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help!!!,have you heard of this??

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Frank Palmer

Member
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CEI is a community development non profit operating in all of Maine.We have an affordable housing shortage, as do most others.
We have a shordtage of land with town sewer and water.
I want to build affordablde apafrtments on the roof of one story shopping center.
My owner has asked the appropriate question, "where ellse has this been done??
Can ylou give me places, names, ideas.?
Thanks

Bud Palmer
WWW.ceimaine.org
 
Cardinal

Cardinal

Cyburbian
Messages
10,069
Points
34
Most downtowns were built that way, and some still are. There are several examples I can think of in Madison, WI, but it also happens in smaller communities. We have a mixed-use building with offices and condos (picture) and another with retail and apartments, that went up in the last couple of years. Cross Plains, WI has one of the best examples. I will be near there this weekend and maybe I'll be able to take a couple photos.
 
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mike gurnee

Cyburbian
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3,065
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Don't know of any examples. I would be quite concerned about fire protection requirements between the floors.
 
nerudite

nerudite

Cyburbian
Messages
6,536
Points
30
mike gurnee said:
Don't know of any examples. I would be quite concerned about fire protection requirements between the floors.
Click to expand...

I would second this. Also, if a foundation was originally engineered for a one-story building, it may very well need to be upgraded for a second, third, or however many stories. This type of retrofit is usually not something most affordable housing agencies would tackle due to the cost. But if land prices are incredibly high in your part of Maine (I have to admit I know very little about Maine), maybe upgrading the foundation would not be a big deal by comparison. But because it is a big deal in other areas of the country, I don't think you will see many retrofits like the one you are talking about... there are tons of mixed use buildings, as Michael has pointed out, but I think it's fairly rare to add a residential floor to an existing commercial building.

I will try to do a little sleuthing around in some other websites I frequent. If I find anything, I'll post back.

As a planner, I think it's a very cool idea to create a mixed use environment (under the right circumstances)... so I think you should be commended for your idea. Good luck!
 
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gkmo62u

Cyburbian
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1,046
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Let me ask this first: how would the one story structure support the increased mass. I can't imaigine it was designed structurally to support that type of retro fit?
 
Cardinal

Cardinal

Cyburbian
Messages
10,069
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34
Ah... I see. I missed the point that this is an existing building. There may be a few more difficulties, but I don't think they are as severe as all that. Most buildings will support the added load, sometimes with a little retrofitting. It is done on homes all the time, and I do know of a couple commercial buildings that have had extra floors added. The library at the UW-Madison comes to mind. It will take a good engineering analysis, though.
 
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dbhstockton

Member
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12
Points
1
I'm in new jersey. In my downtown area, developers added a residential second story to a defunct department store. I'll see if I can find pics/ architect info if you're interested.
 
Cardinal

Cardinal

Cyburbian
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10,069
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Here is one that I know about. It is not a pretty story, though.

This building began as the Union Transfer Storage building. It was about four stories tall, faced with brown brick and terra cotta. The iron sign on the front of the building was something of a landmark. Sorry, no 'before' pics. Along came a developer...

No names. Let's simply describe this guy as a two-bit hack architect/developer who thinks he is the hottest thing since Frank Lloyd Wright. Like Frank, he does have a super-inflated ego. Unlike Frank, he has very little real talent.

Anyway, the building was a warehouse for a moving and storage company until he got his hands on it. He converted it into condominiums, which is itself not a bad idea. In the process, he added several new floors. In fact, he added one more than had been permitted.

Here is the view from the lake side. Note the breathtaking architecture (sarcasm). This is just a few hundred feet from Wright's Monona Terrace, which offers a really nice comparison of the relative talent of the two architects.
 
Cardinal

Cardinal

Cyburbian
Messages
10,069
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34
Here is the view from the street. Remeber, this had been brown brick and terra cotta. Of course, the terra cotta has been preserved and incorporated into the new facade as requested. It is right there... looking... oh. I guess it 'broke' when it was being so carefully removed from the original facade. But the sign has been preserved and can be seen... where? Lost, you say? Hmmm....

Plain, uninspired, ordinary, bland, insipid, unimaginitive. These are certainly not words to be used when describing this beauty.


(On a positive note, I am told there is a good example in Wausau, WI. I believe the building was owned by Wausau Insurance. I will see if I can find anything on it.)
 
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Joshua

Member
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23
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Housing on top of shopping malls

For a long time Iv've been thinking that putting rental housing for low-income households (especially seniors) on top of shopping malls would be an interesting way to help provide affordable housing. I am not sure whether the original posting referred to adding housing above existing retail or to integrating housing with the construction of a shopping center.

Does anyone know of examples of integrating housing with a mall? It seems to me that it would be a win-win situation to allow a developer to build the shopping mall to allowed FAR, and allow the addition of
as much housing above as developer wanted. As long as realistic parking requirements were met. (e.g. if the mall is a large one, chances are it will have transit service, so low-income households could be expected to have less than one car per dwelling). Seniors would especially appreciate the access to supermarket and to controlled-envt social stimulation -- might reduce isolation. It might work with other low-income groups. I call this "Housing For All At the Mall."

Any examples and caveats would be appreciated.
 
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