I've been thinking about building a low rise apartment building but I have no experience when it comes to cost, labor, and how long it would take to build from the ground up.
the idea I have for a building would have washers and dryers in the basement. it will be 2 stories above ground and there will be 12 above ground apartments all 2 bedroom 1 bathroom apartments. I'll have 3 3bedroom apartments in the basement or 2 4bedroom apartments and keep one for my self.
In every apartment there will be 3 plug outlets in each bedroom plus 1 Ethernet(internet) outlet. the living room will have 2 plug outlets and 1 Ethernet outlet as will as a TV cable outlet, I was thinking about putting TV cable outlet in the bedrooms but I think that might be too much.
For the floors I was thinking tile for the bathroom and wood cheap but not dirt cheap through out the rest of the house. for the kitchens I can get store bought cabinets as long as the counter tops are durable.
I would like to put I think it's called H-Vac heating (pushing warm air around) in the apartment building but it might be cheaper to go with oil heating.I think that's everything I don't have a blueprint design program so I don't know what square Ft the building will end up as. any information about how much a low rise apartment like this would take to build (from the ground up) would be appreciated.
PS: I like the idea of using solar power so I would like ideas on how I could add that into the building too.
PS: I live in Canada, Newfoundland
Great vision however bit broad …….
Have you got a site if not have you looked into the purchase cost of a suitable site to accomadate the GFA of 12 apartments?
Are you looking at bluiding these in Australia?
Wolfy, you may need to check out a Canadian quantity surveyor's website to get some current budget rates for construction, obviously land cost will vary with zoning etc.
The cost of energy efficient technologies is still quite high compared to conventional systems so you may need to consider whether or not you are able to achieve a premium price in the market for having included such techonologies – the additional expenditure may be wasted if the area does not appreciate 'green design concepts'. do yourself a favour and watch a few episodes of a BBC production called 'Grand Designs' – there are several energy efficient homes using various techonologies which are more likely to be accessible/appropriate to the Canadian scenario than the southern hemisphere.
to beedie: I would like to build them in Newfoundland. espically in my home town because there's more people looking for apartments than there are aviable apartments. I haven't got a suitable site but every few years the town develops areas for housing and I'm sure I could get a lot big enough for what I have in mind.
to Scott No Mates: Thanks for your input. I'm going to look up the Canadian quantity surveyor's and see what they have to say and I'll ask them about zoning laws and such. I'm not sure if newfoundland has a 'green design program" yet so I'll have to look into it and hope they do. the Grand Designs show sounds intresting, I'll have to see if I can find it. the only consern I have with solar power is in winter we don't get a whole lot of sunlight so it will only be useful mid spring to early fall.
for anyone who has experience with apartments or even housing I would like to know the diffrence between h-vac or oil heating for apartments would be, when it comes to quality/comfort and price/efficiency.
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