Comments on: Development profile: LIC’s condo scene goes green with the Solarium Condos

By: Window

Window — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 06:06:23 +0000

Очень интересный дизайн но моглибы и лучше.

By: Nicole Casey

Nicole Casey — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 01:52:57 +0000

Nice blog.. :) Thank you for sharing this informative content :)
I hope to see more content like this. Keep on posting!
Great job! Keep it up! :)

If you have time you can visit this site that i managed to surf in:
Solariums

By: Grand Cafe

Grand Cafe — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 14:37:13 +0000

Красивый дизайн не все что можно предложить человеку или покупателю. Надо еще учитывать и индивидуальные взгляды покупателя

By: Door

Door — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 14:34:15 +0000

Скорее всего это солнечная сторона и они много тепла дают в солнечную погоду. А так отопление надо делать в полу, так эффективней.

By: solarium

solarium — Wed, 12 May 2010 10:59:00 +0000

The idea is great. I only wander, what about the heating system?
If the window, is too big. How are they going to heat the apartment during the winter?

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 14:11:28 +0000

How many mins you takes shower is not my biz. But how about \hot exciting moment\ in the shower then run out of hot water?

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 23:19:35 +0000

Agree with 54, 53 needs to hire an architect and build his own home.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 02:23:43 +0000

To the developer:
I think it is a great idea to make a green building. For me, the low maintenance costs, energy star appliances and thermal windows are great selling points. However, here are things that you may want to consider:
- Water heaters in apt: I think most people agree that it is not ideal to have an ugly water heater in the units taking up space that could have been extra closets space. It also makes people wonder whether or not there will be enough water to take simultaneous shows while running the laundry / dishwasher, as mentioned above. Even though you mentioned the water heater should be sufficient for the apartments, it brings up that question – something that people don’t think of as an issue for other apt buildings. And since it is so ugly, maybe it’s just better not to have these individual water heaters in the apartments.
- Electric Stove: I’m not sure why you say electric saves more money than gas. I have never heard that electricity is cheaper than gas. Also, most people dislike cooking with electric stoves. For people who don’t cook much, an electric flat top might be convenient, but people who cook don’t like electric stoves. Gas is much much preferred. And if you don’t have a gas line behind the stove, this is probably a deal killer for many people.
- Electric heater: how is this cheaper to operate than a gas heater? I have never heard anything that supports electric heating as being the cheaper alternative for heating the same amount of space
- Showers: Such a big shower, but no tub and the glass does not enclose the shower. kind of a waste of space if you don’t make it a tub. The master bath is pretty big – I think most people would prefer a tub and a smaller shower. The huge shower seems impractical
- Lack of bathroom storage – Master bath is big, but there is no built in storage due to the pedestal sinks. and the closet in the master bath has the ugly water heater, so you can’t use that for storage. seems like a waste of space in the bathroom.
- Kitchen backsplash – the kitchen backsplash tiles seem weird because they go past the cabinets but not all the way to the end of the wall. they just seem weird

- quartz countertops – i know they are sturdier than granite or marble, but the white quartz just doesn’t seem very attractive to me. maybe another color/pattern that looks more like granite?
- bamboo floors – do people really like these? i personally find them unattractive. bamboo planks have these little black specks at the end of every plank. may just be a preference thing, but i’d rather they imitated hardwood better
-bathroom fixtures: they look really dull and rusty for some reason. don’t know if it is because they are eco-friendly, but they are unattractive.
-gym/children’s playroom – the gym is a good size. most guys i know like having a bench press and free weights in addition to all-in-one machines. kinda weird to have the playroom inside the gym. I for one would not like to hear screaming kids while I workout and would not like having kids accidentally run out of the playroom and into the gym.

These are my thoughts, if you hear similar feedback, that might be something to think about for the next development. The electric stove, water heater and waste of space weird showers are deal killers for me.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 03:28:05 +0000

To #50, check out the chart at the bottom of this webpage, and pay attention to the “Electric” water heater column:

http://www.bgehome.com/baltimore_gas_water_heaters_electric_hot_water_heaters_installation_replacement_maryland_md.php?section=whatToLookFor

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 23:50:01 +0000

I’ve been reading all the comments regarding my building, Solarium. Yes, I’m the developer of this building. By the way, I like to thank LIQCity for doing a piece on us.

Most of the people in the area know of me since i’ve been living and developing in LIC, for around 15 years. We have been developing buildings in LIC way before the rezoning was passed. Our goal was to help improve the area where my wife and I live. I came on here to address some misconceptions people might have of my building, Solarium.

To #49, I’m sorry you didn’t find out building to your liking due to our hot water heaters. It’s tough to design and build a building to everyones liking. The hot water heaters in our building are more than enough to handle a 2bath / 1kitchen / 1laundry. We have these things researched and approved by the NYC Building Dept. (Plumbing Division), building’s engineer, and National Home Asso. for Builders. These things are not something we pull out of the air. They are actually used in other projects that give us the facts. I just wanted to clear things up on that matter. Again, sorry my building wasn’t for you, but maybe the next one I’m working on will be.

The National Home Assoc. is working with us on making a better/greener building for our community& buyers. The tests they have run in our building has us rated 20%-25% more efficent than most buildings in NYC. We are actually proud that we’re able to pass this on to you. One of our other buildings, Prestige, which some of you might know, is all electric just like Solarium. Our buyers ConEd bills are between $150-$200 a month. My bills at where I live is $450. This is due to the fact that i have gas & electric. This one main reason is why I switched my other buildings to electric. My buyers at Prestige are very happy with the system, which makes me happy that I’ve done well. It’s all about saving cost down the line.

When we design our buildings we like to ask our previous buyers what is it that you like or hate about our building. We take that info and apply it to our next development project. Now, it’s tough to try and please everyone out there, but we do our best. One of my points are always take a unit in each of my buildings. This allows me to stay close with my buyers. They get to know me and ask questions on upgrading their units or expanding on them. It keeps it personnal.

If there are any questions you might have, feel free to ask.

Thanks

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 21:17:35 +0000

I have a 40 gallon tank and it has never run out of hot water. You do not do the laundry, shower (twice), use the sinks etc.. all at the same instant of time. Hot water tanks are designed to recover quickly. Otherwise homes with 5 person family would need a 100 gallon tank to support your story.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 01:00:28 +0000

Thought I’d chime in. A properly heated 10-minute shower uses 20 gallons of HOT water, in ADDITION to cold water on top of that. If you include cold water, the average 10-minute shower probably uses 30-40 gallons of water (hot and cold) total. Just google “average hot water shower” or check out “http://www.smarthotwater.com/howmuchuse.htm”. If you want to talk about Al Gore, he’d be furious that Solarium was using electricity to heat the water and the stoves because heating things by electricity is less efficient than heating things by gas, so in the end, you’re making a bigger carbon foot print on the environment since our electricity comes from burning gas, oil, or coal in some plant miles away. I have to think that #48 is related to the developer because there’s no way a family of five could function on a 40-gallon hot water tank.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 15:45:38 +0000

I agree with #47, I have a family of 5 (2 teenage girls!) and a 40 gallon tank and 3 bathrooms (plus laundry that the woman in #46 could never match). I never had hot water problems. You don’t use 100% hot water from a tank for every shower. It is mixed with cold water. If you don’t understand that, you need to educate yourself. Ask any plumber.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 13:28:28 +0000

10 minute showers! So much for conserving energy? I guess people talk about “going green” but “god forbid” I have to give up my “10 min shower”. (The average shower lasts less than 4 mins) Solarium probably has flow restrictors on the shower heads, so your 20 gallons of water calculation is well off. Call Al Gore and tell him the earth is doomed.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 01:09:53 +0000

I visited Solarium and decided it wasn’t for me when I saw the tiny electric 30 gallon water tank in all the units (including two bedrooms!). A 10-minute shower takes 20 gallons of hot water. That means if my boyfriend and I take 10 minute showers, we’ve used up all the hot water in the apartment. Forget about having overnight guests over, and forget about doing laundry and taking a shower at the same time.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 13:31:19 +0000

Hey George, you are obviously a person with simple ambitions in life. Lifetime renter, which is ok. Don’t comment then on people trying to better their future by buying and owning a home. Your landlord will one day sell, give his home to a relative or just die. When that happens you will not have such a good deal. That scenario is more likely than NYC (this is not FL,NV,AZ etc..) losing real estate values like you mentioned. It has not happened yet, so why later?
There are people who make things happen and those who wait and have things happen to them. You are the later. Nothing wrong with that, but get off of the real estate condo blog.

By: george

george — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 06:57:04 +0000

I drove by Hunters point and L haus tonight around 8pm over the pulaski brigde…

Does anyone live there…geez it looked like 90% of both were EMPTY…..

So much for the people want to LIVE THERE joke.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 22:52:41 +0000

OHP is 70% sold and just got FHA approval( so as Hunters View), so it’s only requires 3.5% down and it will attract a lots people. Solarium is nice, but if you have to wait for 70% sold to get your mortgage, you have a long time to go.

By: george

george — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 20:36:18 +0000

YES and I will still be happy not to own…

The Tax deductions are mostly a LIE….most people do not pay enough in interest and RE taxes to Itemize deduction….

So you WANT high interest rates which will be far more then the standard deduction and then the tax breaks kick in….

But then High Interest rates means LOW home prices….

Do the math

——————————————
When rates go up , anyone who thinks like you will remain in the same position you are today.

By: george

george — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 20:12:57 +0000

#39

You are right, but now what happens if that $500K apartment drops to $400K or less and you are still stuck with paying $3000 a month when the only renters with decent credit left after this debacle…offers you $2500…..

And Yes i need mental care for finding a retired landlord with a paid off house 2 bedrooms for $1250 in LIC…. plus I can park in the driveway and never get an alt side ticket.

Yes I really need to see a shrink so i can squander my money on a $3000 apartment.

PS when that abatement ends and they have to pay FULL re taxes what do you think is going to happen to the price?????? down down down Its the total cost per month to live there and when that goes UP, the amount of new buyers/ renters goes DOWN

———————————-
George, you have to live somewhere

By: Anonymous coward

Anonymous coward — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 17:20:14 +0000

Prices have skyrocketed 40% way past reasonable expectation over the past 5 or 8 years. Everything is crazy ridiculous overpriced. If prices drop 10%, its still 30% too much. It is still 5 times as expensive to live anywhere else if it were 500 psf. To buy in the solarium, you could just pay the same to live on the french rivera, on the beach, in a bigger apartment. Its idiotic. end of argument. (I hate nyc real estate)

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 05:15:14 +0000

George, you have to live somewhere. Orange groves, apple vineyards ….. You need more than an economic lesson, you need some mental health care. You have issues with the modern world. Go live in an uninhabitated island and you won’t have to worry about real estate being over built. I pay $3000. /mo for a 2 bedroom in L.I.C. ( I have a room mate) . A $500K loan at 6% interest over a 30 year term is less than what I pay in rent! One of the condo buildings (talked about in this blog) has a very low maint. and tax abatement . I can own for a little more than what I am paying in rent. In case of an emergency ,I can rent that out and pay my mortgage and still have a home to live in.(That is not SPECULATION)
That is making good $ense. When rates go up , anyone who thinks like you will remain in the same position you are today.

By: george

george — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 02:16:25 +0000

YES they should teach that at Harvard business schools….they are a Failure

Get this once and for all….. Investment means cash flow POSITIVE
a Speculation means cash flow NEGATIVE.

The right price for housing is when you can rent it out in an emergency and at least break even let alone make $100-200 amonth

By using that standard all these condos in LIC are still 40-50% overpriced…maybe $250 a sq foot will be the right price

If you want to throw your money away on a mortgage that’s fine with me…. I prefer to use a calculator, and not listen to high school dropout real estate agents

You didn’t know that….you don’t even need a HS diploma to be an agent or broker…

And NO buying land will cost LESS it was the cheap interest that made land more expensive.

Plus the Biggest Fallacy was they are not making more land

Just what was this bubble about ???????? making more land by cutting down orange groves apple vineyards, wooded areas, destroy production in order to clear more land for McMansions….

Its all been a great big lie….and they never taught that at Harvard did they??
—————————-
. If I get your logic high interst rate = low sales cost(lower real estate prices). Maybe you should teach that at Harvard business school

By: 37

37 — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 17:21:48 +0000

George, your view is off point. The tax abatements spurs building and development of properties and areas that otherwise would not be built, because of high development costs.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 16:47:31 +0000

I was excited to see Solarium come up, though I am happy with renting I would like to see a building other than the View where I would consider buying. But then looking at the floorplans, it looks like (at least in the two bedrooms) there are no bathtubs. And maybe it’s just me but that’s a huge dealbreaker. Their kitchens are nice though, which is usually the weakest point in most of the other condos.