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May 4, 2007

Monarch Building, Kansas City, MO

KC revitalizing its historic music district with some jazzy style

Baseball and jazz - two distinctly American traditions that have defined the history and now revitalization of Kansas City's 18th & Vine Historic Jazz District.

The City recently invested $24 million to build new museums that preserve both the legacy of its charter member of the Negro National League in 1920, the Kansas City Monarchs (the longest running franchise in the Negro Leagues’ history) and its reputation as a "wide open" destination for jazz in the 1920s and 1930s, attracting many industry legends. Along with a restored 1912 theater and a number of restaurants and nightlife venues leading the way toward a 24/7 vibe, the time had come to provide new housing on the empty lots in the once neglected neighborhood.

Jazz District Redevelopment Corporation">Public and McCormack Baron Salazarprivate joint efforts resulted in The Monarch (pictured), named after the landmark baseball team, providing 51 affordable and 27 market-rate apartments along with two other buildings. Most important is what it brought to the neighborhood, best stated via the developer, McCormack Baron Salazar, "Our goal was to help bring life back to the area. If people are living here then there is more incentive to continue bringing retail and restaurants back which will make the 18th and Vine Jazz District thrive once more."

From the project's architect, Rosemann Associates, "It was important to capture the historic flavor of the district while giving it a contemporary flair."

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May 3, 2007

ULI's Developing Green: Integrating Sustainability with Success conference

Development industry says, "Building green is here to stay"

Last week the leading real estate developers around the world gathered at the ULI's Developing Green: Integrating Sustainability with Success conference to better understand the future of green building. Their
summation? Not only is green building here to stay (as this official conference summary is titled), but it's fast becoming a standard, and that's a good thing considering 40% of the carbon gas emissions released in the U.S. comes from commercial buildings.

Why the green transition? The two main reasons:
1. Mounting proof that green building does not cost significantly more to build, and in fact generates energy savings that quickly offset upfront costs. The costs to build housing using green building materials is no more than 3% higher than using standard materials.
2. Growing public demand for products and services that promote health and wellness. 91% of prospective buyers said they would pay extra for amenities related to health and fitness, and 41% said they would do so even if they could not recoup their costs.

To a lesser degree, the other reasons stated were:
3. Rising energy prices. It's gone up, but not enough to make a developer go green.
4. Growing concern over global climate change. Ok, some developers are altruistic, but even then...

Finally, three guidelines if your development is going green:
1. What is ecological must also be economical.
2. Green must be gorgeous.
3. Green must be fun and functional.

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May 2, 2007

Donna Alberico for the NY Times

Face-face social networking on the rise in condos

We all know emerging populations are migrating to social networking websites by the millions, so it was a matter of time before this manifested in the built environment, as hinted at in an earlier entry here.

Based on the recent NY Times article, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, new condos in the city come with bricks-and-mortar social networking amenities as standard equipment. Instead of virtual chat lounges, discussion boards and group portals, residents are enjoying physical:
Cinemas (some with day beds), wet bars, squash courts, outdoor rain showers, poker tables, big screens, barbecue areas, wine cellars, libraries, children’s playrooms and pools, gyms, sun decks and lounge areas, cinema with day beds, lap pools, covered outdoor dog parks, outdoor basketball courts with bleachers...

Instead of spontaneous digital get togethers, residents participate in face-face:
Movie nights, book clubs, water volleyball, Monday night sports, spring flings, Friday night cocktails, floor mixers, TV show nights, rotating summer parties, golf tournaments...

Not to be left out, these buildings also have YouTube, Flickr and MySpace web pages for 24/7 networking.

Some of the resident quotes from the article:

“Instead of staying up in our apartment, we always stay here [community spaces]. Sometimes we have two, three tables joined so everyone can talk.”

“It has a small neighborhood feel to it, like its own little town.”

“Everyone was so friendly upon my arrival,” she said. “All of my neighbors came out to say hello to me and ask if I needed anything.”

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May 1, 2007

Paducah, Kentucky

A national model for arts as economic development

How do you attract artists into a neighborhood/district, then keep them from being gentrified out of the area later? You may want to look at the Paducah Artist Relocation Program (mentioned here a couple of times before) - that far and away provides one of the best programs I've seen to turn artists into permanent building owners.

Based in the small town of Paducah, Kentucky (pop. 27,000), implemented in August of 2000, and now having served over 70 artists, the program's incentives include:

- Free lots for new construction as available. This is a biggie, no doubt, and past examples included lots with buildings that were latter rehabbed.
- 100% financing for purchase and rehabilitation of an existing structure or the building of a brand new structure. Basic loan package is 7% - 30yr. fixed rate up to 300% of appraised value. This is a biggie too, if you know what you're doing.
- City will pay up to $2500 for architectural services or other professional fees. This is an extremely valued service that is often otherwise overlooked, and unfortunately it shows. Architectural design is not something you want to DIY.
- Dual zoning for commercial and residential use, enabling residents to have gallery/studio, restaurant/café, etc. and living space all under one roof.
- National marketing and publicity of the arts district and Paducah.

Read the story behind the arts program via this ABC News article.

Thanks to Sandy Maxey for the reference!

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April 30, 2007

Logan Row, Washington DC

Young developers focus on 'workforce' housing

Talk to any urban real estate developer and you'll quickly discover their goal is to sell their units at the highest price possible for whatever property or site they're developing, which is why you often see the adjective 'luxury' attached. Fortunately, the urban luxury housing market is nearing saturation at the same time a young generation of developers are emerging that empathize with their peers who can't afford what boomers can, yet still want quality construction. I guess you can call it affordable luxury (think JetBlue).

One such firm is Ellis Denning, a trio of partners in their mid-30s with a goal of developing well-crafted homes for those at or below the median income. In the Washington DC area, that means homes priced at below $200,000 at transit-oriented sites, and under $250,000 in the heart of the city.

Logan Row, Washington DC

One of their 'secrets' is their specialization in light gauge metal and wood frame construction for buildings 5 to 7 stories high that typically require much more expensive concrete and heavy steel. It's these cost-saving investments, such as structural insulated panel and modular off-site construction that deserve a tremendous amount of credit for caring about lowering the price point for 'the rest of us'.

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