Blotto looks like its getting closer to opening…
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Are those fences streetside on New Bern or on Carver?
Dark stain on those to blend with the shop front windows combined with the rustic and perforated corrugated panels ----nice rustic elegance
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I saw the owners last night, they are hoping for the end of March or first of April.
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No, they’re sisters within the Fateh group, which is more transparent than they need to be. Dalian (their multifamily arm) is the lead here:
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At that point just build actual apartments/condos I mean really. We should look at what in the UDO is incentivizing building this garbage over nicely massed multi unit buildings.
I’m eager to understand why townhomes are the preferred housing option in Raleigh! When I toured the City Pointe townhomes, I constantly found myself looking directly into another unit from one room to the next. Is the benefit of having a direct door to the outside and not sharing a ceiling or floor with neighbors worth sacrificing visual privacy?
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I’d be willing to bet it’s because they have an earlier exit for investors than any other form and we have a less diverse/shallower pool of capital than comparable cities.
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If we look at NYC and how townhouses/brownstones were designed, we see that this problem doesn’t exist because (even in Manhattan), they have green space behind them instead of being spaced as close as possible to each other to accommodate only a minimal driveway for rear entering garages.
Even if we look in Queens where cars are now filling the space between row/townhouses, the spacing still affords a decent amount privacy with spaces for trees in addition to parking pads and attached garages.
In too many cases in Raleigh, the townhouse form is selected and implemented in ways that they weren’t historically/typically provided.
I personally despise townhouses where there’s a lack of sensitivity to quality of life, and instead are developed in service of cramming as many on a lot as possible, and I’d never buy one where a single narrow drive separates the back of one from another.
If I were buying a townhouse, I’d personally look for a development where they are singly loaded on a site with all units facing a city street.
Putting row type townhouses in a suburban context, and having them not address a street in the traditional way, is literally my least favorite form of housing construction. For me, it’s like putting a pickle on top of a birthday cake. I love pickles, but not on a cake.
I am one of the odd folks (I suppose) who prefers a condo, and I’ll always buy a condo facing a street because I neither trust that the city won’t put me in a position to closely face another unit in the future on adjacent property, and I know that there will at least always be a street between me the neighboring buildings across the street.
My opinion on this clearly shapes my position on the townhouses proposed for Hayes Barton. There are many versions of missing middle that can be sensitively built on that site, but that townhouse proposal is not one of them IMO.
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Townhouses are all-around easier to build, sell, and finance. I personally prefer flats, but US laws and customs are thorough in their preference for houses attached to land. I’ve heard that this dates back to English custom, where all property was tied to land – indeed, condos were introduced to US law via Puerto Rican law. 19th century American developers called apartments “French flats” to distinguish them from presumably English (or American)-style houses. (There wasn’t as much of a distinction between rowhouses and detached houses until the 20th century.)
- Residential code is cheaper, much easier to find contractors vs. “commercial code” (NCBC)
- Lower liability risk than condos
- Lower HOA fees = higher prices
- Lower cost of legal to set up an HOA vs. a condo
- Phasing is easier since builder can sell one and start another, vs. having to complete entire project before CofO for condos
- Easier to get construction loans; banks see them as lower-risk partly because of easier phasing
- THs appraise better than condos – no investigation of condo governance
- Easier for buyers to get loans for fee-simple than condo
- On net, more buyers prefer towns to condos than vice versa (“I don’t like having people above me”)
As I wrote elsewhere:
https://ggwash.org/view/93257/how-single-stair-apartments-can-improve-fire-safety
Applying a strict two-stair requirement for three-flat buildings means that it’s always more cost effective for a homebuyer to choose a new townhouse over a new flat: in Moorefield Station, the better fire protected, more convenient flat costs 50% more per foot than a comparable townhouse. The two-stair requirement also means that it’s more cost effective for a developer to build three townhouses on a site, rather than three flats.
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There is much truth to what you say. However, not everyone wants a three decker town even with the elevator option. The floors tend to be choppy in layout and nothing is where you need it, when you need it so you are floating between floors. I know because I have owned both a condo and a townhome (also many SF homes). It all depends on the location, the phase of life, and the financial situation of the person buying. I for one would love to see more condos as an option for those who don’t want to rent an apartment and those who don’t want a triple decker TH. Especially when we are talking high density areas such as DTR. Just my two cents. And again I totally get the difficulties involved with developers putting these on the ground.
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yeah. i have this product https://indowwindows.com/ in my 63 yo ranch. acrylic interior window insert. they porvide some insulation and noise reduction. they make an opaqe version so you cant see out and noone can see in. maybe a good option for that community.
I never said everyone wants it, because I sure don’t. I’m saying that’s what our society builds more of, because of how systems structuring our society encourage that. The first step to changing those systems is to understand them.
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As someone who lives in one of the townhomes at CP, I agree there’s a lot left to be desired. The build quality is average, and this development in particular was pretty cursed to begin with. I’d never buy an interior one (I’m on the NB side) but I basically have to keep my rear-facing shades down permanently. That said, I get a lot of natural light throughout the day so it doesn’t bother me too much.
I would’ve bought a condo if there was supply, but for the reasons above, this city doesn’t seem to incentivize them.
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Does anyone know about the sign announcing Lucas Point coming soon? It’s right across the street from Blotto’s.
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