It was smiller's birthday yesterday, so we started off the day right, by going to Cookies for a homemade with cheese. We also went so that we could eat probably the last Muzio buns we'll ever eat. Tuesday was the last day of the bakery. I asked the Cookie's owner and she said they are going to get buns from a company that a former Muzio baker started, so maybe there won't be much difference. The Muzio bun is certainly integral to the delicious character of a Cookie's burger. They have a unique, chewy texture. I think a homemade is not quite as good as a Whitey's special, but I like the variety that Cookies offers. I got an ostrich burger.
I thought this story in the bee about a fracas at the l street lofts is interesting, because it provides some information about how these things are selling. I always wonder that about the various developments around town. Like those fake brownstones on s street. That development seems to moving really slowly. What if you bought one and they don't sell enough to build the whole thing? The naked backs of those fake brownstones look cheap and terrible, yet they sell for more than nice houses on the grid. I saw an ad (maybe on the back of mm?) for one of the first loft places that was built, around 6 years ago, it faces the light rail tracks. It's a duplex, I can't remember exactly where it is. Anyways, it's silver metal and wood and it's pretty cool looking, but it's selling for way more than a much bigger 1920s era house in east sac with a backyard in the same ad. Who the hell would choose the loft?
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8 comments:
Happy birthday Miller!!!!
I love those metal and wood lofts. I think there are only two units. They are on 17th and Q. I prefer them and the ones behind weatherstone because they are infill into an existing neighborhood rather than creating a neighborhood out of nothing, like the ones between the Bee and S street and further along the light rail tracks at 26th.
gbomb
it looks like two, but there's actually four of them. two face the street and two face the tracks. The entrances are on the side where the patios connect in four squares. The rooftop patio is the best part I think.
Oh, and I'd choose the loft if I could afford the choice. But I wouldn't mind an old mansion in Poverty Ridge either.
I must be in the minority; I think the wood-and-corrugate-steel look of the lofts behind light rail is rather atrocious. I remember reading somewhere about them. Four units, three stories, with the bottom story a concrete-floored garage, something like that. If you're really curious, Charles and 'Stine have some inside information; her mom lived in one for a while.
I think they look ok for lofts, but not that great. The phrase "rooftop patio" does sound great, but I have no idea what it looks like.
The Tapestri townhomes on 21st and T get a lot of flak but I don't think they look that bad. The little ones along the back are like similar "skinny house" designs going up all over the country: concrete-floored garage, second floor ktichen/dining/living room and a half-bath, bedrooms on the top. I actually like the way the backs of the mid-sized units look: they took the trouble to put an actual bay window on there, instead of just a pop-out. They also have porches on the second or third levels, not real huge but enough for a certain amount of BBQ and drunkenly yelling at the neighbors.
A lot of folks don't like the hassle of maintaining an older house, although I'm not one of those folks, but I understand the appeal. The big ones are still overpriced, but the little ones are around 1200 sf (decent sized compared to a lot of midtown homes) and cost about the same as a fully-restored bungalow of similar size. Most of the older homes that are cheaper than that come with many things that need fixing...and either you're into that sort of thing (I am) or you ain't.
In general, I see better things in store for mid-sized projects like Alchemy at R Street or Tapestri Square or the Sutter Brownstones than for the mid-rise/high-rise urban loft living stuff. The former projects aren't too dissimilar in scale from what is already in midtown.
Oh yeah, a mindblower for you all: Only 15% of housing in the central city is single-family homes.
yo happy late b-day!!!
Also, there's the green factor. Regulations for new construction in CA being as stringent as they are, those lofts are probably LEED certified.
I also would rather buy an older home, as I already have, but there are days (like today when I'm calling plumbers to deal with the 60 years' worth of tree root damage to my pipes) when a brand-spanking-new Wee House sounds like heaven.
Dani
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