Four projects, two states, one approach to design.
MVE + Partners won four honors at the 63rd annual Gold Nugget Awards, presented by PCBC and the California Building Industry Association, at the Gaylord Pacific Resort & Convention Center in Chula Vista. The wins span affordable housing, luxury branded residences, and mixed-use development across two states, and together they point to a consistent way of working rather than a single winning formula.
What are the Gold Nugget Awards and why do they matter?
The Gold Nugget Awards are one of the building industry's most competitive design recognitions. This year's competition drew 800 entries across 67 categories, judged by PCBC's Blue Ribbon panel. MVE has now earned more than 325 Gold Nugget Awards over its history, a track record that reflects five decades of practice rather than a single strong year.
What did MVE win at the 2026 Gold Nugget Awards?
MVE took home a Grand Award and three Awards of Merit:
Grand Award, Best Multi-Family Housing Community (60-100 dwelling units per acre): The Residences at Sugar Alley, Salt Lake City
Award of Merit, Best Mixed-Use Project, On the Boards: PaLi, San Diego
Award of Merit, Best Affordable Housing Community, On the Boards: Market Center, South Salt Lake
Award of Merit, Best Multi-Family Housing Community: Rosewood Residences, Beverly Hills
Why did the Grand Award go to The Residences at Sugar Alley?
The Grand Award recognized Sugar Alley's ability to do several things well at once on a tight site. Designed for Lowe Property Group and Eight Bay Development, the 1.3-acre project fits 193 units and 17,000 square feet of retail around its namesake "Alley," a pedestrian corridor that connects light rail directly to neighborhood shops. Brick and steel-window detailing references the district's sugar manufacturing history, and a third-level pool deck opens up views of the Wasatch Range. It is a dense project that still reads as a neighborhood.
What ties MVE's four winning projects together?
On paper, the four projects have little in common. PaLi is a 21-story tower in Hillcrest shaped like a cut diamond, with 206 residences and a sixth-floor amenity podium for developer REDA Residential. Market Center is nearly 500 affordable homes at or below 60% of area median income, developed by Blaser Ventures along South Salt Lake's TRAX S-Line. Rosewood Residences is a four-story boutique building with just 17 branded units for Nahla Capital, ranging from 3,000 to more than 7,000 square feet.
Chase Rongé, principal and director of MVE's San Diego office, pointed to that range directly:
"What makes these four wins meaningful is the range: A neighborhood-driven development in San Diego, affordable housing in South Salt Lake, 17 branded residences in Beverly Hills and a mixed-use district in Sugar House. Different scales, same approach."
The projects differ in unit count, budget, and market. What repeats is the discipline behind each one.
What does this recognition say about MVE's approach to design?
The wins suggest that MVE's process holds up regardless of project type. Rongé described that process as starting with a clear idea, then testing it against client goals and revisiting it until it works:
"The MVE project teams live with these projects for years. Every decision gets grounded in a clear idea, pressure-tested with our clients and revisited until it's right. That takes patience, and it takes people who genuinely care about the outcome."
That approach shows up differently at each scale. At Sugar Alley, it means threading retail and transit access through a dense housing site without losing pedestrian scale. At Market Center, it means fitting nearly 500 affordable homes and 20,000 square feet of retail across three mid-rise buildings without the project feeling institutional. At Rosewood, it means giving 17 large-format residences the kind of amenity program usually reserved for bigger buildings. At PaLi, it means using a distinct architectural form to anchor a mixed-use tower in a neighborhood that already has a strong identity.
What's next for MVE's affordable and multifamily housing work?
MVE's San Diego office, based downtown, is currently expanding its regional portfolio beyond 30 active projects, with new work underway in Hillcrest and Mission Valley. Both Sugar Alley and Market Center are part of a broader body of affordable and multifamily housing work the firm continues to build on across California and Utah.
Rongé closed with a note on the collaborative side of the work: "We're grateful to the Gold Nugget judges, and most of all to the clients and partners who trusted us with their vision."
About MVE + Partners
MVE + Partners is a global architecture and planning firm with more than half a century of experience designing and delivering iconic, influential, and award-winning projects. Its portfolio spans master-planned communities, residential neighborhoods, commercial office developments, and destination hospitality resorts. Learn more at mve-architects.com.
