(06-02-2021, 05:13 PM)tomh009 Wrote:(06-02-2021, 03:56 PM)ijmorlan Wrote: Wait, is that really true? A 4 story apartment building with 8 apartments (2 on the “basement” level, a half story below grade) has to have the apartments accessible? If true that is appalling. Not every apartment in the city needs to be accessible.
You can build a large 3-storey apartment building without elevators, though. An elevator for a four- or five-storey building might cost something like $50K so the impact is significant in a small building, but in a 20-unit building (five units x four floors) you might only be adding a few thousand per unit, assuming you install only one.
You do still need 15% accessible units, but the cost of an accessible unit is not really significantly higher.
You can't build 'large' -- if it's more than 600SM, you need an elevator. I believe that 600SM INCLUDES common areas and hallways, etc. You'd be looking at 10 very small unit apartment max before you need to consider an elevator.
Can't tell you exactly the cost of an elevator off hand, but my friend does work for Delta and installs elevators for a living. They're closer to $100K just for a very basic elevator (2 floors + extra for each floor). The $50K you mention is for a home elevator, not commercial.
Elevators also require regular maintenance, so it all adds to the cost. Not to mention service calls. So when we're discussing the types of units that are not longer being build, say, a small 14-unit apartment (2 basement units, plus facilities, and 4 per floor). Elevator (4 floors) might cost around $150K, or $11,000 per unit. Yearly maintenance might be amount to $200/unit minimum, assuming no service calls.
While the cost of the physical elevator is a factor, so it the room you lose, so it changes the layout of the units. It changes all the internals of an apartment.
Simply put, not worth it for small apartments.