40 Unit Apartment Building in Brooklyn – PARKING FACILITIES

This project we’re working on is large enough to break into two articles, the first dealing with the parking facilities. When designing for a large multi-story apartment building, one must provide for parking. There is an option of using off-site parking but essentially one needs to own the property and that property must be within a reasonable distance to your building. That said, like on this project, the parking must be incorporated into the basement space.

This is where good architects stand out in my opinion, in that if the structure is right, and aligns with the apartment units above, there is a substantial savings in the avoidance of transfer beams. This is our approach to help lessen the financial burden of providing a parking garage yet do so in a way that doesn’t negatively impact the apartment units on the upper floors, or the retail space.

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Owner Occupied Duplex – On the Top or Bottom?

There are many advantages for a townhouse owner to occupy a lower duplex, or perhaps it is the top floor duplex they should seek, and while a very strong case can be made to put the owner of a townhouse on the lower floors, there are solid arguments for occupying the top two floors.  I, architect Nick Buccalo, will examine both possibilities and invite your comments on the issue.

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The Ultimate Shared Living Suites – FOR DEVELOPERS

This version is for the smaller walkup building of 25’x60′ in order to fit the programmatic components comfortably. It provides a way for a developer to accommodate more people within a building footprint and thus increase the yearly income.

The concept is simple, take what would normally be a three bedroom apartment and change it to 4 shared living suites where individuals get their own private suite, complete with a private bathroom, bedroom and living space, and then share only the kitchen and other building amenities.  For a 5 story walkup, the potential is for 19 ‘bedroom suites’ versus the conventional 5-3 bedroom apartments.  It is simple math from this point to understand that the suites are occupied with working adults while 2/3’s of the bedrooms from a standard apartment are occupied by children, or, that home office.

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Shared Living Suites – Semi-Apartments within an Apartment

SHARED APARTMENT LIVING

This layout option is for the Homeowner, who may not be willing to invest in our ultimate walkup shared living layout which has initial higher upfront costs with a higher return over a longer period of time making it more appropriate for the developer.  This version is more of a straight forward apartment with shared bathroom, kitchen and living rooms with more modest sized suites, the ultimate version to be released soon has individual suites with their own bathrooms and only a shared kitchen, the living areas are within each suite.

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Plans for 2 Duplexes and Cafe

A unique Brooklyn lot in that this property had two structures overlooking a city park, with exposures on 3 sides, SimpleTwig Architecture decided to make the most of the situation by creating a small cafe on the main street corner and providing outdoor porch seating between the structures, allowing for a substantial increase in available seating for the shop.

Further, both structures allowed for open floor plan duplexes, each with 2 bedrooms.  Together they maximize the rental capacity of the property and provide the community with an amenity of character which will be cherished for years to come.

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Townhouse Renovation Planned in Brooklyn

This townhouse renovation project in Brooklyn, NY is for a young couple with a need to secure their financial future, and, start a family.  With this in mind, SimpleTwig suggested creating two rental apartments in addition to their Owner occupied unit.  This would allow them to maximize extra income into their savings, giving them the option of combining units in the future when their family expanded.

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[financial] Go ahead, throw your money away! (Expensive Blunder)

What do I mean by designs that are a waste?  Well, some projects waste time, money and resources.  One can imagine a project that isn’t financially successful, has wasted resources, as the longevity and usefulness of the building will be diminished.  I’ve witnessed where a renovation is completed and in 2 years, after the tenant moves out the space is re-renovated. Materials are wasted too, in this day when there are environmental concerns, what’s the point of designing and building something that gets torn down in a couple of years? Continue reading “[financial] Go ahead, throw your money away! (Expensive Blunder)”