New Apartments
Oct. 14th, 2007 05:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
livingdebFor the past, well, couple of years really, I have been observing the remodeling of the apartment complex that is adjacent to my property and that I walk through the center of on the way to and from the bus stop. It's rather large. (Directions to my house could include the phrase "turn left at the first opportunity that is not an apartment complex." Twice.)
I've been impressed with all the work being done. I can't actually judge the quality of the work, because I am an ignoramus. But they replaced the flat roofs with sloped ones which makes the roofs less likely to leak and which leaves a big space for heat to collect into in the summer which is not a living space. All windows and doors were replaced. All carpets were ripped out. All interior walls were ripped out as well as exterior walls that weren't brick, and insulation was added. All the porch rails were redone, and some of the porches were given additional reinforcement. Then they re-did all the landscaping they had destroyed with neglect or heavy machinery. So much work was being done that it seemed like they might actually be making it good. Certainly more that was required to change the appearance from a dated one to a more classic one.
They had an open house yesterday, which I went to out of curiosity. They look decent but not high-end. That surprised me. I figured that with all that work they might be putting in granite countertops and charging $1500/month for a 2-bedroom apartment. But no, just regular stuff, including industrial grade carpeting.
The floorplans aren't great, like the 1/1 has a two-door bathroom (just like at my last apartment). There are two barely useable counters in the galley kitchen, but one side has an open bar, so a helper can have some room to work from the other side. They have walk-in closets, but these contain water heaters. The re-did all the wiring and plumbing. They used to have chiller cooling and gas heating, but now they've split it up into all individually billed sections and made it all electric. So sad. But then for their small 2/1, they are charging only $730/month. To put that into perspective, if I were looking for a 2/1 apartment now, I wouldn't hope to find a decent one anywhere near where I work for less than $900. It's hard to believe they've done all this work and are charging so little.
Maybe it's like the summer I moved into Tri-Towers: they were renting for extremely low rates because they had just remodeled and apparently they had a bad reputation before, so they wanted to fill the place with folks that would spread good reviews. (The place was fine, though the kitchen was poorly designed and there were too may fires/fire drills where you just had to run down several or tens of flights of stairs and then not come home for a while.)
I also learned that they will be marketing these to students. So maybe my bus route will get better again.
I also had a pretty good hotdog.
I've been impressed with all the work being done. I can't actually judge the quality of the work, because I am an ignoramus. But they replaced the flat roofs with sloped ones which makes the roofs less likely to leak and which leaves a big space for heat to collect into in the summer which is not a living space. All windows and doors were replaced. All carpets were ripped out. All interior walls were ripped out as well as exterior walls that weren't brick, and insulation was added. All the porch rails were redone, and some of the porches were given additional reinforcement. Then they re-did all the landscaping they had destroyed with neglect or heavy machinery. So much work was being done that it seemed like they might actually be making it good. Certainly more that was required to change the appearance from a dated one to a more classic one.
They had an open house yesterday, which I went to out of curiosity. They look decent but not high-end. That surprised me. I figured that with all that work they might be putting in granite countertops and charging $1500/month for a 2-bedroom apartment. But no, just regular stuff, including industrial grade carpeting.
The floorplans aren't great, like the 1/1 has a two-door bathroom (just like at my last apartment). There are two barely useable counters in the galley kitchen, but one side has an open bar, so a helper can have some room to work from the other side. They have walk-in closets, but these contain water heaters. The re-did all the wiring and plumbing. They used to have chiller cooling and gas heating, but now they've split it up into all individually billed sections and made it all electric. So sad. But then for their small 2/1, they are charging only $730/month. To put that into perspective, if I were looking for a 2/1 apartment now, I wouldn't hope to find a decent one anywhere near where I work for less than $900. It's hard to believe they've done all this work and are charging so little.
Maybe it's like the summer I moved into Tri-Towers: they were renting for extremely low rates because they had just remodeled and apparently they had a bad reputation before, so they wanted to fill the place with folks that would spread good reviews. (The place was fine, though the kitchen was poorly designed and there were too may fires/fire drills where you just had to run down several or tens of flights of stairs and then not come home for a while.)
I also learned that they will be marketing these to students. So maybe my bus route will get better again.
I also had a pretty good hotdog.