All Forum Posts by: Colin L.

yes, 2012 is the current version of the IBC.

NYC zoning is a complex topic, any book would be a waste of time.  I agree with Joel, time to start looking for folks with years of experience and pick their brain: developers, architects, lawyers, planners, etc.  

wow!  I'm really curious about your market: who is using it as a vacation rental, is it UGA fans in town for the football game, or parents/family in town visiting their kids at college? and who are these professionals that will rent during the week and magically disappear for the weekend?

my thoughts:

-renovating uses far less new material than new construction, so you shouldn't feel tooo bad about all the refuse you create.

-if you do still feel bad, there are demo companies that will separate anything recyclable, reusable, salvageable, etc from the trash, but they probably cost a little more and take a little longer.

-building codes everywhere are becoming more and more stringent in regards to energy use.  if you are doing work that requires pulling permits and following code then by default your projects will become more eco friendly.  in my opinion i'd rather be ahead of the curve than playing catch up. 

-i'm nitpicking here but installing bamboo flooring and calling your project eco friendly really doesn't cut it.  Some would argue using locally cut FSC certified Maple is more environmentally friendly than a non FSC bamboo shipped from China. 

-there are a few studies that have shown that green homes have sold for more than their non-green counterparts:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/realestate/study-finds-that-energy-efficient-homes-often-command-higher-prices/2012/07/19/gJQAF4MiwW_story.html

 I for one would like to see more studies done to validate these findings.  

i'll second the vote for viking.  I've been working on high end homes, both spec and custom for 4 yrs now and i would say 90% installed viking, subzero, wolf.  at least for the fridge and range.  For other appliances its varied.  As for microwaves, we are doing one of three things: including microwave drawers, leaving space in the pantry for an off the shelf microwave, or include a wall oven with built in microwave above or below.

This is always an unfortunate situation and is usually a result of a lack of communication on someone's part. But moving forward I see a few options:

-client comes up with more money to design it as is.

-client bids the job to other contractors. maybe this contractor is just more expensive than others and they can find a less expensive one that they will be happy with.

-client, architect and contractor sit down together and cut costs by finding less expensive finishes, fixtures, appliances, and other measures to meet the budget.

-architect redesigns the job with a smaller scope of work that the client agrees to (in many architect/client contracts this would be at no cost to the owner but depends on each contract).

@Karen Margrave thanks, that makes sense.

The company I work for has been designing homes for a developer who up until now has only done flips. Their first ground up home is complete and under contract (for asking price in 1 DOM, yay!). They asked me for assistance with the New Construction Addendum to RPA-CA and I could use some help with item #1 on that form which states:

1. Maintenance Recommendations: Provided with the Agreement, are Copies of all builder maintenance and preventative recommendations.

I'd love to hear from any California developers who are familiar with this form and what they provide to new owners to fullfill this requirement. Thanks in advance!

Can you give some more info on what the building is currently (use, size, condition, etc) and what is your intended end use of the building (residential, commercial, mix use)? I lived/worked in NYC for 6 years so I might be able to suggest some names depending on your goals.

@Will Barnard is spot on. Other reasons why "reversed living" is not as desirable is that it often means you have 1 or more bedrooms facing the street/sidewalk which is not great for privacy, and you lose the interior/exterior connection between the living spaces and the rear yard which is soooo essential in SoCal.