QUARTYARD

When transforming a troubled block into a community destination, CoPlace started by participating in the community. 

CoPlace started by participating with the community. 
The CoPlace team attended community meetings and spoke with local residents about their neighborhood. Our team members learned that property owners suffered from high crime rates, and that residents were concerned about their personal safety. People wanted something in the community that would deter crime.  

We proposed building an outdoor space that locals could utilize. 

Armed with the information gleaned from our discussions with impacted residents, we constructed what became known as “Quartyard.”

Quartyard ended up becoming a prized asset in the community. It combines a dog park (the only one in downtown San Diego), a beer garden and event space. Its open-door policy, which encouraged locals to visit and enjoy its benefits, made Quartyard a huge success. 

"I moved into my building because of Quartyard,"  - Local Resident 

Quartyard I 
Before
2013 - Blighted lot in urban San Diego 
Activated
2014 - Activated as event space, beer garden, food hall, dog park and community space. 
Current
2019 - In construction
Completed
2020 - Completed 34 story residential tower with 56k Sq Ft of UCSD extension campus and ground floor retail.  
Quart Yard II 
Before
Activated

Global research shows Quartyard's success

Quartyard has received International Attention 

Global research performed by Israa H. Mahmoud and Carmelina Bevilacqua for the Mediterranea University of Reggio Calabria, demonstrated Quartyard's success. As per their report, which used Quartyard as a case study, 

Quartyard’s “...quality of life, identity, uses and programming- to act as catalyst, physically and virtually, for inward investment, business location decisions and most importantly for human capital attraction that shape the social innovation environment and ecosystem.”

This paper specifically uses our original Quartyard project as a case study.  Pages 406 - 418


Read Mahmoud and Bevilacqua’s findings on Quartyard.

Historically, investors have had their heads deep in spreadsheets, and not in the communities they invest in. 

After three years, San Diego was able to secure a buyer for Quartyard’s original land, and then relocated Quartyard to another blighted block so that it could have the same transformative effect. Quartyard’s highly mobile infrastructure allowed it be moved to its new location in one day. 

The city of San Diego credits Quartyard for cleaning up the block and ultimately making it attractive enough as a location to persuade a non-local buyer to commit to constructing a 40-story building on the site. 
Looking back over recent trends in San Diego real estate, there are two comparables that stand out: 

In May of 2011, 1330 Market Street’s land sold for $9.75 million. This site is only 400 feet away from the original Quartyard location.

In March 2016, 1002 Market Street sold for $36 million This site is just 65 feet from the former Quartyard location, and across the street.

The San Diego real estate market has improved significantly and Quartyard played a lead role in driving improvement in real estate values in this part of the city.  

Coplace works. It can work for you. 

Quartyard was an experiment in activating a community by its own members for its greater good. If our team had simply focused on spreadsheet numbers, it would have never happened. By focusing on the potential for a larger positive community impact, we pioneered a new model of community activation. 

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