Although commercial projects have been its main focus over the years, developer Barker Pacific has taken on some diverse jobs.

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There’s something disconcerting about the phrase “comfort zone.” Although staying in your comfort zone typically means you’re doing what you do best, it can also mean you’re treading water. Barker Pacific has thrived in its comfort zone – commercial properties – for years, but a pair of recent projects show that the company is not only doing what it does best, but it’s finding new areas to excel in, as well.

Managing Director Michael Barker says Hamilton Landing, located in Marin County, Calif., is a perfect example of Barker Pacific’s expertise in acquiring, developing and managing commercial properties. The 470,000-square-foot office campus used to be a military base that was active during World War II. Today, the development houses high-profile tenants like Sony, Oracle, Smith & Hawken, ImageMovers Digital and Birkenstock, and has won awards for sustainability.

Outside of Barker Pacific’s traditional portfolio is Colorado Commons in Monrovia, Calif. This 68-unit residential development also includes commercial and parking space and represents one of only a handful of residential projects Barker Pacific has taken on in its history. Barker says the project’s unique nature as a public-private partnership appealed to the company. Unique projects are what the company specializes in, regardless of their purpose, Barker notes.

“We’ve done some what I consider to be very first-class, interesting projects, and I think that if you look at our portfolio there’s a wide variety of challenges that we’ve handled over the years,” he says.

Hamilton Landing
Hamilton Landing has an unusual pedigree for a modern office environment. Originally built in the 1930s as airplane hangars for Hamilton Field Military Base in Marin County, the property saw use during World War II and the Korean War, and held refugees from Vietnam in the late 1960s. By the mid-1970s, however, the hangars were decommissioned.

“It sat empty for many, many years,” Barker says. “We came along in 1998 and purchased the hangars, which had been abandoned and derelict for 25 years.”

Even though they had not been used or maintained for decades, the hangars were still in strong enough condition to be repurposed.

“We basically took it back to the shell of the structure,” Barker says. “The shells were built extremely well, and were built much better than the current standards, believe it or not.”

Efficient Features
The buildings are still identified as “hangars,” but feature a number of state-of-the-art amenities. These include an under-floor HVAC, which Barker says is much more efficient than traditional ceiling-based systems. Because the air comes from the floor rather than the ceiling, it does not need as much energy to create a comfortable environment. With traditional air conditioning, heat that rises from the floor works to warm air that comes from the ceiling, meaning that the air conditioning has to work harder to cool it. “We can bring the air in from a cooling mode at a much higher temperature than we would otherwise be able to,” Barker says, adding that the HVAC system at Hamilton Landing uses no recycled air, cutting down the possibility of “sick building syndrome.”

Moving In
The first building at Hamilton Landing was completed in 2000, and garden furniture retailer Smith & Hawken became the first tenant. Barker says the company was attracted to the complex’s many sustainable features, such as low-flow plumbing fixtures and high-efficiency lighting. In 2006, the fifth building was completed, which is now occupied by video game creators Take Two Interactive. Seven buildings in all will make up Hamilton Landing, and the last two are under currently construction, Barker says.

Computer animation studio ImageMoversDigital, the studio behind feature films such as “Beowulf” and “Monster House,” has committed to occupying the final two hangars at Hamilton Landing. “This is a major commitment on their part,” Barker says. “We’re very excited to have them in the project because they work well with the creative environment, and that’s what we’ve tried to create for them there.”

Colorado Commons
Colorado Commons is something of a departure for Barker Pacific, Barker says. Although the company has developed residential projects in San Francisco in the past, its portfolio of such projects is not as robust as its commercial properties. The condominium community sits on two acres in Monrovia’s Old Town district, known for its historic architecture. The project’s 68 units range from 696 square feet to 2,142 square feet, and all feature on-street private entrances.

Project Manager Reed Garwood says that in addition to teaming with joint venture partner Snyder Langston, Barker Pacific also worked closely with the city of Monrovia. “They had a vision of Old Town Monrovia and how [Colorado Commons] would fit into the existing architecture,” Garwood says.

This was complicated by the fact that the district had two differing architectural styles on either side of the project. “On the west side of the project is more residential and they have more Victorian architecture, and the eastern side is more commercial with brick facades, more of an East Coast architecture,” Garwood explains.

Colorado Commons integrates itself into the neighborhood by featuring both styles of architecture, switching between the two halfway through the building. Although such an elevation might sound like a jarring combination of influences, Garwood says it fits perfectly.

“It actually works with that transition because it complements the surrounding architecture,” he says. The company was also able to avoid marring the neighborhood with an unsightly parking structure, thanks to the nature of the site.

“Because the parking structure is in the interior of the site, we were able to wrap the condos around that,” Garwood says.

Because Barker Pacific was working not only with Snyder Langston, but also with the city, Garwood says communication was essential.

The most important aspect of ensuring the project came off successfully was “factoring in the viewpoints of the other team members,” he explains. “We definitely didn’t do it by ourselves.”

Garwood says the No. 1 reason Colorado Commons has progressed so well is because “we communicated with the city early on and understood what they were looking for.”

The project is not only a feather in Barker Pacific’s cap, but also is a way for the company to reestablish itself in the housing market. “With this on our resume, when the sales market strengthens a bit, we’ll now have the experience,” Garwood says.

Containing Sprawl
Barker says the company will continue to do what it does best, while also looking for new opportunities.

“We are very selectively looking for new development projects or redevelopment projects,” he says. For example, the company is currently working on a ground-up development in Beverly Hills.

No matter which area of its business Barker Pacific chooses to work on in the future, Barker says its past experience and expertise will continue to guide it to success.

“It’s a mixed bag of redeveloping and developing, but using the skills that we’ve developed over the last 25 years, [we’ll succeed],” Barker says.

He adds that he believes projects like Colorado Commons and Hamilton Landing represent two types of developments – repurposing an existing structure and infill – that should be more of a focus for developers and builders.

Instead of looking for the newest wide open space to spread a development across, he says, developers should concentrate on making the best use of space that has already been developed.

“I think the advice I would have is [to] continue to focus on building our urban environment,” he says. “I’ve never been keen on going into the farmland and tearing it up and building more urban sprawl.”