Well, it's not going to be pretty but it won't be trash either. It will still be good to see a sizable market-rate apartment building on that end of downtown.
Board and batten is a common name for a siding style with vertical boards. When they say "composite" I'm assuming they mean engineered wood/LP siding, though they could be talking about fiber cement. I'm really not sure how this is going to turn out.
Composite is often used interchangeably for fiber cement/hardie board/etc. It's more of a residential product, but for a multi family project of this size, it probably makes sense. It's a higher quality option than say, vinyl siding.
This one looks topped out, mostly. I am surprised by how short it looks, particularly compared to what was there. I just keep telling myself it's hundreds of new residents where an abandoned buildin had stood for years, though.
I was by it today, it's mostly at three floors, even that looks shorter than I would've expected. They do have part of the fourth floor up along Townsend though, even that looks somewhat short. They also have some of the parapet wall up and that seems like it will make the difference, it adds another half floor of height to the building at least. I'm still skeptical of this building in general but as you said, hundreds of new residents.
It's up to the fourth floor, which is what I was getting at. It's not totally framed, but they have the decking up, so it's basically topped out.
I noticed that you can't see it whem coming up over the MLK bridge over the Grand River. So I figure that the floors can't be much more than 10 feet at the most.
I really don't know why I expected it to make more of an impact on the skyline. But to give a comparison, Block600 is also four stories tall. But some elevations I've seen show it as almost 70 feet tall. The taller first floor for the grocer is a big part of that, but I also think the residential and hotel floors are taller, too.
I noticed the exterior finish was starting to go up as they seemed to have topped out the framing, it fills the space very nicely. The drawings for the building depict a light color, but the stone-faced square bricks I saw them using for the first floor are a dark charcoal color which I think will look classy and different. The balconies look large enough to actually use, unlike many I have noticed on the newer buildings. We have huge balconies in our 1964 model building on S. Washington!
The outside finish work continues, they are finishing the first floor stone facade and are starting on the upper floors which are being clad in a wood-like siding that looks a little cheap compared with the stone siding used on the first floor. It's OK just not great! They have also finished the steam- pipework and have reopened Lenawee and S. Capitol Ave and planted many new trees on that side of Rutter park.
This definitely isn't a great looking building but I just keep reminding myself of how many market rate units are being added to the neighborhood. It looks like the building proposed for the Lake Trust site a couple blocks away will be at least a small step in the right direction design and quality wise.
I was pleasantly surprised when I drove past this building yesterday. It is starting to look pretty good! It is true that the stone siding is only on the first floor, but the siding above looks alright, now that it is nearing the finish I am happy with the look of the building. It is going to bring a lot of people to live downtown. I noticed several big old houses in that neighborhood are also being renovated in the Hillsdale and Pine Street area. That is a good sign, for a neglected area.
Comments
Board and batten is a common name for a siding style with vertical boards. When they say "composite" I'm assuming they mean engineered wood/LP siding, though they could be talking about fiber cement. I'm really not sure how this is going to turn out.
Thanks for posting. Those are some details! I am thinking this development will look pretty good.
Composite is often used interchangeably for fiber cement/hardie board/etc. It's more of a residential product, but for a multi family project of this size, it probably makes sense. It's a higher quality option than say, vinyl siding.
This one looks topped out, mostly. I am surprised by how short it looks, particularly compared to what was there. I just keep telling myself it's hundreds of new residents where an abandoned buildin had stood for years, though.
It's up to the fourth floor, which is what I was getting at. It's not totally framed, but they have the decking up, so it's basically topped out.
I noticed that you can't see it whem coming up over the MLK bridge over the Grand River. So I figure that the floors can't be much more than 10 feet at the most.
I really don't know why I expected it to make more of an impact on the skyline. But to give a comparison, Block600 is also four stories tall. But some elevations I've seen show it as almost 70 feet tall. The taller first floor for the grocer is a big part of that, but I also think the residential and hotel floors are taller, too.