If you have an interest in construction you might head over to the 1200 block of Florida Avenue in the next week or so. They are assemplying some prefab (right down to pre-installed cabinets and pre-painted walls) condos and townhouses. As of yesterday they had only done the (unfinished) basements, but the next phase of the project promises to be interesting. Many of the units have reportedly already sold. The rumored prices (forgive me for being skeptical, but this sounds like realtor on crack talk to me) for the 4,000+ sqft townhomes are coming in at over a million (ok they are big, but they're on Florida Ave for Christsakes!). Oh, the project is called Capitol Hill Oasis.
20 comments:
Wow that looks like the worst floor plan of new construction townhouse that I've ever seen! Everyone today seems to like the kitchen and living area on the same floor-NOT split up and certainly not with the kitchen blocked off from easy flow into the rest of the house by what appears to be the elevator!
915 12th Street is Capitol Hill now?
i had the same exact reaction to that floorplan. the disclaimer indicates it is subject to change, so hopefully that isn't what they settled on. maybe add a garage on the ground floor level and a rooftop deck. this place is just bedrooms stacked on top of bedrooms. terrible design.
Only a million? Where do I sign up?
That Corvette is SWEET, though!
Yikes. I have to go by there tonight to see this with my own eyes. The plans on the web site look like they were drawn up by an 8th grader.
Yep that is now Capitol Hill! Capitol Hill is forever expanding and I feel certain Trinidad will be included in the next 5-7 years. Capitol Hill now stops at Florida Avenue and at the interection where Maryland Avenue meets H Street, NE and Bladensburg Rd. That neighborhood is now being referred to as Northeast Capitol Hill. I read on this on the Zoning website at DC.gov.
I hope they can sell them for $1M....more signs the "Hood" is changing :-)
the design, the prices, the name...
it all sounds kooky to me.
i need to head over there too.
i gotta see this to believe it!
For $1 million they better include a Corvette for every day of the week (with garage parking for each), plus my own dedicated Metro car to put my Corvette on.
Are they on crack? Who would pay one million to live here? I like the neighborhood but not to the tune of one million. They are prefab as well? I'm curious as well now, I might walk over and check it out then. I saw that they were putting in foundations of some sort. I think that the idea of prefab construction is interesting and I think may be something we will see more in the future. Does anyone know if those are considered manufactured housing for the purpose of getting a mortgage.
The webpage says "each unit with elevator" Does this suggest each unit has an elevator???? If that is the case I now understand the prices!
Okay I answered my question. An elevator in the unit is an optional feature. WOW! I have to see who will be buying these. That is a bit unbelievable for that area.
Those floor plans look like something we drew up in my Basic Technical Drawing class senior year in high school. I realize that H St is years away from realizing its full potential, but 4,000 sq. ft is a shit load, no matter how dubious the design is. The million dollar price tag means these places are going for about $250/sq ft, which is pretty average.
check out the builder's website:
http://www.deluxehomes.com/modular_sf.asp
While I agree with most of the comments already made, I'm interested in how they turn out because of the method of construction being used. Modular homes (as opposed to mobile homes) are essentially equivalent to homes built on-site. The on-site construction time is also far less for modular homes because the sections only have to be secured together, then finishing touches inside and out are all that is required for completion.
In fact, in many ways they are considered superior to site-built homes, because the component sections are constructed in a climate-controlled factory, rather than being exposed to the elements during construction. Joints, walls, insulation, wiring, etc. are all touted as being superior due to the factory build as well--everything is standardized. The resulting structure can be clad with either siding, brick or other materials.
I'm surprised that more in-fill buildings are not done using modular building techniques, given the advantages. Done well (e.g., with brick exterior over the structure), the result would be very hard to tell from any other infill building (and hopefully, the existing buildings). I'll be going by to check out the progress.
Best,
Alan Kimber
ANC Commissioner, 6C05
In response to Hillman, I agree that the price per sq. ft. doesn't seem so bad but what is the demand for million dollar home in SoFlo?
Also for better or worse, modular housing has a negative perception which may be hard to overcome. I'm going to walk by this weekend to take a look at the progress.
I have to say that I find the whole prefab housing pretty interesting. It sounds funny at first, but they can turn out some high quality stuff these days. And, of course, Ikea has gotten in on the act.
It is probably obvious, but there are major cost savings in modular housing versus the convetional method. So, if these sell for anywhere close to what has been suggested that must mean some pretty crazy profits for the builder/developer.
It really is stunning how it went from a hole in the ground with a "free dirt" sign to a hole in the ground with a bunch of concrete walls in it. When I ride by I can't help but wonder....it looks like big windows on the basement level yet they would look at a wall. And what about drainage?
As for the plans seems like someone went to Best Buy and bought some do-it-yourself floor plan off-the-shelf software and threw them together without much thought...
A modular complex was installed in 300 Block of 15th St SE (East Side across from Payne Elementary) back in 2003. Project is not as large as Oasis. IMHO, the quality is shabby. Units have been up for sale several times. The property is zoned commercial allowing professional offices there
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