Condo market booming in New Orleans

Dale · July 8, 2005

well i hope the "condo boom" doesnt turn into a "condo bust"

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I don't see a bust. Maybe a slowdown.

krazeeboi · July 9, 2005

After andrew and ivan, evryone along the coast knows that buildings can be destroyed in a heartbeat, so does anyone know about how the buildings are being built to withstand a major hurricane?

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Excellent point. And although Hugo didn't ravage Florida (that I can remember), Charleston was absolutely devastated. The threat of hurricanes actually makes the height restrictions on the peninsula a plus in that regard.

csmurphy8885 · July 9, 2005

I think florida is one of those places where a condo just makes since. I grew up on 40 acres in the counrty side of tally, now a condo sounds supurb to me. It is too hot to maintain a yard. Not to mention mantainance and pest control which easily could kill a lazy afternoon. And all of the southeast has to deal with the proximity of nature... water mocosin, diamond back, and wolves are nieghbors few "city folk" would want to encounter on a daily basis. So, living in the safe condos in beautiful downtown is a perfect. Safety in numbers, so they say.

Aessotariq · July 9, 2005

After andrew and ivan, evryone along the coast knows that buildings can be destroyed in a heartbeat, so does anyone know about how the buildings are being built to withstand a major hurricane?

Nowhere in the country are building codes as strict with regard to hurricane resistance as they are in Miami-Dade County and Broward County, Florida. Every coastal county in Florida and in every state on the Gulf or south/mid-Atlantic should be using some form of the South Florida Building Code.

You're not going to find a new woodframe house being built on the beach in South Florida, for example. In fact, all single-family housing currently being built in South Florida, no matter how far inland, has concrete block exterior walls.

Very important to keeping a building intact is securing the windows and making sure the roof is securely attached to the walls. The glass that is used in the new high-rise towers along the coast in Miami are a thick laminated glass that is very impact-resistant - it can take a hit without disintegrating like regular glass (it can crack but it stays together and doesn't fall apart). In newly constructed single-family dwellings, townhouses, etc., the developer provides storm shutter panels to protect the windows and they're usually stored in the attic.

Picture this: Dade County's code was still much more stringent than the rest of Florida back when Andrew struck.... a lot of the structures that were destroyed or severely damaged either were not compliant with the code that was in place when they were originally built (i.e., they passed inspection when they shouldn't have -- I won't go into why in this discussion) or those structures were built before the stricter codes were put into effect. I can't imagine what would have happened if those structures that survived because they were up to the code then in effect had been built under the more "lax" Florida code.

NCB · July 10, 2005

im glad to hear about how everything is being built in florida, it seems florida is going to the "better safe then sorry" manner of building the many cities(including New Orleans) need to start using.

I wish the best of luck to anyone who is going to encounter Dennis

csmurphy8885 · July 10, 2005

It is a pity for all those who live in MObile Homes. There is nothing you can do to Andrew proof a trailor. There shuld be a law against having trailers in hurricane alleys. IT would be cheaper for the government to house these folks properly once than over and over agian. no one learns. (i must admit, i grew up in a trailer... but tallahassee gets missed alot... so we havent had the lesson to learn)/