Villages Solars Construction Update, 10/2016

18 10 2016

Due to picture constraints with non-gallery Voice articles, the blog ends up being the photo repository for all the photos that don’t make the article [here]. There’s not too much more to add beyond the voice write-up. The project is in the midst of phase III, 18-unit Building “I” and 18-unit Building “J”. Those numbers are estimates and subject to change – Lifestyle Properties converted a couple of larger units into smaller units (hopping on the micro-apartment trend), so the final total for phase II ended up being 43 instead of 41.

Phase I had 36 units, and phase IV will be the largest single phase, 51 units in three 17-unit apartment buildings – they’re likely to start after these two wrap up next year. Around 2017, we may also see plans come forward for the second neighborhood, which would add another 130+ units to the complex.

In the meanwhile, Building “I” is framed and sheathed in housewrap, but the building has yet to be closed up. Building “J” is just starting framing of the first floor, although rather curiously there appears to be an elevated concrete wall on the south end, separate from the foundation. It doesn’t appear that slope is a factor, so what’s actually going on there is anyone’s guess. Ballparking it here, but since the 12-unit buildings cost about $2 million each, it doesn’t seem unreasonable to guess these 18-unit structures cost about $3 million each. The buildings are 15,000-20,000 SF.

Rather unusually, local architect Larry Fabbroni partnered with a Salt Lake City, Utah firm to help design the buildings. That firm, Process Studio PLLC, notes that the community center and retail stores (Phase 2A, mixed-use building “F”) will follow in later phases, and that the Lucentes are looking to extend bus routes to a new transit stop to be located within the apartment complex. Here’s a description of the design overview from Process Studio’s website:

“Each building is designed as a series of standard modules containing two units per floor on three floors. The modules are then shifted off of one another and manipulated to create interest and variation. Stair towers become the feature elements for each module, connecting the floors both physically and visually.”