January 2011 Architectural Committee Report

OUR FIRST JOB IN 2011?
UPDATING OUR CURB APPEAL

OUR AGING STREET SIDE

As a Bay Scene committee member, you sometimes have to look hard for ways to solve problems. It can take many hours for just one small success. But the fun part of the job is when you can come up with a solution that's logical, affordable and can provide genuine help to our board and our owners.  

We started back in September working on a plan to improve Bay Scene’s curb appeal. The thought was that a more attractive street side would eventually lead to higher property values. While this is true, the wide frontage of our complex presented a challenge.....that and the fact that so little has been done to update the front side of our complex in the past 30 years.  

One surprisingly useful tool was Google’s “Street View” which allowed us to examine (in amazing detail) the street sides of condo and apartment buildings all over the world. While the information overload was enormous, we did manage to narrow it down to just San Diego County. We typed in “3940 Gresham St., San Diego” and found our own street view somewhat disappointing. What we could see of the buildings looked marginally OK, but the whole picture was certainly not representative of the beautiful Bay Scene we know......the one that lies behind the massive front doors.

It's the part you see from the street that needs our attention.  We’ve done a pretty good job with the rest of our property in recent years, but we've somehow missed our street side, the part that has the greatest effect on our property values.  When it comes to showing our property to others, we have a street side versus bay side problem. 

THE SOLUTION

We can’t change everything, but it really won’t take a whole lot to make a significant difference.  There are two distinct structures we can work with.....the two features seen most often by visitors and prospective buyers because they carry our condo name and street number.  These are:   (1) our ID sign, that rough stucco “box” by the garage entrance and  (2) our portico with those two strange columns shaped like onions at the top. The drawings below [since lost] have been presented to you before,  but pictures always describe things better than words.  Instead of tearing everything down, we propose using natural slate to cover the rough stucco on the portico and ID sign while adding modern stainless steel letters in place of the painted ones.  It’s a comparatively simple way to give Bay Scene a more current look without the added expense and disruption of a major construction project.  

THE COST

Our last major fix-up of the elevators and hallways was in 2007. The cost to us at that time was $20,000  per unit. But this is a whole different ball game. We now have a bid from one of our regular contractors to complete this particular job for  $156  per unit.

We've tried to present Bay Scene with a flexible plan that can be added to later if we ever decide to redesign the entire complex. As for now, it can provide us with a "very big bang for our buck" and a potential return many times that amount. No schedule has been suggested, but we do have a contractor waiting. It's not a huge project. If the board gives their approval, it may even be possible to complete the job before any work is started on the Rec Room.

Bob Lehmann
BAY SCENE ARCHITECTURAL COMMITTEE