Hallway Hauling: Why Freight Elevators Matter in Apartments and Condos

They used to say that your name should only appear in the newspaper three times in your life – when announcing your birth, marriage, and death.  Clearly this was before the me-me-me era of social media. But the rule of three is useful elsewhere, especially in multi-family housing.

You see, most of the time you likely don’t consider freight elevators. However when you’re moving in, receiving an oversized delivery (e.g. renovating), and moving out, they’re very handy. But they’re also useful when a neighbor is doing one of those three things, too, because in buildings without dedicated freight elevators, you’re waiting longer for a free elevator (contemplating whether to take the stairs – hint, you probably should for a host of reasons).

Freight elevators are full of goodness.  They’re typically larger, requiring fewer trips.  They’re typically taller and deeper, enabling oversize items like granite counter slabs and grand pianos. They’re freight elevators, so nicks and dings won’t eat your security deposit before you even move in.  They’re dedicated, so movers and residents aren’t vying for trips.  And movers aren’t stopping at every floor looking at the sour expressions of residents who can’t squeeze around your armoire.

It was a point I hadn’t really consciously considered until last week’s Oak Lawn Committee meeting.  One of the OLC members asked for more detail on the projects presented placed elevators in relation to their loading docks. Then the lightbulb went off.  How come in these not-even-built buildings were there no freight elevators?

You’d have thought builders had sussed that out decades ago.  In fact, the neighboring Preston Tower and Athena high-rises, built in the mid-1960s, are a perfect example.  The slightly older Preston Tower doesn’t have a dedicated freight elevator, but the hair-younger Athena does.  Many have said this is one of the areas where developer Hal Anderson learned from an oversight.

And yet it continues.

The two apartment projects from the last OLC meeting not only don’t have freight elevators, but the elevators they do have are not very close to their freight loading areas.  Looking back further (and by no means exhaustive), I can see from the latest plans that the unbuilt McKinney and Hester apartment block should have elevators close to their freight area. Further back, Teixeira Duarte’s last plan for Dickason and Hood (before they got scared by the area’s downzone campaign) did have a loading dock adjacent to their elevators. And finally, the Toll Brothers’ project on Welborn has loading near its elevators also.

As all these buildings are unbuilt, I do not know if those adjacent elevators will include a dedicated freight elevator, but proximity to freight areas is part of the battle.

Think about it.  The generic apartment building floorplan seen above tells the tale. At ground level, the loading area is located in the top left while the elevator is in the bottom right.  Movers have to take everything into the building and then traipse through the building to the elevator (note, in this building there is only one elevator), ride up to the floor and then haul down the same hallway again until they reach their destination.  That’s a lot of redundant hauling and a lot of time lost.   As a resident, you’ll be taking the stairs a lot depending on the move-in and move-out patterns.  The longer the building, the more problematic, because there’s typically only one loading area even if the project is a city-block long.

Think before you move. Elevators matter, and so does their relation to the freight area.

 

Remember:  High-rises, HOAs and renovation are my beat. But I also appreciate modern and historical architecture balanced against the YIMBY movement.  If you’re interested in hosting a Candysdirt.com Staff Meeting event, I’m your guy. In 2016 and 2017, the National Association of Real Estate Editors has recognized my writing with two Bronze (2016, 2017) and two Silver (2016, 2017) awards.  Have a story to tell or a marriage proposal to make?  Shoot me an email [email protected].