Comments for Forbes Park Gets New Life with Sustainable Restorations at http://www.ecogeek.org , comment 1 to 2 out of 2 comments http://www.ecogeek.org Sat, 25 May 2013 20:49:17 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.3 http://www.ecogeek.org/architecture/2018#comment-17987 hi, i work for urban d&d. great article. the prices are cheaper than boston, but higher than other lofts in the neighborhood. much like prices for organic produce or hybrid cars, but being relatively new processes there aren't low-cost mass production systems yet to create these items (wind turbines, rain catchment canals, etc...). at forbes, a lot of the value lives in the energy efficiencies relieving about half the energy costs and the flexible site design to upgrade as technology progresses, restoring the 12 acres of waterfront preserve land, and the social community amenities like the canal village with commercial spaces, harbor taxi dock with greenhouse and retail, the bar and restaurant, elec cars, etc... So, given the unique natural and designed features, we feel it is a pretty great value for the money. when i joined the team here, i was just really excited that there were people who were crazy enough to even try a project like this given the lack of documented financial success. there was no model from which to draw up a plan for this project. we figured as the project evolved and by the time it was done, new technologies would be available to increase efficiencies, so we tried to build for the upgrades. but, for now, i think it's a great step forward for sustainable urban design. and websites like this, with the amount of discussions going on about it are a great sign. regarding the authors' intro: it is pretty cool to stand out on site and see the wind turbine towering next to the factory old smoke stack. it's a great picture of our transition from the old sign of progress to hopefully, a new one. - john Fri, 22 Aug 2008 10:02:11 +0100 http://www.ecogeek.org/architecture/2018#comment-17849 The cheapest unit I spotted on this list (link has a price and availability pdf on it) was 228K. That was for a 650 sq foot loft on the first floor. So, that's $350 a square foot - yep pricey! But I wonder what Boston area real estate averages per square foot these days - might be surprisingly close... Still cool to see even if you gotta rob a bank to buy one of these shoe boxes. - Josh Tue, 19 Aug 2008 12:14:12 +0100