Montclair, NJ · Member since 2014 · 66 posts · 6 votes
In the suburbs you get your own lot and you can usually set up a little garden like area to hang out in outside. In the city you can get a townhouse but usually with little more than a tiny balcony. What if you could split the difference, build at a density suitable for urban areas yet which still afforded you space for outdoor living ? Thats the idea I explore in the following website, for any developers out there looking for another way :)
Montclair, NJ · Member since 2014 · 66 posts · 6 votes
11y
Karen I've not had an opportunity to organize and build a development of this sort myself. However if a market savvy developer believed such a scheme had merit I would be eager and happy to collaborate :)
Jon I just cked the link. Seems to be back up and working.
Contractor · Los Angeles, CA · Member since 2015 · 4k+ posts · 1k+ votes
10y
@Robert Carpenter Very luxurious, is this on planning? Did the price pencil out? Mostly in LA, land prices are way too much to be wasted, not sure if you can pencil it out here.
Montclair, NJ · Member since 2014 · 66 posts · 6 votes
10y
Great point @Manolo D. These are look and feel sketches not yet held to account of harsh financial reality. The unit footprint is approx 6K sq ft, 35 x 175, with similar living space sq ft.
I imagine metro LA as a 50 mile by 50 mile suburb where in theory there's still plenty of room for townhouses with a good sized footprint. Is new construction going toward multistory multifamily as is the case in the metro NYC area ? On zillow I saw some very nice new townhouses in an area called Century Park. Asking price was 5 or 6 million for five or six thousand square feet.
Contractor · Los Angeles, CA · Member since 2015 · 4k+ posts · 1k+ votes
10y
@Robert Carpenter Personal opinion might vary, I don't see anything more than 3 story town houses, there are plenty of short but sweet non-luxury housing in a neighboring county. CA is prone to earthquakes, that's why some cities oversize support system here. I have never used Zillow to do research, nor do I begin to imagine to be building something that's worth $1,000/sf on a 3-4 story. I could not even imagine someone buying a 5-6M town house, the numbers are too high for me to count....for now. :) I would not be surprised if someone took a risk for the enormous return, but buyer pool might be really tight.