A San Diego architect and entrepreneur, Douglas Austin guides AVRP Skyport as chief executive officer and provides architectural design services that have informed numerous high-profile real estate developments. Among Douglas Austin’s successful San Diego projects has been EV Luxury Apartments, which spans most of a single city block in the emerging East Village arts and innovation district. The downtown property combines 200 luxury apartments with retail at ground level designed to meet neighborhood needs.

Mr. Austin and his team of architects, engineers, and planners have also proposed an East Village high-rise residential tower that will rise 41 stories and offer 226 apartments and 236 condominiums. With a subterranean parking garage and more than 5,000 square feet of retail, it will be designed to attain at least a LEED Silver rating. When completed, it will join the ranks of numerous projects that together have revitalized the downtown skyline.

One of the innovative aspects of Mr. Austin’s approach at AVRP Skyport is that he blends modular components with traditional building systems. Not designed to bear structural loads, the modular components have a temporary role while concrete forms are setting and effectively boost construction process efficiency and reduce waste.