We didn't try to quantify a green premium on the sales side. We have tracked the green premium on the costs side --will have to blog about it.

Nobody has good data on a green cost premium for residential condos (that I've seen). There are a few studies about green office rent premiums. But we've heard a lot of anecdotal evidence that if buyers are looking at two comparable properties and one is green, then they'll lean green. We're not sure that people will pay more for green yet.

We hope that the project will appeal to green-seeking buyers as well as to buyers who are looking for a home or investment and like the project for other reasons.

Posted by: Alison at September 18, 2009 6:46 PM in response to Inside Third & Bond: Week 101

As for the 2nd bath in the 1-bedroom duplexes, here was our thought process: you want a toilet on the main floor so guests aren't going through your bedroom during the Super Bowl party. You want a toilet next to your bedroom so you don't have to go downstairs in the middle of the night. Makes sense to have the shower up there too, since that's where you're getting dressed.

So, sure the bathroom downstairs could have been a half bath -- but why? It doesn't cost much to add a shower and otherwise the space will end up limited to a closet. (Can't really be living space given the need to create a square room that holds the half bath and washer/dryer.) Why not have a second shower that couch-surfing guests can enjoy separately from your private upstairs shower? If you really need that space for a closet, go ahead and pile your stuff in there. No condo book rule against it.

Posted by: Alison at September 18, 2009 2:16 PM in response to Inside Third & Bond: Week 101

Interesting comments, guys. A couple of thoughts:

We think quality of work and finishes plays a role in pricing, as well as square footage.

Don't worry antidope, our construction loan has a healthy interest reserve.

This project is expected to be LEED-Gold (the second highest rating in an internationally known standard) AND Energy Star-rated -- a tough energy efficiency standard that covers the entire building, not just appliances. Them's the facts, not hype. And if you want to hang your clothes to dry, feel free to string up a wire across your loft-like living room. ;)

Posted by: Alison at September 18, 2009 2:09 PM in response to Inside Third & Bond: Week 101

yes, and we're taking names for the first showings via the www.thirdandbond.com website.

Posted by: Alison at September 10, 2009 12:15 PM in response to Inside Third & Bond: Week 100

Thanks, Petebklyn.

Dancingclown: The floors themselves come from Smith Flooring. Our installer procured them. His company is Ctender.

Posted by: Alison at September 3, 2009 3:21 PM in response to Inside Third & Bond: Week 99

Bedstuy: No stain. We're letting the white oak gleam white.

aabklyn: nah.

brooklyngreene: The Sika "silly putty" is low VOC -- it passes LEED's standard of 100 g/L. Honestly, I'm not sure about the foam layer and couldn't find info on it within the spec. You can use the system on wood flooring, plywood subfloors, concrete, etc. Most commonly it is used on cement and gypsum based slabs.

Posted by: Alison at August 28, 2009 3:00 PM in response to Inside Third & Bond: Week 98

Like the suggestion, Mr. Joist. The full website shows static images of the renderings, each one getting its own page. But we'll think about your idea for the interim.

Posted by: Alison at August 13, 2009 3:07 PM in response to Inside Third & Bond: Week 96

Verizon is working on bringing FiOS to Carroll Gardens. They tell us that it will be available starting this autumn. In fact, we are providing the pathway via our backyards to get to our neighbors on 2nd Pl.

The cream tubes you see in the photo are empty for now. It's designed so Verizon can come later and just yank the fibers through.

Posted by: Alison at August 6, 2009 3:42 PM in response to Inside Third & Bond: Week 95

heck,

if you had to pick a logo from the first 8 which would you choose? is there a project that has a logo you consider to be top notch?

Posted by: Alison at July 31, 2009 5:48 PM in response to Inside Third & Bond: Week 94

Welcome to weekly blogging on Brownstoner!

Looking forward to watching your project unfold.

(Alison from Third + Bond)

Posted by: Alison at July 31, 2009 5:27 PM in response to Greenlight Bookstore Renovation Blog: Week 1

As part of the old Urban Renewal plan, HPD has designated developers to build affordable housing on vacant land that probably once held bungalows. I just finished a group of 1 and 2-family homes priced $310,310-$426,163 near to the Beach 36th St A-train stop. (Go to http://www.hudsoninc.com/homes4sale/oceanview/index.htm for more details.)

There are definitely people who want to live out there year-round as well as seasonally. Personally, I think a resurgence of summer bungalows would be great. Probably be more a labor of love than a money maker though.

FYI, no high speed rail planned, but there are plans for a ferry (around Beach 85th) to lower Manhattan that would take 45 minutes.

-Alison from Third + Bond blog

Posted by: Alison at June 19, 2009 3:06 PM in response to The Last of the Bungalows

cmu -- are you out there?

My bad, I forgot to include you in the "email us to claim the tour you won during the design phase" request.

cmu, please email us at info@hudsoninc.com!

(unless you are afraid of The What)

Posted by: Alison at June 18, 2009 12:57 PM in response to Inside Third & Bond: Week 88

We are using rigid insulation beneath the cellar slab and outside the foundation walls under grade and Roxul on the exterior of the building above grade. The Roxul is going up in conjunction with the final facade material so most of it isn't up yet. We've just started masonry this week.

Week 81 was all about insulation!

Posted by: Alison at June 4, 2009 5:03 PM in response to Inside Third & Bond: Week 86

Heather & Dalton,

The early weeks have a lot of what you are looking for, for example in Week 6 and 8 we posted draft floor plans for two different units...

Posted by: Alison at May 7, 2009 5:30 PM in response to Inside Third & Bond: Week 83

Thanks for the positive feedback, guys!

Often when David and I are out and about, we meet people who tell us that they love to read the postings -- but never comment. So we had a sense readers like that are out there -- how many we don't know. Some people have even asked us when the Third + Bond blog book is coming out!

We plan to offer some of our most avid readers a personal tour of the construction site this summer -- look out for details in a future posting. (Benson -- we'll save you the Super's hard hat to wear!)

Posted by: Alison at April 30, 2009 4:29 PM in response to Inside Third & Bond: Week 82

The EPA is limiting the boundaries of the proposed Superfund to the waters of the canal itself -- nothing upland or even close to including Third + Bond.

That being said, we hope that the Gowanus doesn’t become a Superfund site – we’d rather see the City continue to work toward cleaning it up. Becoming a Superfund doesn’t change the level of contamination or provide additional funds to get the clean up done. All it does is add another level of bureaucracy – and federal government bureaucracy at that.

What we don’t get is why the EPA is suddenly stepping in when the City was finally making real progress?

Posted by: Alison at April 16, 2009 4:55 PM in response to Inside Third & Bond: Week 80

Ha ha!

It took 13 years to build the Brooklyn Bridge!
And 13 years prior to that to get the Legislature to approve it and the engineers to design it. So 26 years in total.

Seriously though, how long do you think it should take to acquire, design, permit, demolish and construct? I'd be curious to hear your best guesses! (Remember the blog postings started long before construction commenced.)

Posted by: Alison at March 12, 2009 3:21 PM in response to Inside Third & Bond: Week 75

Benson,
It's not so much that we think a more expensive staircase will itself fetch a higher price as it is that people have to like the overall look of the building. Since we don't have formal lobbies, the entries and stairs can be thought of as informal stand-ins. And I do think that if the staircases and entry were really lousy-looking that some buyers might turn up their noses. It's not like buyers won't have other options!

Posted by: Alison at January 22, 2009 3:20 PM in response to Inside Third & Bond: Week 68

Yes...from Week 63:
"Another design intervention is the use of ejector pumps, the formwork for the ejector pits can be seen coming together in the picture below. The purpose of the ejector pumps is to pump out any water that gets too close to the foundation. We absolutely will not put up with damp living spaces and are willing to pay more now even if it turns out later that the ejectors are never activated."

Posted by: Alison at January 9, 2009 10:46 AM in response to Inside Third & Bond: Week 66

Right on, johnife!

The substructure cost figure I included above is for foundations, excavation, piles, underpinning, waterproofing -- everything -- and it is spread over the GSF which in our case isn't even 5 full stories. You are also right that we have a true cellar (which I'm counting Ethan) that has living space including bedrooms. (And yes, all of this cellar space is counted properly in terms of our FAR -- no tricks.)

Posted by: Alison at November 13, 2008 4:51 PM in response to Inside Third & Bond: Week 62

Our photographer was Roy Gumpel -- meant to get his last name in there. That's Gumpel, G-u-m-p-e-l.

Posted by: Alison at October 30, 2008 2:36 PM in response to Inside Third & Bond: Week 60

You ARE a champ, Biff Champion!

Rob, might I also suggest a few of the weeks to help bring you up to speed:

See the plan for the exterior.
http://www.brownstoner.com/brownstoner/archives/2007/10/inside_third_bo_9.php

See the floor plan for one of our units.
http://www.brownstoner.com/brownstoner/archives/2007/09/inside_third_bo_4.php

See the proposed logos and comments from readers.
http://www.brownstoner.com/brownstoner/archives/2008/08/inside_third_bo_42.php

Hear about our plans to be LEED and Energy Star.
http://www.brownstoner.com/brownstoner/archives/2008/01/inside_third_bo_14.php

Posted by: Alison at October 16, 2008 2:34 PM in response to Inside Third & Bond: Week 58

Guestula: I posed your question to Irene and she replied,
HELPED. And yes I am shouting."

I'd second her opinion. It certainly helps me to be able to check up on permits on BIS (DOB's website) to check permit expiration dates and status of applications, download copies of permits and objections, etc.

Posted by: Alison at October 2, 2008 12:07 PM in response to Inside Third & Bond: Week 56

Most of New York has combined sewers, which means the sanitary discharge (household flushing and draining) ends up in the same pipes as stormwater run-off (gutters). This is a big problem because when it rains really hard and the City's infrastructure gets overloaded, the excess gets dumped directly into our waterways. So, yes, raw sewage gets pumped into the rivers and canals. The pipes that dump are called Combined Sewer Overflows -- there are 494 of them in New York City.

Posted by: Alison at August 21, 2008 3:35 PM in response to rain pipe and washer drain to same place?

There is a super easy way to catch up on the last 48 weeks:

Scroll up to the top of the page. See right below the photo header that says, "Brownstoner" there are a couple of pull down menus. One of them says, "Topics." Pull down on that and select Third & Bond (alphabetical order so it's near the bottom).

This takes you to the last 8 or 9 postings. If you read the one at the bottom which is least recent (week 40), then you'll get links that go to previous ones.

Posted by: Alison at August 14, 2008 12:36 PM in response to Inside Third & Bond: Week 49

Hi Guest 7/7 11:27,

Just noticed your comment. In case you check back: yes, we do have permits to put our fence on the sidewalk. Pedestrians can cross to the opposite side of Bond and walk on that sidewalk which is entirely open. We moved the fence onto the sidewalk after procuring the permits because we needed the extra room on the site to do work along the property line--shoring and foundations.

Posted by: Alison at August 5, 2008 10:52 AM in response to Inside Third & Bond: Week 43

The building is also known as 93 Nevins or "Health House."

It's website is: http://93nevins.com/

Posted by: Alison at July 18, 2008 10:11 AM in response to "Green Building" Nevins and Pacific

Disposal rates are often calculated in the cubic yards. I'm told that clean soil disposed is around $30cy and really nasty stuff can be $300cy.

Posted by: Alison at July 10, 2008 6:37 PM in response to Inside Third & Bond: Week 44

GoCaGa...

That has a ring to it... weird, but...hmm.

Interesting that the Slope is getting in there too. I thought the Slope was too far, especially with the psychological blocker of the canal. But maybe not?

Posted by: Alison at June 26, 2008 12:33 PM in response to Inside Third & Bond: Week 43

Hi Guest 12:04,

I've been at Hudson since 2006. Before Hudson I worked in the public sector doing a mix of economic dev't and real estate dev't. I have a master's degree in planning and one in real estate development.

Posted by: Alison at May 19, 2008 6:31 PM in response to Inside Third & Bond: Week 37

Johnife and guest 12:12 - We found fberglass windows to be prohibitively expensive. Also, I don't think Pella makes fiberglass casement windows which are what we need.

5:12 - Thanks for the suggestion. We've looked at Crystal windows for other projects and I think they were priced for this job as well.

Posted by: Alison at May 9, 2008 12:18 PM in response to Inside Third & Bond: Week 36

Polemicist... we weren't ever doing double-hung. Agreed that 12:41 makes good points about double-hung.

Guest 1:40 - The pros: vinyl windows would cost around 40% less than aluminum, vinyl windows would come in under budget allowing us to spend money elsewhere, vinyl windows are far more energy efficient, the vinyl windows look and feel great--many people probably wouldn't know the difference between them and the aluminum without being told.

Posted by: Alison at May 8, 2008 2:27 PM in response to Inside Third & Bond: Week 36

Guest 12:28 -- Fading at different rates is something we've been talking about too, but the installer insures us that the paint coating on both vinyl and aluminum pieces are the same.

Guest 12:41 -- The sample is a double hung but we are actually going with casement windows (and always have been).

Posted by: Alison at May 8, 2008 1:19 PM in response to Inside Third & Bond: Week 36

Michael - thanks for your comment--very informative. we heard this morning that DOB is circulating an internal memo against helicals that might be made public soon.

johnife - yes, rock is way down there and so we'd be using the H piles as friction piles. i've consulted with our in-house engineer and he noted that while H piles are often used for end-point loads that doesn't mean they can't be used as friction piles.

the contaminated soil is pretty limited and our approved remediation plan requires us to excavate 5' deep for most of lot 44 and send that dirt to a landfill. of course, we'll have an independent consultant who will determine if we need to go further down or outside of the lot. if it were deeper or to remain on site, then i think the pile type would become more of an issue as you suggested.

Polemicist & guest 1:38 -- thanks! i can just see "Third & Bond" coffee table edition...

Posted by: Alison at March 27, 2008 2:22 PM in response to Inside Third & Bond: Week 30

It sounds like you are off to a good start: you already know the things that concern you most and realize that the property owner doesn't have to take into account your design opinions...they only have to get approval from the City. The best advice I can offer is to approach them in a friendly and professional manner. You might ask them for copies of their plans -- and even ask specifically for copies of the plans that were stamped approved by DOB. I've given such copies to neighbors before. They don't have to share them with you, but there's a decent chance they wouldn't mind -- especially excavation plans if that could potentially impact your property.

You can decipher some info about projects at DOB's BIS website. I would check there for permits or on the street-side of their property (where they should be posted). The permits should give you some comfort that even if you think the addition is monolithic that it fits zoning.

You also could hire your own architect/engineer to take a look at their work via your backyard. Or call 311, which will almost certainly make them less interested in working with you but is an important option if you have safety concerns.

I'd pay special attention to trees, structures, and even fences on your property that might be close to their area of work.

Posted by: Alison at March 21, 2008 5:31 PM in response to Inside Third & Bond: Week 29

We have both approved underpinning permits and approved new building permits. The underpinning covers the underpinning of the two neighboring buildings and the sheeting for our rear yards. The new building permit covers our new foundation (and the rest of the new building). All of these permits required we submit drawings designed, signed and stamped by a licensed engineer or architect. Our expeditor files the drawings and associated paperwork at DOB and helps us work through any DOB comments (also known as objections) until DOB is satisfied and approves the drawings. For the most part, after that it is up to us to do the work. There are some items that require inspections and DOB can stop by to check things out whenever they think it's necessary. Then, at the end, they come through to do inspections and give us a certificate of occupancy. That's it in sum.

We already started with vibration monitoring the adjacent buildings during demo. We'll continue to monitor during underpinning and piles. After that, we probably won't need monitoring, but we'll see.

We have to keep the usual insurance (general, liability, etc. etc.) throughout the entire project. We also verify that every subcontractor has insurance before they do work.

Posted by: Alison at March 20, 2008 3:48 PM in response to Inside Third & Bond: Week 29

Construction loan closing scheduled for next week!

Posted by: Alison at March 20, 2008 12:39 PM in response to Inside Third & Bond: Week 29

Ha ha! Where are you sitting?

Actually, there's been no damage to his property from us. We've waterproofed the sides of his building and haven't made a big deal out of the illegal structure he has that's partially on our property. We also offered to fix up his patio for him so that it's safe but he's declined our (free) assistance. But I can let him know if you're interested in buying the place... or are you the owner in disguise?

Posted by: Alison at March 13, 2008 4:46 PM in response to Inside Third & Bond: Week 28

12:49 --
I'm told we can use pressure treated timber for permanent lagging.

Posted by: Alison at March 13, 2008 2:24 PM in response to Inside Third & Bond: Week 28

12:05 --
Thanks for the compliment & suggestion. In fact, we did do pre-construction surveys of the interiors for all of the neighboring houses (where we could get permission to do so).

12:11 --
The house is occupied by renters. DOB doesn't make occupants leave during underpinning -- there would be 1,000s of people forced out if that were true. There is underpinning happening all over the city, all of the time.

Yes, the owner of that house on Bond has suggested that we buy his building a number of times. We aren't interested in part because it isn't really worth the sales price for what we would do with it (tear it down). We've suggested to him that he should hang onto it -- bet his property value rises with our project next door.

Posted by: Alison at March 13, 2008 12:50 PM in response to Inside Third & Bond: Week 28

9:57: There were never roots across the area where you see the disturbed dirt--that used to be a concrete wall. So, no, about 1/3 of the roots were not cut off.

Our arborist looked at the tree last fall, before the work got close to it, and helped us plan to protect it.

Whether or not the tree stays depends on the extent that supporting wall can stay and whether the property owner wants the tree.

BTW, there will certainly be a net gain in trees for the site in any case since we are adding street trees that didn't exist before this project.

Posted by: Alison at February 22, 2008 1:33 PM in response to Inside Third & Bond: Week 25

We are using showerheads considered low flow: 2.5 gpm. I didn't include it in the chart here because the baseline from ASHRAE is also 2.5 gpm. Didn't really seem like a good comparison item when trying to show where we've had to change our design to beat the baseline.

Posted by: Alison at February 7, 2008 3:58 PM in response to Inside Third & Bond: Week 23

About the garbage/recycling -- we have designed enclosures for those because we agree that it can look really tacky and awful if not planned for in advance.

I don't think we've posted the plans for those yet, but we'll probably do it later when we have the landscaping design ready for show.

Posted by: Alison at January 24, 2008 6:41 PM in response to Inside Third & Bond: Week 21

Here's the link back to pictures of our model facade.

http://www.brownstoner.com/brownstoner/archives/2007/10/inside_third_bo_9.php

You can see the adjacent neighboring buildings in both the Third St facade and the Bond St facade (the blank, white building in that case).

I've talked about radiant floor heating in past comments sections. Like this one:
http://www.brownstoner.com/brownstoner/archives/2008/01/inside_third_bo_14.php#comments

Posted by: Alison at January 24, 2008 6:38 PM in response to Inside Third & Bond: Week 21

The planned height of Third & Bond is less than 42' at the street and less than 53' for the partial penthouse, which is set in the middle of the building--not on the street edge nor the rear yard edge.

Posted by: Alison at January 24, 2008 1:44 PM in response to Inside Third & Bond: Week 21

Yes, the wall framing can accept a face brick skin.

We always had drywall on the ceiling, never Kadex (which I thought was totally out of vogue).

There is no height penalty for switching systems because although the components differ in height, the overall thickness of the joist and deck is the same if we go with Signature as with our previous system.

The floor ceiling assembly will meet code, and the floor assembly is a rated construction.

Thanks for the ICF suggestion. I've heard that their R-values range from 17 to 26. Our proposed wall is about an R-22, last time I checked.

Posted by: Alison at January 18, 2008 4:16 PM in response to Inside Third & Bond: Week 20

We are recycling as much of the construction waste as possible -- which means the demo contractor is selling it to another company that reuses it. On my latest waste receipts it shows that out of 280 yards of construction waste, 100% is being recycled.

We won't be reusing it on site though.

I hear you, neighbor, about the mosquitos. I was hoping that pulling down the weeds on one of our vacant lots would help. There are some pretty jungly backyards near us though. This is definitely something to think about...thanks for the head's up!

Posted by: Alison at January 11, 2008 1:39 PM in response to Inside Third & Bond: Week 19

Nope, no solar on this project.
We are making as much roof space as possible into terraces ($$$).

PVs are still really expensive, even with the grants. Arguably, being an Energy Star building is better overall in reducing energy usage than supplementing a tiny amount of electricity with solar power. And, getting to be Energy Star is hard enough of a challenge this time around.

I've heard that 1212 MLK (Energy Star building) uses a very small fraction of energy per square foot compared to the bells-and-whistles Solaire.

Posted by: Alison at January 10, 2008 3:23 PM in response to Inside Third & Bond: Week 19

Also, there's a water tunnel easement around 400' below the site...don't know anything about the er, volcano.

Posted by: Alison at January 10, 2008 12:54 PM in response to Inside Third & Bond: Week 19

We didn't think this site would be good for geothermal, though we are open to trying it at some point, some place. There are geothermal projects in NYC, like the Historic Front St (Seaport) designed by Cook+Fox.

We talked briefly about radiant floor heating but decided it wouldn't work for us here -- a combination of expense and design. (Personally, I really like radiant heat.)

Posted by: Alison at January 10, 2008 12:53 PM in response to Inside Third & Bond: Week 19