UPDATED: New and Upcoming Projects. (Homewood, Brookwood: recreation, investments, training)

[RocketDawg]

Originally Posted by MinivanDriver

That doesn't excuse it. It basically looks like something a talented eighth grader would do with a pencil and a ruler.

Apparently the builders save a lot of money on construction (and apparently on architectural fees). Don't know if you've seen it, but the new development on Clinton Avenue in downtown Huntsville pretty much looks the same as these cookie cutters, except most of the buildings are a bit taller than 4 stories and also have a little more variety, perhaps more than in single-building apartments that seem to sprout up. It'll be interesting to see if they're all wood or are built with concrete and steel.

TimCity is an architect - perhaps he can chime in.

[TimCity2000]

unfortunately, i don't have any experience with multi-family or wood construction.

everything i do is healthcare related, which typically uses a concrete or steel frame.

as mentioned in the article, cost is likely the driving factor. wood stick framing is cheap. many (most?) of the apartments around here have the ground floor built out of concrete (usually a parking deck), with wood frame construction on top. cladding like EIFS (basically styrofoam) and wood or metal panels require much less to support them than brick does, which is why you don't see a ton of brick beyond the ground floor. also, flat roofs are common in most non-single-family-home buildings these days, so that probably contributes to the "blockiness" of these developments as well.

[RocketDawg]

Originally Posted by TimCity2000

unfortunately, i don't have any experience with multi-family or wood construction.

everything i do is healthcare related, which typically uses a concrete or steel frame.

as mentioned in the article, cost is likely the driving factor. wood stick framing is cheap. many (most?) of the apartments around here have the ground floor built out of concrete (usually a parking deck), with wood frame construction on top. cladding like EIFS (basically styrofoam) and wood or metal panels require much less to support them than brick does, which is why you don't see a ton of brick beyond the ground floor. also, flat roofs are common in most non-single-family-home buildings these days, so that probably contributes to the "blockiness" of these developments as well.

As you may have seen on one of your trips here, the hotel at the corner of Monroe and Clinton, across from the civic center (I think it's a Hampton) is 7 stories and it looked like the entire thing was built of metal studs. Whether they're the light-weight ones sometimes used in houses (that aren't all that strong), I don't know. I couldn't determine the load paths just by looking at the structure from driving by on the street below. Presumably the architects and builders know more than I do, but some of the structures being built these days look like they could be blown over by a puff from the Big Bad Wolf. They must be stronger than they look.

[OldBankhead]

Originally Posted by RocketDawg

That's a pretty interesting and informative article. Seems like another limitation (not mentioned in the article that I noticed when skimming) is that a stick-built structure of 2x4s would have a height limit imposed by weight of the upper floors on the lower floors. It was sort of mentioned when the author talked about the 18-story building in Oregon that was built out of engineered wood and/or regular dimensional lumber glued together. But I've always thought the fire danger was pretty serious (I remember a 4-story apartment complex under construction burned to the ground in the middle of the night some years ago) in a stick-built low- or mid-rise building.

The article mentioned a general 4-story limit for stick-built structures, but I'm pretty sure I've seen locally 5-story apartments built of wood. The vast majority are 3 or 4 stories though.

He mentioned most being 3-7 but that the 5 over 1 brick podium style being introduced in the early 90s.

[MinivanDriver]

Originally Posted by TimCity2000

unfortunately, i don't have any experience with multi-family or wood construction.

everything i do is healthcare related, which typically uses a concrete or steel frame.

as mentioned in the article, cost is likely the driving factor. wood stick framing is cheap. many (most?) of the apartments around here have the ground floor built out of concrete (usually a parking deck), with wood frame construction on top. cladding like EIFS (basically styrofoam) and wood or metal panels require much less to support them than brick does, which is why you don't see a ton of brick beyond the ground floor. also, flat roofs are common in most non-single-family-home buildings these days, so that probably contributes to the "blockiness" of these developments as well.

Yeah. It just kind of has that Soviet-era look to it.

[mcalumni01]

A Redevelopment Agreement between the City of Birmingham and Ebert Construction, LLC, under which Ebert Construction will (i) purchase approximately 2.8 acres of City-owned property known as the former “Clyde S. Kirby Middle School” located at 1328 28th Street, North, and a former National Guard Armory building situated on adjoining lots located at 2700 14th Avenue, North, and will undertake a mixed-use project to redevelop the property for residential and commercial retail uses to include 70 apartment units with 120 parking spaces and rooftop community space, 32 townhouses, each with a one-car garage, a leasing office, laundry facilities and business center to serve the residential units and approximately 7,000 square feet of commercial retail space with 55 parking spaces; and (ii) will grant to the City an easement on the property for access and parking.

[TimCity2000]

^nice. i had to look up the address. that's in norwood, not far from the Carraway redevelopment.

[mcalumni01]

Originally Posted by TimCity2000

^nice. i had to look up the address. that's in norwood, not far from the Carraway redevelopment.

Correct. 2 blocks east of Carraway.

[magiccity3]

Plans to redevelop Brookwood Mall are dead / off the table:

https://abc3340.com/news/local/plans...27d_SQIBlw_Wdg

[OldBankhead]

They should probably just give up on retail all together except for the few anchors left outside and just go in with all restaurants and maybe a hotel.