All Forum Posts by: David Edwards

@Senthil Velu It sounds like you are in the early feasibility stages of your project. I'm currently reaching out to some contacts to find another surveyor for that area and will report back here soon. Without knowing much about your site access it seems like you should have plenty of space to short subdivide your lot. There are a number of other factors to consider to determine the number of lots to target during the process but (again without a ton of info) you seem to be starting out from a place that will afford you some flexibility. Shoot me a DM if you'd like to discuss the process /project further. 

Hey Alexander, 

Not sure if there are any specific local adjustments to the code in your area but I imagine your local architect is concerned about the minimum ceiling height laid out in the IRC (International Residential Code) which is 7'-0" in habitable space with the exception of bathrooms and laundry rooms that are allowed to have ceilings as low as 6'-8" (there's a couple exceptions where you can go a little lower but these do not appear applicable to this project). 

Depending on the structure of the roof and your budget you could look at raised pavers in the area with more clearance but you will likely be required to beef up the structure and roofing for the existing roof and the chance of getting much area out there that is useable sounds low. Additionally, if you aren't maxed out on lot coverage you could look into building the deck in the area not under the existing deck. 

Hope that helps,

@Lesley Ray Had a project in the works in January and the contractor partner I was working with dropped off the face of the earth. I spoke with Cady at WC a while back and it was an enlightening discussion on their relative successes and failures on the first few projects. 

Since then I've taken some development courses at the UW and have gotten involved in the local chapter of ULI. Both of these experiences have provided valuable networking and information for the institutional scale project, but have been largely surface level as far as getting in the weeds on smaller projects. 

While we as architects play an important role in the development process and can have our fees considered as part of the down payment, making the numbers work has been a large issue on my end. Our fees are typically a pretty small percentage of the overall project cost so the sweat equity we can put into projects is only tipping the scale by 5% or so. By partnering with a contractor I thought I had solved the construction cost issue but once they backed out I was essentially back at square 1 where the only sites I was finding were not penciling. The companies working on small infill projects in the area generally have more robust teams and systems in place and my wife and I just aren't able or perhaps willing to invest the same amount of time when we're also juggling architectural and consulting projects. WC Studio is something else entirely and are regularly doing great work, we're intending to connect with them again in the near future to see if we can get a better understanding of how they make things work.

To compound the issue I've even got an investor lined up, but if the returns are going to be in the 5-8% range and we as developers are going to make about as much as we would on a medium sized architectural project it makes even less sense. 

I'd like to think we will get back to this but for the next couple months I'll be focusing on putting out the immediate fires while trying to fill in the knowledge gaps that remain. 

@Levi Ramirez It's great to see that you are thinking about the impact of your building on both the environment as well as the tenants. A couple things to keep in mind to make the project a little more feasible.

Do construction companies in the area have experience with ICF construction, It seems pretty popular in the south and SW but if its new to the builder you will pay a premium. Have you considered other similarly efficient methods of construction such as double stud, exterior insulation, larsen truss walls? Concrete has a pretty big environmental footprint so reducing it to uses that only it can accomplish is something to keep in mind.

Do you need to hit net zero for the project to be successful? The ability to get the amount of power out of solar arrays for complete energy independence is far more attainable than it was even 5 years ago but it can still be a challenge based on building orientation and the size of the array you can fit on the roof. Getting close to zero is a huge step in the right direction and may be more economically feasible.

Personally I'd just submeter the building and avoid the headache of managing and trying to justify energy costs to tenants, that said some way of quantifying their savings and reaping the benefits does make sense. Maybe you provide them with an opportunity to receive credits from energy savings and find a way to translate that into increased rents?

As far as the reuse of plans, it works differently for all architects but just be upfront about your intent and they can work with you to develop some sort of licensing agreement. In theory, you will need to site the future buildings as well and go through the permit process so maybe they handle that part on the future buildings and only charge a small fee for the design license making the following projects more affordable. Big picture, the architect fees are not the expensive part of the building process but I get that every bit counts when trying to make things work. 

Shoot me a DM if you want to get in the weeds on any of this.

@Ryan Cleary Its highly market dependent but as @Brian Garrett mentioned will adjust based on certain finish and efficiency choices made in the design. My market is about $250-300 as a starting point for construction. As with most things there's usually a way to get square footage for less but just like produce that's been marked down because its about to spoil, you'll want to consider why things are below market rates. 

Lumber prices are especially high at this point due, in part, to consumers competing with commercial demand so I'd imagine that's factoring into the numbers but in general prices tend to go up or at best flatten for a time period.

@Jonathan Feliciano Something to look into as an option is if your jurisdiction allows accessory dwelling units or ADU's in your zone. If so, this is a popular way to add a unit without having to convert a SFR to a duplex.

I don't know your area but look to see if the work you are doing will require a professional stamp. If so, that usually requires an architect or an engineer to sign off on the design. There are plenty of places where single family work doesn't have this requirement unless you are doing something structural. If you know what you want and are knowledgeable enough about the building world, you can often hire a designer or draftsperson to help you get the drawings together but as with all things you get what you pay for. 

It might be worth looking at the value of your time and the benefits of working with professionals who understand how to efficiently navigate these systems. If I remember some of the nuances of working back east correctly, expediters are a thing that come in handy, might be worth reaching out to one of them as well. 

You should also look to see if the work you are doing will even require a permit, if the work is cosmetic only and / or only impacts a low sf then you may fall outside of what they even want to see.

I'd also dig further in to the submittal requirements to confirm that you need to submit hard copies for the work, many jurisdictions have moved to an online submittal system which makes life way easier. 

tldr; no unless a professional stamp is required and you are ready to spend a lot of time learning.

@Sandra Reid good idea to keep that lenders number then. Happy hunting!

@Sandra Reid, I'd also confirm with your lender that you will only need to put 20% down, standard with the folks I've worked with for non commercial loans have been 25% for non owner occupied. 

@Austin Wingett following up on what @Connor Anderson wrote, make sure to add a 10% mgmt fee in your future projections so you don't have to fix toilets at 2 am 5 years down the road.