Marina development would be eco and resident friendly, developers say.

Raphael Garcia, project manager at Rana Creek, is hoping to try out the sustainable design elements proposed for Sand City “ecoresort” Monterey Bay Shores, but at a less politically volatile location. Garcia is part of Peninsula Housing Partners, a Monterey County-based development team proposing a 712-home, new urbanist, senior project for Marina’s Cypress Knolls.

Garcia says the homes would feature recycled graywater and stormwater systems for landscape irrigation, a riparian corridor that restores the area’s historic drainage system, and, potentially, green roofs.

“This is a lot of elements of [Monterey Bay Shores] in an area that is not controversial to develop,” he says.

The city of Marina is accepting proposals for the 188-acre Cypress Knolls development site until Friday, March 26.

Vince DiMaggio, project manager and president of Salinas-based land use consulting firm URBANUS, says the homes would be for residents ages 55 and up, with 25 percent of the units priced affordable. The development would provide a continuum of care for seniors, including an assisted-living facility, community center and walking trails. “The overall vision here is active senior community,” DiMaggio says.

John Ellis, architect for the project and principal at San Francisco-based Solomon E.T.C. says the project is designed as an integrated part of Marina with various housing types instead of a separate subdivision. “It has linkage with the surrounding streets,” he says. “It will be a very nice, traditional neighborhood that will have a timeless feel.”