But based on our current standards… if they build another two floors of apartments, won’t that increase the amount of parking required, thus a higher parking structure?
I think they need to go back to the drawing board on this one.
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My influence is limitless. Especially considering all the things I’ve influenced over the years. Allow me to enumerate my voluminous feats of influence:
…
…
Hmm. Must be something, somewhere.
Oh yeah, I think I got them to fix a broken streetlight once.
Crown me the king of influence!
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Reading more from steel industry shill websites about Cold Formed Steel.
- 10+ stories is possible
- Similar construction methods to wood frame
- Steel prices are less volatile than wood. Anyone who’s bought a 2x4 at Lowe’s recently will know lumber costs are sky high right now.
- CFS is NOT FLAMMABLE - which means no fires during construction like Metropolitan, and as a result, lower construction insurance costs
I know cross-laminated timber is the technology getting all the press lately in mid rise construction, perhaps because of its carbon capture potential (when the timber is harvested sustainably) but I still wonder why we don’t see more cold formed steel? It’s pretty prevalent for hotels, but residential seems to stick with wood frame. It’s a mystery to me!
11 stories of cold-formed steel on a 4 story podium:
http://www.thewhoswho.build/advertorials/a-powerhouse-of-cold-formed-steel-construction.html
Kane’s biggest blind spot is always parking. Was on I-440 last night and shook my head as I counted three parking decks passing North Hills. It’s overkill, but he does it because the demand is there. I’m grateful for all the housing and density he’s brought to the city, but man, he would fit so much more if he’d shoot for the minimum parking requirements.
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They are well above the amount of parking required by zoning. 683 provided, 377 required. They could add A LOT of units and still not come close to the minimum.
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What became of the company that moved to Durham a few years ago that also does a prefab building system using CFS. I know their office was burnt in the gas explosion a couple years ago. DId they move to new offices or go out of business?
Just a note - I built a 2 story house of CFS on top of Mountain in western NC and get 75+ mph winds here often in winter and house does not make noise or move like wood framed houses I have been in. Strength was one reason but price was another, much cheaper than wood.
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I see CFS… sometimes. I looked into it for mid-rise stuff in DC (where there’s necessarily a lot of 5-12 story construction), and some key downsides:
a) pricier PSF, in general
b) prices are volatile: fewer producers, stuff like steel tariffs had a huge impact
c) many fewer contractors to choose from, esp given that most high-rise in the South is concrete – you see more of it in, say, Chicago where there are lots of steel fabricators.
It’s used for hotels b/c they have to be fireproof.
But yeah, perfect example of how US zoning is a one-way ratchet. You can always build smaller than what was approved, but you can’t build bigger.
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I really don’t care about the bait-and-switch away from the LOHA design. Not an issue, for me. That was always a shiny flashy place holder. For me, it’s all about the gaudy parking deck.
I’m usually pretty good at seeing through the flashiness of early renderings, but I had my hopes up here because LOHA did a multi-staged masterplan and even gave a lecture at NCSU about their design process and considerations for the site. I’ve worked on studies before where the deliverable to the client was only a couple of shiny renderings, but this seemed to me to be much more thoughtful and intentional than that – it seemed like they had a clear dialog with Merge about the vision, framework, and design drivers for the site. I can only imagine that they did begin with the intention of sticking closer to that masterplan than what’s turned out. Perhaps they were in over their heads, having only developed low-rise housing previously, and this is the result of bringing on Kane after that realization.
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What has merge aka 5 horizons been up to? Seemed like they were building some of the better smaller projects around then jumped to this
Or, perhaps they were just party to a lie.
I have to believe that Merge bit off more than they could chew and the pandemic brought that to light for them in a hurry. So they added the area’s most accomplished developer and a local architecture firm that is proven if not very exciting.
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The more I think about this development (phase 1A), I can’t imagine anyone wanting to jump into renting at this place in the next few years. There’s no way they’re going to get the same rates as Peace, SkyHouse, Grammercy, Link, etc. If these were condos, I could see people wanting to invest in that area, but why would you rent there? Where are you going to walk to? Lake Wheeler needs to be redeveloped as it’s a horrible walk. You can walk up to Dix, but nothing is really going on there yet. Walk up to the Harley dealer. The only decent direction is up under Western towards Bolted Bread and now Sam Jones. Am I wrong? What am I missing here?
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I agree. Still lots of empty parking lots on East side of downtown I think should be apartments first.
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True but if you go by the DRAs numbers, DT residential occupancy has always been high. Like 90%+ full so perhaps this offers another place to be close to downtown when the others are close to full.
Or not.
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Good point. As a long term investment, it’s a great location so close to Dix. That area will explode in the next 10 years. But as of today, there is not much there to allure renters.
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My de facto measure of downtown is if you have to get in your car for everything, you aren’t downtown. Because this location makes one get in a car to do everything, it’s important to develop it in such a manner that it mimics some downtown experiences, or they risk not attracting residents as @OakCityDylan suggested in his post.
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True there isn’t much going on at Dix but that big field is really nice even without and programming or active features. Plus, this spot has better access to greenways than anything else that could remotely be considered downtown, which is pretty nice.
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Someone understands!!! ITS CALLED INVESTING! You’re not building for what’s current but for the future. I get it, the chicken or egg theory throws us off sometime.
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It’s also very bikable. And that’s a great thing too.
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City Council is meeting next Tuesday, among other things, to look into upgrading Lake Wheeler Rd.!
Lots of other nearby projects like the farmer’s market’s master plan, Dix Edge Area Study, Dix Park expansion things etc. have talked about how we need a unified effort to figure out how to move Duke Energy’s power lines out of the way and make this downtown gateway more walkable. But this is the first time I’ve seen an actual step forward in that.
This will involve moving some money around that came from an old NCDOT bond. I’m not sure how risky this move is, but… well… I’m sure most of y’all don’t care about that anyways.
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