Mark MaGrann considers the U.S. Green Building Council‘s Project of the Year award “equivalent to receiving the Academy Award for the best picture.”
When Paseo Verde, a 120-unit mixed-use rental-housing project on North Ninth Street near the Temple University campus was so honored, MaGrann got his Oscar.
Paseo Verde, codeveloped by Asociacion Puertorriquenos en Marcha and Jonathan Rose Companies, with Wallace Roberts & Todd architects, includes one- to three-bedroom units – 50 of which rent for market rate while the 70 others are pegged to income levels – and a ground-floor medical center and pharmacy, as well as housing several community organizations.
Paseo Verde is an example of transit-oriented development. It backs up to SEPTA’s Regional Rail – one of the system’s busier stretches – yet “when you are standing in the hallway and the train goes by, you never know it,” said Jonathan E. Jensen, MaGrann’s sustainability director.