Big Picture: Where are we?
Under contract for a new property
Corp Update
- OK, It’s been more than a minute since my last update. In September, I was busy. In October, I was busy. Here we are in November…
- I placed an offer on a property and after a bit of back-and-forth, it was accepted. The property is a vacant lot located at 4934 Harrison St, Pittsburgh, PA. It is very close to several of our properties, which is great. I’m planning on building a new building there which will be a workshop. I’ve already been consulting with a superbly talented MIT-trained architect, and he’s eager to take on the project. 🙂 Well, he first needs to recover form a minor bike crash, but then he’s ready to go.
We expect to close somewhere around Dec 10th, and then we’ll start the permitting process. Hopefully we will have permits in hand in February, and start construction in March. - At Hatfield Street, I’m busy putting in astroturf where there was a (pathetic) lawn. The neighbor’s willow tree shades the back yard, so the grass has never done well there. The synthetic turf will be the same as what we used at Orange Ave- it looks like real grass, but obviously doesn’t have to be mowed.
It’s worth commenting briefly on my strategy with this turf. We sign two year leases for all of our properties. When we’re up for renewal, we will sometimes give the tenants the option to pick a specific project to upgrade the property. As the residents, they often have a valuable perspective about what needs attention. From my vantage, getting the tenants to renew also eliminates a turnover and possible vacancy, so it’s a cost savings from my vantage, making it a true win:win.
- At Mintwood, I finished the interior trim on the front door. The first pass with the CNC yielded a piece that didn’t fit (I’d neglected to factor in the offsets correctly.). Fortunately, with a CNC job, all you have to do is adjust the parameters, buy some more wood, and BAM! off you go again. Here’s a photo of the install (before caulking). The truth is that in all other parts of the house, I would have cringed at the gaps (which are now covered by caulk). But we were pressed for time, and well, sacrifices had to be made.
Entropy Properties LLC 
Hi Doug,
Hope all is well with you.
Your latest report triggered some questions…
First, buying a vacant lot suggests an expansion from renovation projects to “from scratch” construction. I assume you’ll serve as the general contractor for this, but also take on some of the sub-projects yourself? In some ways, building from scratch should be more predictable in that there won’t be the surprises that come from renovating ≈ 100-year-old houses, but a project like this also seems like a bigger deal. What sort of house design are you considering for this project?
Secondly, you mention using synthetic turf at your Hatfield Street project there (and previously done at your Los Altos house). I’m considering replacing our backyard lawn with artificial turf. Years ago I installed a 3-zone irrigation system and then had sod laid in the yard. Once I began regular irrigation of the backyard, over time that triggered our huge redwood tree to send out surface roots, which completely upset some of the lawn plus a section of our brick patio, so eventually I had to stop irrigating completely for one of the irrigation zones.
Sounds like you’re happy with your Los Altos artificial turf. Who did you hire for this job? And what was the approximate cost/ft² ? For quality work I’ve heard the complete cost for materials and labor can be upwards of $10-&15/ft².
Dave
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Hi Dave!Yes, Iâll be acting as the GC for the project
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