Better known as host to one of the country’s finest agriculture and veterinary medicine schools, Davis, California is also home to the National Association of Home Builders’ 2016 Master-Planned Community of the Year. The Cannery took home the honor in January.
Davis is located 20 miles west of downtown Sacramento with a population of 65,000. The students of University of California Davis add another 30,000 to the total. It is one of the smartest cities in the country with more than 80 percent of Davis’ adult population completing a minimum of one year of college training and more than 67 percent having attained at least a four-year college degree, second only to Arlington, Virginia.
The city is also known for smart growth. Davis is surrounded by farmland and the residents have passed ballot measures requiring voter approval for conversion of farmland to urban uses. It is classic ballot-box planning and has stymied several large proposals for annexation into the city.
Davis is in the top tier of bike-friendly cities after the League of American Bicyclists deemed the city a platinum-level Bicycle-Friendly Community. In 2005, Davis became the first community in the nation to receive the platinum designation. The city currently boasts a 22-percent bike mode share — one of the highest in the nation — with plans to boost that figure to 30 percent by 2020.
Based on the community’s tough development review process, The Cannery developer, The New Home Company, knew its proposal needed to be top-notch to gain city and community support. It is designed around a community farm and is one of a growing number of “agrihoods” being developed throughout the country. The project was approved in late-2013 and home sales began last year.
The Cannery is an innovative mixed-used community with plans for 547 residences and 40 accessory dwelling units (granny flats) and featuring a 7.4 acre Urban Farm on the site of a former tomato cannery. The community’s land plan is the first of its scale in Davis in more than 20 years. It includes a recreation center, amphitheater, parks, open space, and miles of trails. A mixed-use area is currently making its way through the design review process.
According to the community’s design guidelines, The Cannery’s overarching sustainability objective includes the practical and responsible application of building efficiency, low-impact development, and smart growth planning principals to reduce energy use and greenhouse gas emissions, conserve resources, encourage alternative modes of transit, provide for interpretative learning opportunities and foster a rich social fabric.
The project is designed around the central park/greenbelt spine and perimeter open space, farm, and trails. There are 27.7 acres of open space uses consisting of the drainage/greenbelt on the west edge, agricultural buffer/detention basin on the north edge, agricultural buffer/urban farm on the east edge, and greenbelts.
Seven acres of parks are located in two main sites: a larger Neighborhood Park and smaller South Park, linked by a connector greenway spine. The location of the dog exercise area was intended to provide an activity center in the southwest area of the site and serve as a transition between residential and nonresidential subareas.
The New Home Company deeded the land for the farm at The Cannery to the City of Davis, which then leased it to the Center for Land-Based Learning, which helps beginning farmers get their start. Although professional farmers do most of the work, there are opportunities for residents to volunteer on the farm. Residents can sign up for a weekly box of produce from the farm as well. There are future plans for sales to local food stores or restaurants.
As part of the working farm, The Barn at the project’s entrance serves as an agri-classroom for students and beginning farmers (above). A second building, currently used as a welcome center/sales office during construction of The Cannery, will later be incorporated into the community farm property (below).
There will be community gardens (above), as well as fruit trees in the residence’s yards.
Residential development feathers from the denser apartments and condominiums adjacent to the mixed-use area to the 5,000 sq.ft. lots at the northern edge. The denser housing types are located in the southern end of the neighborhood in an effort to put more residents closer to public transit, bicycle connections and the mixed-use area. The mixed-use area is intended to enhance the entry to the residential areas, create a gathering and activity area, and tie to the parks and central greenway.
Cottages, courtyard homes, row homes, and traditional detached homes, many of them with alley-loaded garages, are under construction or planned. Multi-family units include apartments and lofts and vertical mixed-use in the commercial district. 82 of the project’s units will be deed-restricted as affordable.
The residential building forms are intended to reflect evolution of housing styles in Davis from early farmhouse through mid-century modern. Dominant forms will be Americana, farmhouse, craftsman, cottage, Mediterranean, and modern.
The Cannery landscape is intended to serve as the fabric that ties the neighborhood together. creating a sensory experience and providing a sanctuary for residents and visitors to the neighborhood.
Streets are as narrow as possible, with planter areas between the street and sidewalk, so that trees will form a shade canopy over the street as they mature. Each residential street will have its own signature tree for the front yard landscaping, to establish an identity for the street and highlight the varieties within the subdivision. Low-impact development (LID) features such as infiltration and conveyance trenches, permeable paving, and vegetated swales are incorporated into the neighborhood.
In addition to the larger street trees, the design guidelines call for each front yard to have a fruit-bearing tree, such as a citrus. Tree areas will be placed to avoid shading photovoltaic panels to the extent feasible.
Nearly ten miles of internal trail and bikeways connect to the greater Davis bicycle infrastructure. The community also has a bike share program (Cannery Cruisers, below).
The community’s clubhouse, The Ranch House, won the National Association of Homebuilder’s 2016 Best Clubhouse award (below). Designed by Robert Hidley Architects, the club house includes a game room, community room, spa, and pool.
A 15.1-acre neighborhood mixed-use site is planned along The Cannery’s frontage. The East Block would consist of approximately 61,250 sq.ft. of retail development and 21,800 sq.ft. of mixed retail/office development for a total of 83,050 sq.ft.. The West Block would consist of approximately 22,000 sq.ft.of medical office, 19,000 of office, 6,000 sq.ft.of retail, 24,000 sq.ft.of mixed office/apartments and 16,900 sq.ft.of mixed retail/office/apartments for a total of 87,900 sq.ft..
A total of 314 parking stalls are provided for the West Block and 275 parking stalls are provided for the East Block. 72 and 80 bicycle parking spaces are provided respectively for the West and East blocks.
The architecture style will be a collection of structures influenced by agrarian farm and agricultural-industrial styles clustered to create a sense of place derivative of the residential forms, materials, and detailing reminiscent of California Central Valley homesteads.
Simple structures will have exterior architectural elements which include a combination of board and batten siding, stone, metal awnings, gridded windows, trellises, composition shingle and/or metal roofing, bracketed roof overhangs, low board-formed concrete walls, barn doors and goose neck light fixtures. A number of outdoor plazas and seating areas are provided to support shops and food tenants.
Homes are priced from the mid-$400’s to over $1 million for the larger detached homes.