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Feature Articles |
Monroe High School students tackle development challenges in UrbanPlan competition sponsored by ULI-LAFebruary 3, 2000Summit Square is representative of some older urban neighborhoods in the United States: a collection of aging homes and businesses that include buildings of architectural and historical value. It is an area on the decline, with population dwindling and businesses losing customers.Summit Square is not a real place, but redeveloping the area was very real for some students at Monroe High School in North Hills. They participated in a competition that tested what they learned in a class-room curriculum known as the UrbanPlan. Designed by the Urban Land Institute, UrbanPlan gives high school students experience in developing realistic land use solutions in a simulated urban environment. The ULI Los Angeles District Council has been working with Los Angeles-area high schools to promote greater utilization of the UrbanPlan curriculum. In the competition at Monroe High, students organized into three teams, with each team consisting of officers of a redevelopment company. They were advised by Todd Tyni, a Monroe High teacher in business and computers. Each team created a vision, a design, a plan and a budget to redevelop Summit Square. The challenge was to preserve the historic buildings, create the right balance of homes, businesses and green areas; meet community needs, and revitalize the local economy - and do all this while staying within budget and producing a profit. Each of the teams presented their designs of the Summit Square redevelopment to a panel of ULI Los Angeles District Council judges including urban plan-ners, architects, bankers and other professionals. The judges were Susan Cline, Tim Kuhn, Tom Leahy, Brad Riphagen, Steve Ross, and me. James Goodell of the District Council's Executive Committee reviewed the scale models; Richard Lawrence, District Council Chair, observed the competition; and Alex Rose, Executive Committee member, attended the awards ceremony. The winning team was Blue Skies Redevelopment, whose members worked during lunch hours and after school to design and plan their project. CEO Lusine Khachatryan said one of the biggest challenges was agreeing on a final plan. "We made a lot of changes," partly to work out the right balance between about 300 residential homes and apartments and about 65,000 square feet of office and retail space. Marketing Officer Corine Castro created promotional materials - including a radio jingle. Her message: the project is very community-focused, preserves the best qualities of the original neighborhood, and provides ample recreation. Project Architect Narine Madaryn worked on renditions of the project. "Deciding where the housing goes was a challenge," she said. "So was working out the right mix of low and higher-income housing." Financial Officer Mike Lee managed a $40 million budget. "One of the toughest things was to meet the (ULI's) project requirements while staying on budget," he said. But the results would make any developer proud. The team reported a $5 million profit. Team Advisor Tyni said UrbanPlan has worked so well that the concept "can be readily adapted to a variety of classes, from economics to social sciences." The other Monroe High teams who participated in the competition were Professional Architectural Developers: Omar Ortega, Sharon Cervantes, Hugo Calderon, Juan Granados, and Ramon Perez; and OCAFA: Rezell Loveria, Jennifer Wing, James Taruc, Roger Miyahishima, and Mark Padoongpatt. Tsilah Burman is senior director/assistant portfolio manager - international, with CB Richard Ellis Investors and a member of the Executive Committee of the ULI Los Angeles District Council. | |
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