Julie Chou, AIA

Julie brings a deep commitment to community-building and community service to her professional work. Her experience spans from affordable, supportive and transitional housing projects to community facilities, interiors and exterior spaces that foster connections and empower individuals. She has served on Manhattan Community Board Five in Midtown for the past seven years, where she is Vice-Chair of the Land Use, Zoning, and Housing Committee and a member of the Budget, Education, and City Services Committee. Julie has become a leader in the movement for public bathroom access in New York City, leading a working group with members from several community boards across the city.

The Cooper Union, Bachelor of Architecture

The University of Chicago, Bachelor of Arts in Economics

Registered Architect, State of New York

Manhattan Community Board 5, Member

Urban Design Forum Global Exchange Fellowship, Fellow

Citywide Bathroom Strategy, Urban Design Forum Forefront Residency, 2024

Where Can the Public Bathrooms Go in New York City?, Urban Omnibus, 2023

Revitalizing New York City’s Public Bathroom System: a Vision for the Future, Architecture + Design Independent Projects Grant, 2023

No Place to Go When You Need to Go?, New York Times, 2021

Where Are the Public Bathrooms in New York City?, Urban Omnibus, 2020

  • Highbridge

    Bronx, NY

    Firm: Magnusson Architecture & Planning

    Role: Project Manager / Associate in Charge

    Highbridge is a 400,000 GSF new construction, mixed-use project with over 280 units of affordable and supportive housing, a purpose built family shelter, and a drug treatment facility with Samaritan Daytop Village.

  • The Rise - Vital Brooklyn Site J

    Brooklyn, NY

    Firm: Magnusson Architecture & Planning

    Role: Project Manager / Associate in Charge

    The Rise is a new 75,000 GSF mixed-use, fully electric, passive house project with 72 units and over 10,000 GSF of supportive service offices to serve formerly incarcerated supportive housing residents with Xenolith Partners, Community Preservation Corporation, Community Solutions, the Women’s Prison Association, Osborne Association, Community Capacity Development, and Project EATS.

  • Park Place - Vital Brooklyn Site I

    Brooklyn, NY

    Firm: Magnusson Architecture & Planning

    Role: Associate in Charge

    Park Place is a 55,000 GSF mixed-use project in Crown Heights with 44 units of affordable and supportive housing and a 8,000 GSF community facility space at the ground floor with a parking garage at the cellar. It is being developed by HELP USA and is part of the Vital Brooklyn Initiative to create a new model of community development and wellness.

  • Salyer House

    Manhattan, NY

    Firm: Magnusson Architecture & Planning

    Role: Project Manager

    Salyer House is the renovation of an existing 10-story building with 146 supportive units for single adults and supportive service offices with Volunteers of America.

  • Livonia 4, C1 and C4

    Brooklyn, NY

    Firm: Magnusson Architecture & Planning

    Role: Project Manager / Associate in Charge

    Livonia 4 is part of the Brownsville Plan, which has a goal to create over 2,500 new affordable homes. Livonia C1 and C4 is being developed by Radson and will include 293,000 GSF and 297 units of extremely low income affordable housing with a new supermarket, cafe, a 12,000 SF rooftop farm and a 25,000 SF Boys and Girls Club.

  • Livonia 2, Sites 6-9

    Brooklyn, NY

    Firm: Magnusson Architecture & Planning

    Role: Project Manager

    Livonia 2 is 283,500 SF and 299 units of extremely low-income affordable housing on 4 sites along the Livonia Corridor in East New York and was developed by HELP USA, BRP Companies and Community Solutions. The buildings are adjacent to 2 elevated trains and the design of the building incorporated multiple sound mitigation ideas.

  • Bea Arthur Residence

    New York, NY

    Firm: Magnusson Architecture & Planning

    Role: Project Manager

    The Bea Arthur residence is an adaptive reuse project creating transitional housing for LGBTQ youth for the Ali Forney Center. An existing 4,945 SF masonry building was expanded to 6,000 SF to provide a total of three 3-bedroom apartments with supportive offices and a community room on the ground floor.

  • Villas at the Ridgeway

    Yonkers, NY

    Firm: Magnusson Architecture & Planning

    Role: Project Manager

    The Villas at the Ridgeway is an 84,500 SF multifamily modular development consisting of 70 duplex units, plus renovation of an existing 8,300 SF daycare, developed with The Community Builders and Municipal Housing Authority of the City of Yonkers on the existing Cottage Place Gardens public housing site.