The Vineyards Goes Green

The Vineyards Shopping Center is only a few short weeks from its grand opening, and like spring itself, the retail site is going green. Shapell Liberty Investment Properties, the developer of the Porter Ranch mixed-use site, which includes a shopping center, will seek LEED certification — rare for developments of this scale. “We’ve been pursuing green initiatives at our properties the past few years, beginning initially with adding solar carports to a number of our existing multi-family projects,” Shappell Properties Vice President John Love told the Business Journal. “Our efforts are rooted in finding practical ways to improve financial performance, but it also satisfies the objective of reducing the impacts to development. The Vineyards was an opportunity to think about sustainable features from the ground up, and to include that dialogue early with the community and the (city of Los Angeles).” Double certification The Vineyards — rising at the intersection of Rinaldi Street and Porter Ranch Drive, where Moorefield Construction is currently building based on Architects Orange designs — includes a pedestrian-friendly mix of luxury apartments, offices and a hotel. Elements at the north end of the shopping center include a main street and central green for community events, as well as 4,000 square feet of conference space and anchor tenants Whole Foods Market, Ulta Beauty, Nordstrom Rack and AMC Theatre. The development will also seek SITES certification for its extensive landscape design, a badge of sustainable design comparable to LEED for buildings. “The sustainability concepts we and our tenants are bringing to the Vineyards are consistent with our and the community’s values,” Love said in a company statement last month. “Our primary goal is to create a dynamic open-air experience; doing so while integrating the best and latest technologies and resources for a sustainable operation is the right thing to do.” Not every component of the project will debut simultaneously. While a recently completed three-story Kaiser Permanente medical office building will open in early 2019, a 100-room Hampton Inn & Suites hotel will break ground later this year while the 266-unit luxury apartment community currently under construction is slated for 2020. “Whole Foods and Kaiser Permanente were the first two major tenants to share in the vision of promoting sustainability, and more are jumping on board,” Love said. The shopping mall’s construction, which Project Manager Mike Leberman and Moorefield Vice President of Operations Don Hamann are overseeing, is rapidly coming into focus. Textures and colors vary, from the red-barn rustic of a Peet’s Coffee to the stony exterior of the trash facility. The developers are also preserving a pair of 100-year-old olive trees. As part of its green agenda, Shapell Liberty has incorporated the region’s latest and most sustainable operating systems and eco-friendly fixtures, including stormwater capture systems, solar panels and car-charging stations. Shapell has selected ChargePoint to supply Level 2 charging stations at the Vineyards’ main shopping center. Mobile app-connected electric vehicle charging stations will be strategically placed throughout the parking lots. While initially 15 charging stations will be available on a first-come basis, the plan is to eventually host up to 85 electric vehicle charging stations at the complex. In addition to charging stations, there will be rooftop solar panels to offset tenant electrical loads and power LED lights in the common areas to return excess power back to the grid. Giant underground tanks, which have begun to capture and clean stormwater, will irrigate the landscape, including several rows of actual wine grapes. A series of large underground cisterns already capture and filter rainwater runoff at the project for re-use in irrigation. “We’ve already had 6 feet of water in those cisterns from the recent rains, so we know they work,” Love said. “The reward will come when we put that storage capacity to good use to reduce what we would otherwise need for irrigation.” There will also be an educational component to the greenery as interactive kiosks will help Vineyards visitors learn about and appreciate the various methods of sustainability at the site. ‘Enhanced value’ Love told the Business Journal that pinning down a numerical figure for the extra expense of making the complex environmentally correct is not so straight-forward. “Some of the costs would fall to us as the developer,” Love said, “others to tenants who, for example, may install their own solar arrays or high efficiency electrical systems. “There is always the consulting costs associated with obtaining LEED certification,” Love continued, “but because this is such a large project, the incremental costs to obtain certification represents a very small percentage of the total project costs. We view that incremental cost as an investment which will pay off through reduced consumption and enhanced value.” Love believes Shapell will be able to apply some of the lessons of creating the Vineyards to the firm’s subsequent projects. “Every project will have its own unique elements and opportunities,” Love said. “Each time we evaluate green elements for any project, we are evaluating a wide range of possibilities, and ultimately anticipate we will choose what is most feasible and impactful for that particular circumstance. We also expect new products and technologies, together with changes to building codes, to evolve our understanding of how to incorporate sustainable features.” Shapell is in it for the long term. Founded in 1955, the company focuses on the management and development of multi-family and commercial properties. For nearly four decades, Shapell has partnered with Liberty Building Co. on the Porter Ranch master-planned community.