I think this is a great development. Really like pretty much everything in the entire village district. 10x better than it was when I moved here.
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The same can be said for most single family homes. If you live along an activated sidewalk with appropriate foot traffic (and businesses around you), Iād argue that itās significantly safer than a single-family home. The issues most people have being on the ground-level are more about privacy, not safety.
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These are often intrinsically tied together.
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A place can be private but not safe and a place can be safe but not private. Iāve got a first floor unit and Iāve never felt unsafe. I understand not everyone feels that way, but the two arenāt completely synonymous with each other.
Thereās enough activity and lighting outside that if someone tried to do something like break in, thereād likely be observers and cameras in the immediate area. They likely wouldnāt be able to do it without a call to the police. Canāt say the same thing for a house off a seldom-used road.
With more activity comes less privacy but more safety. In a downtown area, Iād argue that theyāre inversely correlated.
Having a 30th floor fortress of a unit is definitely as safe as you can get. There are just a ton of inconveniences that come with it that make it less worth it for me. Iāve even got plants and flowers that have been out front for years and nobody has ever done anything to or with them.
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Not if thereās a missile strike. I personally prefer my windowless basement bunker/hobbit holeā¦
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Is that a piggie thing?
Thatās why I said often.
There are always exceptions.
Iād argue that first floor condos/apartments in downtown Raleigh being unsafe are the exception, not the other way around. I honestly canāt name a first floor condo walkup or apartment that Iāve seen in downtown that I would feel is unsafe. Can you provide examples?
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Actually being unsafe or not isnāt my point, I am talking about how people that are willing to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on downtown condos make their decisions based on how they feel about their safety (and privacy).
You said:
Part of the advantage of living in a condo in an urban area is having an additional level of security, and not being able to reach your home at the ground level is part of that equation. IMO, a combo of ground level retail space, building amenities, parking, etc. is a better development idea.
Windows can be broken and units can be entered quite easily, and locks on gates donāt stop anyone from hopping over.
Thatās not a comment based on perception. Thatās you saying that lower-level units are intrinsically unsafe and presenting it as reality. I totally get the perception part, but youāre presenting it as your own perception here too. Not one that youāre simply observing.
I get it if thatās what you meant, but thatās not how you presented it at all. This is why I asked for examples. Because, I have enough experience living in a lower-level condo to know that this is absolutely not the case.
Itās also cool that you want more retail at the lower-level, and I like that too. However, I appreciate lower-level condos a hell of a lot more than lower-level empty storefronts that seem to be so pervasive in downtown Raleigh these days. If you canāt do lower-level storefronts correctly, it makes a neighborhood seem a lot more empty than a condo that takes a bit longer to sell would.
EDIT: One more thing Iāll add. As someone that likes to invite over and entertain friends, they all appreciate not having to jump through a billion security hoops to come over and hang out.
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You quoted me saying that āwindows can be broken and units can be entered quite easilyā.
What is incorrect about this statement?
Where in that statement is me saying that this happens and how much it happens? I am very careful to put qualifiers on my statements and not speak in absolutes.
If someone tried to break the window to my condo, theyād trip the glass-break alarm which would cause a lot of noise. Additionally, the people walking on the sidewalk would likely call 911 because there is a lot of foot traffic around the first floor of my condo.
If something is both easy to do and also doesnāt happen, then whatās the point in mentioning it? I havenāt seen a single first-floor condo break-in in downtown Raleigh in years.
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My message is for developers, especially to ones building $600/ft product and what their buyers are likely to expect for that sort of money. Thinking about this a bit more by elevating the first level off the sidewalk a bit, or fundamentally making the first floor units have something compelling like was done with @OakCityDylan 's condo at Fairweather (lives like a townhouse), or just putting parking/lobby/retail/shared spaces on the ground floor, are probably good ideas to consider.
Also, alarm systems @ glass signals to me that safety actually is a concern.
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I have 2 cameras on our patio (one facing north, one south) and open/close sensors on our windows, main door and the gate that deters unwanted guests from going onto our patio. I know if there is any activity with any of those openings. Other than known visitors and the landscape blower guy blowing off the patio once a week, Iāve not had a single unwanted guest open the gate, much less anything more intrusive. And thatās with a rather undesirable situation with the shelter being halfway down the block.
EDIT: @xdavidj reminded me we have a video doorbell as well. No pranks!
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Itās more of a failsafe than a concern. Iād have ring alarms in place regardless as to whether I lived on the ground level, on a midrise, or in a highrise. Glassbreak sensors are about $40.
I also agree with adding something compelling, although I honestly feel that having an egress access from the first floor for me and my guests so they donāt need to go through some sort of lobby really is compelling enough for me.
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@John I appreciate your personal feedback on ground floor living in urban settings. I have developed 1,000+ apartment units across the southeast, in cities like Nashville we saw rent premiums for units on the ground floor and it became a design standard to create a ātownhouse styleā exterior entrance when possible.
I can provide 20+ examples in cities like Charlotte, Nashville, Atlanta, Charleston, and D.C. with this design approach. Speaking as a developer with experience in residential projects, ground-floor retail is rarely feasible. For instance, The Fairweather utilizes its lower floors entirely for structured parking due to the propertyās topography. At 29 Enterprise, the analysis determined that residential units, rather than ground-floor parking, were the highest and best use. Similarly, The Lansing plans to incorporate ground-floor residential units in their project as well, with pricing around $700/SF.
Some developments on certain streets will feature ground-floor residential units that may not align with your preferences, but they cater to others, such as pet owners or those who prefer to avoid shared hallways. These direct-access, exterior-facing units are designed to meet those specific needs.
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If anyoneās looking for a structured parking ācondoā, contact @OakCityDylan
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@GucciLittlePig Is this a photograph of OakCityDylan going to his unit?
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Well, you did find a picture of structured parking but no, thatās not my unit. My parking spot is to the right in that shot though.
This should be a better angle of the 1st floor walk ups at The Fairweather. Only 2 unfortunately.
EDIT: itās also for rentā¦
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Always wondered: do these units with the ground-floor entrance also have an entrance on the other side, facing the garage or hallway?