Quoting John King, San Francisco Chronicle’s Urban Design correspondent, “Downtown Pleasant Hill succeeds in lacing together the public and private worlds, setting the stage for a true community center to emerge.”
This project was honored with the 2004 California Redevelopment Association Award of Excellence.

As urban designer to the Redevelopment Agency and the developer, we integrated public and community needs to enhance the socio-economic atmosphere of downtown Pleasant Hill. We established a series of design guidelines for streetscapes, pedestrian ways, central plazas, landscaping, signage and lighting.

The landuse plan and design concept focus on building massing and open space / plaza elements. This project brings 500,000 s.f. of retail, a hotel, 400,000 s.f. of office, and 1000 units of housing and a four-level parking structure to a location that is the “front door” of Pleasant Hill.