Cleveland Real Estate News

I can’t get the idea out of my head that we are missing a chance to have more locally grown stuff by not utilizing our air rights. Air rights usually apply to the space above buildings, which could be an office building or a condo development.  Or even a house if you put on the right roof (as Elaine Reese from Columbus pointed out though, here in Ohio, flat roofs would have to be designed to withstand snow, if it’s a regular house). 

George Nemeth of BFD brought up some creative and wonderful ideas about increasing the numbers of urban gardens by making use of vacant city spaces in east Cleveland neighborhoods.  Since I have been thinking about how to best use air rights and rooftops, George’s ideas seemed transferable to higher locations (the BFD post highlights a discussion that took place at a roundtable sponsored by Real NEO).

This article from the Gardner’s Supply Company website  looks at the advantages to a rooftop garden.

“Urban residents across the world are starting to look up, and turn a plentiful resource into a solution: green roofs. A green roof is a roof that is also a garden, from a simple container garden to a roof covered with several inches of soil (on top of a waterproof barrier) and a meadow. ”

Apparently it helps lessen the heat that collects on the top of buildings by creating a barrier. Does this mean it has an energy use benefit? For sure it is supposed to absorb CO2 emissions. This article lists a lot of benefits like giving urban birds and butterflies a refuge.

There is a condominium in Vancouver called Freesia. The builders offer a cool upgrade.  For an additional $2k or so, you can add a rooftop garden to your condo. Now this is not a new concept, apartment buildings (back in the day) were built with patio and gardens in mind and I know for a fact we have some in Shaker Heights.  Maybe other places?

Back to the Garden Supply rooftop garden article: “if you increase the number of green plants in a city, the temperature will actually fall. According to an EPA computer simulation, increasing greenspace in Los Angeles by 5 percent could lower summer temperatures by 4 degrees. Those lower temperatures would decrease smog by 10 percent and save $175 million in energy costs. “

Granted, our gardens wouldn’t be operational 12 months out of the year, but still…..anticipating a few naysayers because of our climate, here is an article from Time published in 2006 about the greening of Chicago’s rooftops.

“The city first drew real attention to its greening efforts, when it planted a lush garden on the rooftop of City Hall. Now, be it McDonald’s, Wal-Mart or the Apple store, businesses wanting a relaxation of density building rules or financing to help construct new offices are being convinced to plant so-called green roofs. The result: the city has planted or negotiated the construction of over 2 million square feet of rooftop gardens, more than all other U.S. cities combined. “

As they say in this article, it’s not about tree-hugging, they see it as common economic sense. And the article quotes the Mayor of Green Bay who said they were going to model some of the ‘green’ programs in that Wisconsin city.  If it can be done in those climes, why not here? Peace Out -3C