Magnusson Architecture and Planning

Real Estate Weekly, Oct 29, 2003 by Rick Archer

Working for and with local communities is working for Magnusson Architecture and Planning.

The principals of the 18-year-old firm say they are aiming not just to make buildings, but to help communities. "I'm convinced that being an architect is good work," said Petr Stand, one of the firm's principals. "We contribute to the growth and change of a living city.

The firm has found a specialty in low-cost housing, schools, clinics, and other community-based projects around the city. "We like to think we're doing the meat and potatoes of rebuilding New York City," said Joseph Lengeling, another of the firm's principals.

The firm was started by Magnus Magnusson in 1985. Stand joined seven years later, after heating of the firm when it won the New York Society of Architects Design Award for Melrose Homes in the Bronx. The firm's last principal, Lengeling, came on later.

Melrose Homes is part of Melrose Commons, the first project to bring the firm to wide attention. In 1993, they were retained by the local neighborhood group, Nos Quedamos, to draw up an alternative renewal plan for the neighborhood that would be less disruptive of it's 6,000 residents and 240 businesses.

The plans were accepted, and the firm went on to design several buildings in the development. It still works with Nos Quedamos on projects in the area, and maintains an office in Melrose Commons.

Coming out of the recession of the early '90s, they saw a growth opportunity in low-cost housing and similar community-based projects, they said. Since then, then have done over $250 million in such projects in four boroughs as well as Orange and Westchester Counties, including around 2,000 housing units. Their current projects include 17 housing and mixed use buildings.

They have won several awards for their work, including six separate awards for their work in and on Melrose Commons. MAP's work is currently featured in Urban Life: Housing in the Contemporary City presented by The Architectural League of New York. Several MAP projects are also featured in Going Public: The Inaugural Exhibit at the American Institute of Architect's new Center for Architecture.

In addition to housing, they have also worked on schools, clinics, and similar projects for a number of public and private agencies.

All of their projects have been based on the same kind of community involvement they had in Melrose Commons, they said, aimed toward making sure the building fits in with the community.

In addition to the designs themselves, the firm also offers research, analysis, planning, pre-design services, interior design, construction services, and consultation. They start their job while the project is still in its earliest planning stages, and stay with it through construction, keeping in close touch with everyone involved in the process, they said.

In November of this year, Magnusson Architecture and Planning will be presented the second annual Building Better Lives Real Estate Honor from HELP USA. HELP USA is the nation's largest nonprofit provider of homes, job training and services for homeless and low-income families, serving over 10,400 individuals each year at 21 residences.

One of their current projects at 1955 1st Avenue is part of that trend, Magnusson said. The project is an "80-20" apartment building, with 20 percent of the 232 units designated as low-cost and 80 percent going for market rates, with the bottom floor dedicated to commercial development. The financing is also split between TriVenture and L&M Equity.

Another mixed project is Parkview Commons is the newest project at the Melrose Common Urban Renewal Area in The Bronx. It is the product of a partnership between Nos Quedamos, the local community group, and L+M Equity Participants, the developer. This nine story mixed-use buildings has 110 apartments and 7,700 square feet of retail space at its base.

Their latest project is Rheingold Gardens in Bushwick, Brooklyn. The city's first brownfields project, built on the site of the old Rheingold Brewery, when completed the project will contain almost 300 two-family homes, condominiums, and low-cost apartments, along with a daycare center and a community center. "It's a whole new large--scale development," Magnusson said. "Even the streets are new."

They also pride themselves in creating buildings that look more expensive than they really are, Stand said. "We know the building will be here for 50,100 years," he said.

He added that they've noticed some of their buildings improving whole neighborhoods. "There's a ripple effect," he said. "You see the buildings around it renovating themselves."

Their work on Melrose Commons was highlighted as part of the Museum of New York's special exhibit for the city's 100th anniversary, Lengeling said. "When the 200th anniversary comes around, they're going to pull it out again," he said.