The cluster comes first
The first design move on a multifamily site isn’t where the buildings go — it’s how the buildings cluster. Townhouse and apartment buildings should hold three to six units per cluster, with offset front elevations and varied roof lines, because anything more starts to read as institutional. Bailey draws cluster geometry first, with target density and architectural variation in mind, and then works outward to parking, circulation, and common areas. Get the cluster right and the rest of the site falls into place; get it wrong and no amount of landscaping fixes it.
Stormwater as amenity, not waste
Density changes the infrastructure math. A garden-style walk-up at twelve to sixteen units per acre generates substantial impervious cover, and drainage and stormwater management is the single most important design element on a high-density residential project. The right move is to plan stormwater facilities as community amenities — detention ponds are valid open space and retention ponds can be designed with permanent water surfaces, with premium units bordering both. On a tight multifamily site that’s the difference between two acres of wasted basin and two acres of lawn-and-pond residents actually use.
Parking after the cluster
Parking is the design driver after the cluster geometry. Surface lots with nine-by-eighteen-foot stalls and twenty-four-foot aisles are the standard for two- to three-story walk-ups, with total counts including resident, visitor, and amenity stalls. Above three stories, surface parking stops working — the walking distance from the most peripheral stall to the unit door pushes past what residents will tolerate, and structured or tuck-under parking takes over. At thirty to forty units per acre, structured parking is the only way to make the site work without burning ground area on asphalt.
Common areas
Common areas are the next layer. Every multifamily project needs at least a pool and a playground, and the modern garden apartment expands well past that into spas, fitness rooms, dog parks, package lockers, and EV charging islands. Bailey sites common areas early in design, not late — they have to be visible from the leasing office for prospects, accessible from every cluster for residents, and reachable by maintenance vehicles without crossing resident parking. Open space requirements from city zoning add another constraint, and on most Treasure Valley sites the open space and the stormwater facilities can be planned together.
Fire, refuse, and mail
Fire access, refuse, and mail are the non-negotiables. Fire hydrants get spaced so every building falls inside a 250-foot radius circle, with maximum 500-foot spacing along the road. Refuse enclosures get located so a service truck can get in and out without backing past resident parking. Centralized mail kiosks get placed for pedestrian convenience from every cluster — and that placement, more than almost any other choice, drives the daily walking pattern of the site. Bailey draws all of it before construction documents leave our office.
The coordination layer
The last layer is the unglamorous coordination work. Joint trenching to bring electric, gas, water, and sewer in together. Transformer pads sized and located to avoid driveway conflicts. Backflow vaults that the city utility department can actually inspect. Building separation distances that satisfy fire code without killing density. Bailey owns all of it, because on a multifamily site there’s no one else who can.