2 much for rent

12/10/2009 2:50:09 PM

not at all surprised that they are charging so much for rent

12/10/2009 3:00:52 PM

So I suppose the building has been saved but the community was not. It sucks...I suppose it was better than the alternative of losing everything, but it sucks. I wouldn't put the blame really on the company who did the renovations--if Mr. House had not allowed the building to fall into decrepitude through delayed maintenance and refusal to repair livability problems in the first place, then it would not have been necessary to evict everyone and start over. And really, given an empty building as a blank slate, I don't think it would have been very realistic to expect them to do the minimum to get it back in code compliance. And the rent still, in all likelihood, would have gone up.

However, this is not to say that Live Oak is free of blame. Their theft of items from other websites to use in their promotional materials is shameful. Even with some of the amenities they've put in, their rents are too high for the neighborhood in its current condition, with an abandoned bottling plant to the left, an auto repair shop to the right, and a vacant gravel lot and a huge service linens cleaning facilty just up the street within sight. Plus all the noise and congestion that will come when they start demolishing buildings and clearing land just up the block for the old Carolina Equipment/Valentine Lot/Look Out! block redevelopment. The neighborhood is starting to turn--the redevelopment of that huge swath of land between Friendly and Stanhope will be a good thing eventually, Lulu did a really nice job renovating the old Carolina Equipment offices (Yellow Bulldozer Building), and there is lots of potential for further movement. But it's not yet to the point where I think they can realistically ask $1300 for a 1200sf 2 bedroom. And it does look like they tried to put in some nice features but at the same time go the cheap route--if I'm paying $1300/month for a not overly large apartment, I'd expect better than a $10 contractor-grade light fixture in my living room and dining room.

So in many regards, the battle was lost when the residents were forced out last year. The fact that the building remains may be a tarnished victory absent its once-vibrant community, but at least the structure is still with us and we're left with more than photographs to remind us of what once was.

12/10/2009 3:36:08 PM

Just another self-proclaimed "developer" trying to make a buck with little regard for the impact that they're making on the community.

12/10/2009 8:37:48 PM

Quote :

"They've got a few ads up on craigslist: $1295 for a 2br http://raleigh.craigslist.org/apa/1500578856.html $1095 for a 2br http://raleigh.craigslist.org/apa/1500575478.html $845 for a 1br http://raleigh.craigslist.org/apa/1500570367.html The rates are absurd."

They've dropped the rates down to $1195 for a 2br, $995 for another 2br, and $745 for a 1br.

So far I've seen one unit with furniture on the patio, so it can't be filling up too fast.

2/23/2010 4:03:55 PM

hopefully its reputation as a building for poor/crazy people will persist

the rates will drop to somewhere close to what they were

and the community will re-establish itself in one way or another

2/23/2010 4:23:17 PM

A good friend of mine used to live in the top, leftmost apartment if looking at the building from Hillsborough. It was a shit hole apartment that he shared with two other guys, but in terms of college living, it wasn't so bad.

Location was good for going to to some of the bars and for getting to campus. Glad to see that they did not tear it down.




[Edited on February 23, 2010 at 4:24 PM. Reason : sd]

2/23/2010 4:24:17 PM

I've been waiting for something to go up next to Sub Conscious where they tore down the old laundry building, but that's been gone for about 5 years now.

2/23/2010 6:04:00 PM

found out today that I will not be able to move back into my house (on Gorman) and I'm considering moving into this place..but the rent seems high. I'm wondering if I wait a bit if it'll come down significantly.

3/9/2010 1:36:07 PM

why cant you move back into your house

3/9/2010 2:51:25 PM

^^ I think it probably will. They'll always have the reputation of shitty hipster apartments, and the cheapass way they renovated them won't help change that reputation.

3/9/2010 4:42:56 PM

so you're moving from a condemned house to a not-quite condemned apt complex?

3/9/2010 4:44:54 PM

<>

[Edited on March 9, 2010 at 4:47 PM. Reason : a]

3/9/2010 4:47:03 PM

Has anyone been in there since the remodel?

I just recommended it to a coworker who needs a last minute apartment for her daughter.

If she gets murdered I'm going to blame it on TWW.

8/3/2010 12:15:01 PM

that place is a shit hole and i would not want to be anywhere near that neighborhood at night alone

she is going to get murdered and it is your fault

8/3/2010 12:34:14 PM

I've lived in several neighborhoods in that area and I don't remember any MDKs.

8/3/2010 12:37:21 PM

tbf I am so paranoid that i am barely able to function normally

[Edited on August 3, 2010 at 12:40 PM. Reason : but she is still going to get murdered]

8/3/2010 12:40:22 PM

Quote :

"that place is a shit hole and i would not want to be anywhere near that neighborhood at night alone"

8/3/2010 1:26:07 PM

Quote :

"that place is a shit hole and i would not want to be anywhere near that neighborhood at night alone"

Umm ok. Other than the occasional drunken bar patron that wanders in the wrong direction or the occasional panhandler who wanders down farther than usual (OMG drunkards and bums!!!), you've really got nothing to worry about. The neighborhood it backs up to is actually pretty nice--professors, families, etc.
Sure that stretch of Hillsborough looks a little forlorn but it's really not scary.

[Edited on August 3, 2010 at 4:26 PM. Reason : c]

8/3/2010 4:26:23 PM

i thought that DDK's post was facetious

now i'm confused

oh well, white people are afraid of everything

8/3/2010 4:27:31 PM

i remember helping some friends move into a place there

holy shit those staircases are narrow

and good luck trying to move a couch up the fire escape stairs, those were hard enough just to walk up with a buzz

8/3/2010 4:28:29 PM