Posted June 28, 200717 yr Interesting concept. Could it work in Cleveland? From the St. Clair-Superior Blog ... Buy a Box In the St. Clair Superior neighborhood there is a vacant lot ready for development. A new concept recently emerged through thought leadership by a few great people, including Keith and David at PURE (http://www.progressiveurban.com/). Build boxes. Simple, square boxes. Clean, edgy, customizable, inexpensive, industrial-vibe, Dwell Magazine-esque, and again - inexpensive. It is new construction, with new plumbing, new windows, new electrical, but you would get that old Cleveland warehouse feel. What if you could buy a basic box for $100,000? Two years later, you could bi-sect your space vertically by adding a second floor and stairs, or by adding walls for bedrooms. I described the vision to one guy last night & he said “you had me at Dwell-o”. He is on our potential buyer list. Would you buy a box? Contact Jamie at St. Clair Superior Development Corporation - http://www.stclairsuperior.org/ http://stclairsuperior.blogspot.com/
June 28, 200717 yr My guess is they mean something along the lines of this prefab "box" that showed up in Dwell. See some other cool ones that ReadyMade promoted (http://www.modulardwellings.com/flash_content.html), as well as the DIY box that ReadyMade says you can build for $1,500 (http://readymademag.com/feature_10_shack.php).
June 28, 200717 yr I think that if adapted for an urban lot that is a wonderful idea. I actually have been considering something like this as an approach to community development for some time. I also think that "tiny homes", which are 1-2 room prefab cottages should be investigated to see if they would make a good starter home for singles/couples if several were plopped onto 2-3 residential lots with small personal gardens cut out of the larger lot. It would be like an alternative to entry level apt or condos for areas where traditional high-density, urban housing might not be appropo.
June 28, 200717 yr pretty cool idea. looks like somekind of starter home version of japanese capsule hotels. it also looks like they could pretty easily be put up and then taken down when the need/push for density caught up with their lots. then they could be moved to some other vacant lot fairly easily. it would be interesting to line some empty streetscape blocks with those for awhile.
June 29, 200717 yr this could be a great project in a Cleveland neighborhood like SCS... though, with slightly less glass... And like MrNYC said, they could be somewhat portable. The owner wants to move to a new block, but keep their home, they can do it! With all the Cleveland Land Bank parcels out there (especially on the East Side), these two programs could work together. Like a less suburban/more progressive CitiRama!
June 29, 200717 yr Yeah, from what I've heard, the structures would be a little more substantial than the one pictured above, to accommodate Cleveland winters. But the idea's the same: simple living spaces, with a minimalist aesthetic, at a low price-point. I've been told that they're working to develop initial basic schematics and then will be putting together a small group to guide the project. And while I've received no confirmation of this (total speculation on my part), I am inclined to believe that the "vacant lot ready for development" is the site of the ill-fated Florian Townhomes: a decent-sized lot that was initially supposed to be home to 24 feng shui-oriented housing units, set between E. 45th and E. 47th and between St. Clair and Superior.
June 29, 200717 yr My understanding is that it did. It was a Cleveland Housing Network project, and I believe they have pulled back on many of their newer projects, as they work to clear the surplus of units they already have on the market. To be honest, I think this project would be of greater significance for that site; while Florian was designed with feng shui principles in mind, the exteriors of the units themselves looked like fairly bland townhomes, in my opinion. Meanwhile, these units would be a product that's pretty unique for our region.
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