A Development Idea

[jacobi]

I'm with you.  I like to live far enough away from my neighbor that they can't hear the screams!

If I can't hear their screams, they aren't close enough to be a neighbour.

[Red Arrow]

If I can't hear their screams, they aren't close enough to be a neighbour.

Then you should love a rowhouse.  Neighbors on both sides with common walls. (Unless you are in the end unit.)

Something like this would be nice.
http://g.co/maps/p8a6z

[jacobi]

Yep.   Boston is where I'm hoping to do my Ph.D.  It's so beautiful.  These are the kinds of buildings I had in mind when started this thread.

[Red Arrow]

Yep.  Boston is where I'm hoping to do my Ph.D.  It's so beautiful.  These are the kinds of buildings I had in mind when started this thread.

One of my cousins lived in an apartment in the top floor of this building in the 70s and early 80s. It was a fun place to visit but I didn't want to live there.
http://g.co/maps/q48pf

Edit: on the corner, not farther down the street.

[pfox]

Thanks for thinking it's timely.  When I saw the renderings I thought "Oh, the green arch project got scaled down."  But it's further south than that.  This is really exciting.  Best of luck.  Is this the project that the mayor mentioned in the press release about the TU/OU medical school?

On the mayor's comments, TU knows of our project, but he was probably referring not just to ours, but also to the (see below):

So, what's with the non-descrip buildings in the background?  Just filler to make the design pop?

Those non-descrip buildings are another housing project that is being designed concurrently to ours...multi-family.  Very nice project.  The massing is there to show scale.

Artist: yes on the rooftop terraces.  intended for the very use you described.  

That is good news. I also like some homes I see in my area that would be great downtown. On 18th between Madison and Peoria on the north side are some smart looking brick flats that I think could be designed as multi level. They would offer a nice contrast to the more modern designs you show. Also at 21st place west of Main are some two story English looking row houses that would fit well downtown. The main problem with both of them are the prohibitive cost. It is important to not price these too high.

Same architect who designed those brick flats designed these.  Not hard to guess who that is...  We agree by the way.  We wanted the architecture to be modern, and offer some diversity.  Neo/Retro done right can be very cool, but not everything needs to be that.  I'd love to do a contemporary take off on deco at some point as well.  Good design isn't restricted by style.

[Gaspar]

One of my cousins lived in an apartment in the top floor of this building in the 70s and early 80s. It was a fun place to visit but I didn't want to live there.
http://g.co/maps/q48pf

Edit: on the corner, not farther down the street.

Lived on the top story of a very similar building in St. Louis for about 6 years.  We used to all clap after anyone had sex.  Nothing makes you feel more like a man than a standing ovation at 2am.

[Conan71]

Lived on the top story of a very similar building in St. Louis for about 6 years.  We used to all get the clap after anyone had sex. 

[rdj]

Lived on the top story of a very similar building in St. Louis for about 6 years.  We used to all clap after anyone had sex.  Nothing makes you feel more like a man than a standing ovation at 2am.

[ZYX]

This is a timely thread.  We have been working on a quote/unquote urban single family project in downtown for about a year now.  We were actually one of the 13 applicants for the 3rd penny downtown housing money (we were unsuccessful, obviously).  Despite that, we believe in the business model for precisely some of the reasons mentioned above, namely that the  market is understandable financially for this type of owner occupied urban housing.

We've designed contemporary "rowhouses/townhouses"; small footprint, multiple floors, rooftop terraces, urban, pushed to the street. The form provides the kind of single family urban housing seen in cities all over the country.  It is far denser than most single family housing, obviously, but building, selling and transfer of title is simple.  Just like any other single family home in the city.  

We hope to be under way this spring.  I want to reserve details on the project until we have progressed a little further, but below is an early rendering.  Our project location is on S. Third and Greenwood, adjacent to the proposed East Village urban park.  Our market research shows a ton of need and capacity for this type of housing, and we are already getting serious inquiries from people interested in the project.  We also feel good about helping to establish an ownership model for downtown housing.

Wow! Very exciting about this and the other development. There seems to be a lot cooking up in this area right now!

And if the street scaling actually ends up looking like that, II will cry many tears of joy.

[we vs us]

I have a development idea: 

Came across an article in Dwell magazine (can't find a good link to it, unfortunately) that showcased an excellent trio of houses that came out of this competition -- called "From the Ground Up," sponsored by the architecture dept of Syracuse U. 

Teams will have eight weeks to develop designs for a low-cost, sustainable home capable of being built for $150,000, inclusive of fees and site work. (The Syracuse Center of Excellence has committed to additional funding for those aspects of the design that support the realization of sustainable features.) Competing teams will be notified at the beginning of October with submissions due mid December. The winning team will have four months to develop construction documents before the groundbreaking in late Spring 2009. Construction on at least one residence is expected to be completed by Winter

The purpose is: 

From the Ground Up seeks to provide a new model for formerly vital, urban residential neighborhoods throughout the United States through the creation of sustainable, affordable housing. Selected teams will work on infill sites, proposing designs for an 1,100 to 1,500-square-foot, single-family home. The goal of the competition is to create innovative designs for cost efficient, green prototypes that are sensitive to the scale and composition of the existing conditions, while providing a new vision that is legible to a wide array of existing and potential residents.

The location is: 

The site for this competition will be Syracuse's Near Westside, a declining area adjacent to the city's center comprised of 550 acres of industrial, residential, and commercial properties. This competition, through the advanced design approaches it yields and the resulting built work, will demonstrate the feasibility of bringing a high quality of design to a typically underserved, demographically diverse group of clients. Its ambition is to wed high design standards and advanced technology in the development of small domestic projects that will act as catalysts for improving our neighborhoods, creating innovative green homes, from the ground up.

Essentially it's an international competition for teams of architects to rehab a needy part of the city for single family dwellings that are affordable and modern.  There are three finalists and the winning design gets built. 

Perfect for an essentially blank slate like the Pearl.  Or that huge area of pastureland and old stoops just north of downtonw

The competition doesn't ever have to become international in scope, per se.  Even a regional competition would scare up some talent, and would focus attention on all the hot buttons in Tulsa -- affordability, sustainability, rehab of the blighted city center (or nearby) -- as well as provide one of our blighted areas with some architectural interest.  Over years, it could turn the blighted area around entirely. 

All we need now is Kaiser to read this post.

[TheArtist]

I have a development idea:  

Came across an article in Dwell magazine (can't find a good link to it, unfortunately) that showcased an excellent trio of houses that came out of this competition -- called "From the Ground Up," sponsored by the architecture dept of Syracuse U.  

The purpose is:  

The location is:  

Essentially it's an international competition for teams of architects to rehab a needy part of the city for single family dwellings that are affordable and modern.  There are three finalists and the winning design gets built.  

Perfect for an essentially blank slate like the Pearl.  Or that huge area of pastureland and old stoops just north of downtonw

The competition doesn't ever have to become international in scope, per se.  Even a regional competition would scare up some talent, and would focus attention on all the hot buttons in Tulsa -- affordability, sustainability, rehab of the blighted city center (or nearby) -- as well as provide one of our blighted areas with some architectural interest.  Over years, it could turn the blighted area around entirely.  

All we need now is Kaiser to read this post.

I like the idea. Get the typros this and see if they might find it iteresting.

I still like my idea of a Worlds Fair.  I thought of it after that one group was pushing for Tulsa to do the Olympics (waaay too big for us imo), but a Worlds Fair might be something we could pull off.  Would be a great way to get attention for Tulsa.  Even something like this design competition, not just regionally or nationally, but globally could be worked right into the theme of a Worlds Fair here in Tulsa.   The theme could be "Whats old is new again" or "A new kind of energy" or "Energy/Sustainability"  working in: Urban design, sustainable development, renewable/clean energy, transit, contemporary architectural and product design, etc. You could take some of those blighted areas with the large warehouses and showcase innovative "adaptive reuse" ideas, school, arts, office, and so on.  Then work in a whole neighborhood and a "main street" built with each country, company etc. constructing a home showcasing their latest sustainable, renewable energy, etc. design techniques and so on.    They build it, people come and spend their money to look at it, we get some great promo, and then we are left with a blighted area turned into a revitalized part of town sporting a very neat neighborhood and "main street" once everything is said and done.