They create this kind of playful arrangement through colorful elements.”
Even more dazzling, the side of the building that’s along trolley tracks has a building façade that goes from red to orange, to yellow, designed to be a flash of colors for trolley passengers to glimpse as they whizz by at 40 to 50 miles an hour, Naslund said.
“We started thinking of that side as something people are generally going to see at 40 to 50 miles per hour as the trolley goes buzzing around it,” Naslund said. “You’ll sort of see the building change as you’re looking out the (trolley) windows.”
With a groundbreaking scheduled for December, Iris will have 100 apartments.
Of those, 30 will be for extremely low-income families, as determined by federal guidelines, 54 for very low-income families, 15 for people who were homeless, and one for an on-site manager.
“It’s a fabulous place. It’s a fabulous neighborhood,” said John Seymour, vice president of acquisitions and forward planning for National CORE.
Park Restoration
The apartments will be a mix of one-bedroom, two-bedroom, and three-bedroom units.
Vice President
National Community Renaissance
Monthly rents will range from $169 for those who were homeless to $1,435, according to Seymour.
All the apartments have either patios or balconies. The ground-floor patios are designed to mimic the front porches and stoops of old, where neighbors would interact, Naslund said.
Amenities will include a community room, shade structures, bike racks, washers and dryers on every floor, 100 parking spaces, and electric vehicle charging stations.
The building is naturally ventilated through multiple openings that connect interior walkways to the outside.
“There’s cross ventilation all the way through it,” Naslund said.
There’s also a central courtyard.
“We wrapped our units around the courtyard and that courtyard has protected spaces for families and children,” Naslund said.
A series of stairs leading into the courtyard also creates a small amphitheater.
In an unusual twist, National CORE received a $5 million state grant to repair and revitalize the 1.8-acre Howard Lane Park across the street from Iris.
Normally, public parks aren’t associated with affordable housing projects.
Although the grant was to National CORE, Seymour said the city will do the actual construction.
“This park was unfunded in the city’s capital improvement budget for decades. There was no money for it,” Seymour said. “City Council member (Vivian) Moreno and the mayor, they’ve got to get a lot of credit. They went to bat for us.”
The grant money will go toward restoration of a playground, construction of a shade structure, new lighting, new accessible pathways circling the park, fitness equipment, and a crosswalk connecting the park to Iris.
“The restored Howard Lane Park once again will offer a nice gathering place for the community,” Seymour said.
National Community Renaissance (CORE)
Founded: 1992
CEO: Jeffrey Burum
Headquarters: Rancho Cucamonga
Business: affordable housing developer
Employees: 300+
Website: www.nationalcore.org
Contact: info@nationalcore.org; 909-483-2444
Notable: National CORE owns and manages more than10,000 affordable apartments, serving more than 27,000 people.
Studio E Architects
Founded: 1987
Principals: Eric Naslund, John Sheehan, Mathilda Bialk, and Maxine Ward
Headquarters: Bankers Hill
Business: Architecture
Employees: 30
Notable: The firm has received numerous design awards, including three National American Institute of Architects Honor Awards. The California Council of the American Institute of Architects named Studio E one of California’s Emerging Talents in 1999.
Website:Â www.studioearchitects.com
Contact: 619-235-9262
