The Daily Progress reports that a “proposed 101-foot-tall building at 201 Avon St. could add up to 116 condominiums and 22,000 square feet of commercial space to downtown.” The architect boasts a record of environmental advocacy and, in their words, “focuses on the full ecology of the building.” From the article:
The building would be one of the first structures in Charlottesville to be built to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design specifications through energy-efficient construction, use of recycled materials and other green building techniques.
I’ll start caring when they build something an average person can afford.
Green or not, like all condo’s in that area, they will probably start at about 500k and then go upward from there.
Others may be interested to read a recent analysis from Jim Duncan (http://www.realcentralva.com/2006/06/13/condos-in-charlalbemarle/) about the condo market in Central Virginia.
Jim Duncan always has really good real estate articles. His post notes a possible slow down in the Cville condo market (which I somehow think the high end downtown condo market will be exempted from).
And just to clarify my previous post. It’s not that I’m not interested in the subject of real estate or the Cville market, actually I am.
However it’s tough to get worked up over another “high end” downtown complex even if it uses “green technology”.
From the DP article:
Ya right! Profoundly benefit their wallet is more like it.
And then this quote is used as though that somehow makes up for the fact that they’re really just marketing “high end condos”:
The entire tone of the Daily Progress article is self congradulatory to all parties involved. It suggests that we as Charlottesvillians should all feel good about ourselves and our community because we’ve suddenly made this great stride by having environmentally responsible development occuring in our fair town. As if by approving this “Green Condo project” they’re some how “giving back to humanity” and achieving some nobler purpose. As if the fact that it’s an environmentally sensitive condo project should somehow make up for the fact that only rich people will be able to afford to live there, or that what was once an affordable working class neighborhood has just taken another step away from being affordable.
We’ve been hearing the words, “Affordable Housing” often and frequently over the last month or so and at least one city councilor was elected using that as his primary issue. I guess “affordable housing” is just lip service. Right now Habitat for Humanity is the only group I see actually trying to do something about the issue.
And don’t get me wrong, I don’t have any problem with people making obscene amounts of money. Just don’t try to sell it to me like you’re really doing the world a service. Call it what it is- another high end condo development.
In the old days a project like this meant good jobs for the community. Develop a local workforce skilled in new building techniques. Etc.
One of the things the builders mentioned at the Habitat for Humanity blitz was that those six homes being built were going to be relatively “green” — tankless water heaters, efficient housewrap, etc. That they weren’t just building homes that would wind up costing their owners extra in the long run.
Don’t start me on Habitat!
While the price points for these condos are quite high, projects such as these are the means by which green technologies will become mainstream. The trickle-down effect works – this article talks about consumers’ green demands’ impact on the tech industry. We could just be witnessing (and contributing to) a movement.
Here’s a hotlink for the story I wrote about condos. (thanks, Duane!)