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San Francisco Bay Area residents looking for the unicorn that affordable housing has become in the region now have one more option thanks to Bridge Housing and Ankrom Moisan Architects.

The developer and architecture firm teamed up with Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART), the city of San Leandro, California, and Cannon Constructors North Inc. to build the . The first phase of the 200-unit affordable housing complex was completed recently; it offers 115 units reserved for families. The second phase, expected to open in 2018, will provide 85 units for seniors.

鈥淭here were over 10,000 vetted applications,鈥� said Robert Lecher, project manager at Ankrom Moisan. 鈥淚t was amazing.鈥�

The $80 million project is geared to serve Bay Area residents who make 30 to 50 percent of the area median income. That is $41,750 for a family of two in the Bay Area. Marea Alta is located near the San Leandro BART station and bus lines. Easy access to transit was a major selling point for the project.

鈥淚t helps that Bridge Housing has a partnership with BART,鈥� Lecher said. 鈥淚t’s directly across from the (BART) station and it is at the termination of the East Bay (bus) transit line.鈥�

Marea Alta’s two-story underground parking garage will have 406 spaces, 240 reserved for BART riders. Because the site previously held a surface parking lot, replacing as many of those spots as possible was crucial in the car-centric Bay Area.

鈥淲hat is really interesting is that residents may not have a car when they move in,鈥� Lecher said. 鈥淲ith the extra money they save on rent, a lot of residents or their kids may get that first car.鈥�

One of the project’s unique aspects is its modular pre-fab construction. While early site work is taking place, the prefabricated units are built off-site. Each unit is a series of modules that are built, packaged and shipped by truck to the site. They are hoisted into position with a crane.

鈥淲hen this is done, you can’t tell it’s a modular,鈥� Lecher said. 鈥淵ou have a stucco fa莽ade. Most of the units are multiple structures stitched together.鈥�

Units from the first phase were built by ZETA Design + Build in Sacramento, California. That company went out of business in March 2016, and Guerdon Modular Buildings in Boise, Idaho, picked up the project to build the remaining 85 senior housing units for phase two.

鈥淭his isn’t new stuff for us,鈥� said Randy Duggan, Guerdon Modular Buildings business development manager for the Pacific Northwest. 鈥淲e do hundreds of them. This is what we do every day.鈥�

The units’ ability to withstand being shipped 644 miles is a testament to their durability, Lecher said.

鈥淭hey are sturdy,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey have to survive bouncing down the road.鈥�

There are several advantages to using prefabricated units at Marea Alta. The construction phase will be 30 percent shorter and cost approximately $1.5 million less.

鈥淥ne of the big reasons people come to us is difficulty finding people in the skilled trades,鈥� Duggan said. 鈥淓veryone is looking for an advantage. One of our advantages is our speed.鈥�

Design Beyond Borders is a 91视频 feature offering a look at the projects outside of Oregon being tackled by local architecture firms. To have your firm’s projects considered, contact 91视频 architecture and engineering reporter Kent Hohlfeld at 503-802-7224 or [email protected].