msrdls says:

Housing is definitely the puzzle solver. New Housing.  Not renovated housing. Look up and down Washington Avenue, and you find renovated buildings whose renovations were thrown together by developers who wanted just to make a quick buck. Exteriors were not fully tuckpointed (some were skim coated), and it’s only a matter of time before that issue will have to be addressed. I know personally of three buildings whose boards have authorized in excess of $100.000.00 (each) to re-do major areas of tuckpointing that the original developer had claimed was done during the renovation–but it wasn’t.  Demising walls (separating individual loft units) in some of the buildings were constructed to standards that don’t afford privacy to residents. They’re noisy!!! HVAC was poorly designed, largely due to the difficulty of providing individual systems to individual units in a high-rise building–but the typical heat pump/hydronic loop systems that were installed are problematic. In one building, over 40%+ of the units have failed–and the manufacturer literally turned its back on the residents. Entire roofing systems have failed–and the condo boards have no recourse!   Rooftop deck details were never really “designed”–rather the carpenter was given materials and told to build a deck. The result is that when the roof flashing eventually needs attention, the entire roof deck will have to be removed. Not cheap!  Common area lighting was thrown up without benefit of photometrics or thought given to energy efficiency. Lamp and fixture  selections, especially in parking garages (where lights burn 24/7), were driven by the cheapest fixtures available, resulting in high energy costs and higher lamp replacement costs.  Those lamps (bulbs)  used in those fixtures cost on an average of $12.00 each, and they may last 3 hours or 3 months, depending.  Flourescent strip lamps are so much more efficient!  90% of the loft garages I’ve visited don’t utilize flourescent strip fixtures, and those that do recently paid the price to have the fixtures switched out. Loft living (in old structures) is a neat idea, but this lifestyle typically appeals MOSTLY to people who are impressed by the glitz (and glamour) of it all, and they overlook the fact that the foundations need tuckpointing and waterproofing…that the caulking at the window perimeters is falling out…..that the paint and caulk used to cover up concete cracks and delaminations isn’t going to last much longer and will need to be addre$$ed real soon….that elevator maintenance contracts cost lots of money but without them a building won’t be able to afford routine service….. New housing would solve lots of these issues, provided the building is put on a maintenance schedule and religiously monitored.