Ironwood
Having eschewed the easier path of replacing orchards with subdivisions, Lightner Property Group undertook the challenge of urban infill and refill development. Replacing obsolete housing stock and commercial uses requires undergoing a complicated and sometimes controversial legal process, fraught with political squabbles not faced in places like the Central Valley. But it’s the right path nevertheless.
Our first infill project was in San Mateo. With enthusiastic community support, LPG obtained a general plan amendment and other discretionary approvals to build 28 town homes on a 1.25-acre, commercially zoned parcel located between a lumber yard and a printing plant.
In order to mitigate the impact of its industrial neighbors, the dwellings turn their backs on the outside world and focus on an internal pedestrian street that features generous landscaping and sculptured plazas.
This homey hamlet marries colorful saltbox cottages with industrial looking, loft-like town homes.
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Development Scenerios Lightner Solutions. |
The cottages feature raised front porches, front yards with picket fences and private rear yards. The lofts’ decks provide box seat views of the Garden Walk below. The result is something between Monterey’s Cannery Row and Mendocino. Completed in 1993, Ironwood is loved by its resident owners and has been the subject of several favorable news articles.
