Fine by me. Last time I had a Which Wich wich, I had explosive d******* the following day. Something ain’t right wit those wiches.
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i got it, dynamite! what do i win?
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You win a lifetime of subs from Which Wich… unfortunately it also comes with a lifetime of… nevermind, you’ll find out
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It’s a tough quandary. Planners want an “active first floor”, but there’s nowhere enough retail demand. (I once calculated the ratio of retail to residential space as 1:30, so unless there’s consistently 30 floors of apartments above you won’t sustain continuous ground floor retail.) There are many multifamily buyers who prefer a ground-floor unit, whether it’s gardeners or dog owners – but in Raleigh, they might buy townhouses rather than condos.
An ideal first-floor apartment is raised above grade for privacy. Another alternative is solid fencing along the sidewalk to visually enclose the front yard as a patio, though that’s not exactly an active frontage either.
But, as I’m sure you noticed, (1) any efficiency gains from removing the corridor are eaten up by stairs, (2) this is an elevator-less 4-story building.
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There’s definitely a demand for ground floor, but I think there’s nuance. You mention two things that I think are true: 1) they may be townhome buyers, not condo buyers, and 2) Gardeners and/or dog owners probably prefer for that access be off the street on the back or sides of the properly more so than on a busy sidewalk.
As for retail demand, that comes with more and more residents in the immediate neighborhood. For the Village District in particular, it comes with a twist in that there’s already a lot of retail consolidated at its center.
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