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Week of June 14, 2004

Front Page

* Harvard Report Predicts Higher Housing Production Ahead as More Households Are Formed
* Benefits of Good Planning in ‘Building Community’
* Federal Judge Yanks 'No Surprises' Certainty From Habitat Conservation Plans
* Housing Snapshot

President's Message

* You Can Help Solve the General Liability Insurance Problem

Housing and Economics

* Existing-Home Sales Headed for Yet Another Record, Economist Predicts

Business Management

* Take a Page From Big Builders: Use Customer Feedback to Build Your Business
* NAHB Members Urged to Watch the Mail for Liability Insurance Survey

Seniors Housing

* Seven Rules for Powerful Pre-Marketing to Active Adults
* New Marketing Categories Added to Seniors Housing Council Awards

Multifamily

* Upscale Lofts Put Problematic Site on the Right Side of the Tracks

Small Builders and Remodelers

* Remodelers Are Setting Up Shop in Cyberspace to Reach New Customers

Design

* Design Trends to Watch: 'Friends' Entries, More Courtyards
* Best in American Living Awards Entry Deadlines Near

Sales and Marketing

* Call for Entries for The Nationals to Open Soon

Member Dividends

* CGA Will Turn Your Associate Into a Beneficial Partner

Building Quality

* NAHB Research Center Certifies Two Builders for Commitment to Quality
* Competition Opens for EnergyValue Housing Awards

Housing Finance

* Home Buyers in Charlotte Can Boost Qualifying Income by Riding the Bus

Labor

* Job Corps Graduate Starts His Career With Help From Lowe’s and HBI

Building Products

* Merchandising Program Provides Upgrading Opportunities for Surface Materials

Building News Coast To Coast

Association News & Events

* 1976 NAHB President John Hart Dies in Indiana
* National Housing Endowment Awards Grants for Housing-Related Initiatives
* Home for Large Family Demolished and Rebuilt in the Most Extreme of ABC-TV’s ‘Extreme Makeovers’
* Six Leaders Named to California Building Industry Hall of Fame
* Sign Up for 2005 Committees and Councils by July 9
* Awards Programs Deadlines
* Calendar of Events

NBN Back Issues

 

Upscale Lofts Put Problematic Site on the Right Side of the Tracks

The need for new housing in California is so acute that sites that would be passed up elsewhere are being turned into high-end residential developments, including Markethouse Lofts in San Jose, winner of NAHB’s 2004 Pillars of the Industry award for Best Loft Community.

The developer, the Sares Regis Group, was not deterred by the site, a long narrow triangle of land in an industrial area bounded on one side by railroad tracks. The architect, Rob Steinberg, of the Steinberg Group, San Jose, took the area’s industrial vocabulary and bumped it up a few notches into the arena of high style.

Metal is the material of choice — grid-like black metal bars for balcony railings and interior stairway railings, vertical banks of windows in metal frames that evoke train tracks, even vertical metal siding on some areas. And the buildings are all angles on the outside — just like the site.


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What could have been a stark exterior is softened by strategically placed stucco, in warm earth tones: cream, terra cotta and sage. And while space for landscaping is at a premium, low shrubs and small trees in bright blue planters add color and life.

A few curves — high bow windows and an undulating pedestrian path — mark the transition from the outside to the more inviting interior courtyards. Inside, the loft units revert to the exterior’s sharp angles, but the model is warmed with earthy colors and green plants.

The 53 condominium loft units — with an average size of 1,164 square feet — sold out in 13 months for an average price of about $430,000. That may sound like a high price, but not in San Jose.


Save the Date for Next Year's Pillars Conference, April 4-6, 2005

Mark your calendars now for the 2005 Multifamily Pillars of the Industry Conference & Awards Gala, scheduled for April 4-6, at the Doral Golf Resort & Spa in Miami.
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