Seriously, You Want Me To Live THERE?!

Currently, I'm looking for a smaller (and cheaper) apartment. At this time, I've only gone to see one in person. It was not encouraging. The ad I responded to did not have pictures and after I saw it, I totally understood why. The agent showing the place was late for my appointment so I piggy-backed on to her next one and the other girl and I were in and out of there in less than 10 minutes, all the time in shock. Gawd, at least paint the place first!

However, recently they posted pictures because presumably they must have gotten desperate. Let me show you what I witnessed.

The Description I Read:

Cute 2-Story Studio Apartment Available Now! Walkable to VCU! $600 rent includes water, sewer, and trash. Pet friendly with a one-time fee!

What I saw:

1st floor, living room w/ closet

What you see is all you get, that is the extent of the floor space. See the open door? Object in foreground is the angular staircase to the 2nd floor. Wish they had pictures of that, the individual steps were half the length they should have been, the whole thing was steep, and would have been almost impossible to walk up if sick (or drunk, since this is being marketed to college students.) The only plus was the ceiling was high, so that wall shelving system could cover a lot of space; needed because of that ONE tiny closet for your...well everything!


2nd floor, bedroom/living space

Ok, this room is a tiny bit bigger than seen in the picture, though I doubt enough for a double bed and decent walking room. It's really just a little bit over a foot to the right and in the foreground to the stair rail. Note the stylish ceiling fan.

The lovely kitchen and bathroom.

Note the width of the bathroom, it is almost exactly the width of the kitchen. I think they were trying to make the kitchen look bigger by not showing the other side. Ha!

That was the extent of the tour. Lovely, ain't it? If you've seen my apartment in any earlier posts, you know that my place is at least three times this size including two 8 foot wide by 10 foot high closets plus a small linen closet. Most important to know, my apartment was only $80 more in rent at the time. What nerve wanting $600 for that shoebox! So, this is definitely not THE one!  

West Grace Update

Remember this building, 109 East Grace Street? Well, it had been available for lease since September 2009. It has also been filling up with junk for several months, then the for lease sign was removed, and I thought that meant that a business was finally moving in but...

Look at it now:




The "lovely" very visible view inside 109A.

You would think if you repaint a building to be the #1 most noticeable property on the block you would want to also showcase it in the most aesthetically pleasing way possible, right?

I guess not.

Images: My own photographs.

Slumlords Beware!

Yeah! Something to be glad about. Richmond Slumlord Watch! 

Two years ago I took pictures of empty commercial buildings on West Grace Street near my home and submitted them to Vacant Richmond. That blog provided a place for you to search for and locate all vacant properties in the city. However, they were not able to keep on top of the current state of all the properties and their landlords/owners' involvement, so they closed down the site. 

Now I find that RSW has taken up the cause, spurred on by the already existing Baltimore Slumlord Watch. Though they may not be a comprehensive catalog of properties, they do highlight particular properties and supply the info on the owners and the property's status. I love that they are covering this issue as it is a big one for this city. Many of the city blocks near my apartment seem almost 60-70% empty. Perhaps there are tenants living in the apartments above but the businesses below are empty. We truly don't need more retail operations being built in the downtown area as there are enough empty storefronts to last a long time. In fact, even though some are questionably painted, at least they're trying.

Hmmm...much better?

Beware: My PhotoShop skills are not great.

Well, I couldn't stop myself from experimenting with the colors. I do think I make my point.

I feel the way to make this building more attractive is to paint out all of the blue on the top half of the building (since it only appears there and not below) and replacing it with the yellow from the first floor. Then I think the "sundial" detail would be more appealing if the stark black, gray, and white combination was dialed down to a more subtle 50% strength and the outline was changed from dark blue to a medium gray.

I think then the design would be more cohesive; not such a multitude of colors competing with each other. What do you think?

109 East Grace Street, Richmond, VA:

in real life

In PhotoShop

Here's where I tried my very first idea of replacing the blue with the orange outlining the "sundials".

Please forgive me. Very bad idea.

And here's the full monty:

Before IRL

After PhotoShop

So I got rid of all the blue. Didn't your heart palpitations slow down when you got to the After shots? Mine sure did.

So, Is It An Improvement?

109 East Grace Street before and after

I think this means the building is finished and ready for occupancy. So, what do you think?

Funny thing is, the building has just showed up on the Thalhimer website. Each twin retail space is 1,050 square feet. Of course, you already know how I feel about the paint job but again I have to question their choices. Since the space has been split up into two separate stores; what two retail operations (unless they were related businesses) would want to look "exactly" the same? Especially when that look is so high profile?

The building was built in 1935, which explains the Art Deco influence. What they recently added:


Shiny, reflective, stamped metal and...


attractive copper and steel sconces.*

A look inside:


(Pictures taken through the glass window)

I have to admit I really like the interiors with the skylights and the tin ceilings. I'll have to chat up the workers next time so I can go in. You see, the exterior of the building seems like two stories; much taller than the interior, so I'm curious as to what you see through the skylight. Is there really a higher floor or does the building have a false front on top of the first floor?

So, what do you think now?

* They have been on 24-hours a day since they were installed. What's up with that?

September Blog Update

Sorry, I've been so absent from this blog. However, I do have some posts and projects coming up soon:

• Some of this will be going on this weekend. I swear! I've definitely written about it enough, haven't I?
  
• An update on this building. They were working on it yesterday but I didn't have my camera at the time. Let's just say it involved huge panels of shiny silver corrugated metal. Yeah, let that sink in...
  
• I know it's been a long time, but I also have a new SHELTER study coming up for you. Again, I swear it will appear!