Why are most new apartments five story buildings? (Houston: insurance, hotel)

[snackdog]

Five-story apartment blocks are springing up around Houston like weeds. There are a dozen going up within a mile of Montose/Midtown.

Why are they all five story? Is there a building regulation for more than five which dramatically increases the price? What is so special about five?

[crone]

How high can a fire truck ladder extend in case of fire?

[marksmu]

I think its a combination of things. 1) like Crone says - ladder truck limitations, also 2) I believe 5 stories is as high as you can go and still build the structure entirely out of wood instead of steel. It has to do with passing fire code for how long the building has to remain standing before it collapses.

[Rip808]

Originally Posted by marksmu

I think its a combination of things. 1) like Crone says - ladder truck limitations, also 2) I believe 5 stories is as high as you can go and still build the structure entirely out of wood instead of steel. It has to do with passing fire code for how long the building has to remain standing before it collapses.

This.

[snackdog]

Originally Posted by crone

How high can a fire truck ladder extend in case of fire?

There are obviously higher buildings. You think the builders are getting lower insurance premiums by being ladder-accessible and it is enough of a discount to drive them to limit the building height?

[snackdog]

Originally Posted by marksmu

I think its a combination of things. 1) like Crone says - ladder truck limitations, also 2) I believe 5 stories is as high as you can go and still build the structure entirely out of wood instead of steel. It has to do with passing fire code for how long the building has to remain standing before it collapses.

Do you have a link to the code? Is it local, state, federal or international?

[LocalPlanner]

The two main reasons are: (1) the structural engineering limitations of wood-frame design and (2) trying to keep the height below the limit before the high-rise building code requirements kick in. This keeps construction costs lower than high-rise, which means your required rents are lower (meaning they'll absorb more quickly in the marketplace).

[marksmu]

Originally Posted by snackdog

Do you have a link to the code? Is it local, state, federal or international?

I don't but it was part of an engineering class I took back in college, and there has been alot of CE on the topic, especially after the collapse of the hotel in Houston that killed all those fire-fighters.

[Failed Engineer]

What is the reason that most complexes built in the last twenty years were 3 story? Just curious.

[nana053]

Interesting. In Chicago, these were called 4 + 1 s.

Chicago Building Types: Four Plus One Apartments | Moss Architecture

Four Plus One apartments are often described as exploiting a loophole in the zoning code. Its more accurate to say that they were simply a residential building type which was allowed by the Chicago code … until it was actively dis-allowed in 1971 a city council measure requiring that all developers provide one parking spot per dwelling unit in zones R4 and higher.

The original code allowed for residential buildings no higher than four floors to be constructed with masonry exterior walls and wood interior framing in Zones R-5 and above. Many individual residential buildings and courtyard apartments had elevated basements (allowing a little air and light into the lower space and bringing first floor windows above eye-level from the street) and the Four Plus One apartments used that concept, to categorize their lobby and parking level as “basement.”