A Community Catalyst

The Green Leaf Uptown Apartments

The Uptown

Overview

The Green Leaf Uptown serves residents and visitors in Downtown Vancouver, Washington, through a combination of retail spaces, 167 apartments, and internal parking. It fulfills a vision to cultivate new activity in the neighborhood by complimenting the existing businesses while adding a fresh and inviting mixed-use housing in the heart of the city.

Key Stats

Location

Vancouver, WA

Total Square Footage

235,000 SF

Unit Count

167

Sustainability Certification

LEED Silver

Completion Date

2018

The Uptown

Design

Taking advantage of its location in the Uptown Village area of Vancouver, the ground level includes retail spaces along the face of Main Street. For residents of the Green Leaf Uptown, the remaining three sides of the block, on the ground level, have walk-up apartment units.

Levels 2-6 are solely apartment units. A few of the amenities include a central courtyard on the second floor, designed to bring natural light to the inner ring of apartments, and a rooftop terrace that provides a tremendous amount of outdoor space for residents.

The Uptown
The Uptown

Outdoor Amenities

Natural light feeds the building's central core, illuminating a second-floor courtyard intended to be a quiet space for small gatherings. This outdoor space offers a collection of private garden patios, creating a ribbon of three communal gathering areas defined by a geometric floor pattern and steel trellises.

The upper terrace is an open-air space for large gatherings and features a community BBQ, firepit, and lounge furniture. Along its south edge, residents have a commanding view of the second-floor courtyard below.

The Uptown
The Uptown
The Uptown

Key Sustainability Features

Uptown received points toward its Silver certification in the LEED for Homes category based on a series of factors, ranging from its design and material selection, to the efficient systems and features. Some key highlights include:

  • The Uptown is located within ½ mile of 28 basic community resources, encouraging walkability

  • The building accommodates bike storage and provides designated parking for low-emitting vehicles

  • Features drought-tolerant plants

  • Units have low-flow toilets, faucets, and shower heads, and Energy Star dishwashers

  • LED lighting has been installed throughout the units and overall building and each unit has its own power-use display

  • The framing for the building is locally-produced

  • A minimum of 63% of all construction waste is being diverted from the landfill through recycling or salvaging

  • All the soil excavated on site was moved for use at the South waterfront

The Uptown
The Uptown
The Uptown