Do you have any inspiration photos of newer/fixed up apartment buildings?

Please take some photos in brighter light.

Which of the items you list are necessary? Which are icing on the cake? Are you planning significant upgrades on the interior?

If the driveway to the left is yours, clean up the weeds in the cracks. Remove the tree stump from the parkway. Work with the city for a new tree.

Lighten up the entry way with lighter paint and good lighting that doesn't shine in the windows. Any back entrances should also be well lit with light paint for security.

I'll try to get some better photos. No inspiration photos, those are just ideas that I think would help-I'll see if I can find something though.

The driveway to the left is not mine.

The interior has been largely re-done (including a new heating/a/c system), and the entryways are well lit and very nice. Just the exterior left to do.

As far as the list, I would plan to do all of them as long as the budget came in ok. I think the new windows and new siding are the most basic necessities, but at that point I might as well do the stone/shakes/etc.

thanks for your feedback.

Here's some more/better photos. Also included a steel awning that I like; this is what i had thought of doing over the front windows.

Yes, windows are certainly a priority. There are 50 of them!

No section 8- these are mostly (though not all) young, single people. Not expensive apartments, but they do need to appeal to a younger market and be able to keep up with some of the new units being built downtown.

thanks for your input!

Here's some sketches that I did that illustrate what I'm thinking.

Not a fan of those awnings myself. I'm not a big beige/brown fan either, so wondering if another color would update the look.

I like your sketch. Are you moving toward a less commercial facade? Is that the goal so you appeal to young professionals? I notice you want to cut off access to the balcony (??) - is that a safety concern or aesthetic consideration?

I agree with getting rid of the current brown.

I am not seeing the installation of the steel awning as compatible with the initial drawing you posted above. I do think a good architect could come up with a facade that will work.

A building that is all one color -- body and trim -- looks like a government project. A building that is very light -- like white-- and has dark trim tends to look like a female with black make-up: goth. A building with medium body and light/white trim looks happy and content. Warm grey/taupe with white trim would be an example. Don't paint downspouts a contrasting color. They're better same color as body so camouflaged. Gutters would be part of trim color package. The corral type fencing at the balcony screams out to me as being the wrong railing.

I would like to offer some graphic feedback on the landscaping. But I will not be back home (where I have tools to do it) until near the end of the month. (If you want it, bump this thread to the top after July 27. I'm not implying any discussion should halt until then.) Also, I would need different pictures. If you stood in line with the center of the building/front door, and back far enough to see the roof and grass, but not sky or street, snapping all photos from that location, I would need you to take a panning series of slightly overlapping photos that begin at far left and continue to far right. All from the same location while pivoting the camera. Include space beyond the building ends in the photos.

Sadly, I must confess that while I like some of your architectural changes, I do not care for the landscaping which looks to me like the universal standard style that has been around for 100 years at least and is not based on what is good, but what was most available for others to copy.

Haven't read everything but I wouldn't live in a place without-safe-outdoor access.

Thanks, help with the landscaping would be great! Honestly, the landscaping in the sketches was just placeholder drawings, I've been mainly focusing on the architectural elements so far and the landscaping is the area about which I know the least.

As far as colors go, I think that is probably the biggest thing that is making the current building look drab and ugly. I'm thinking of a color like certainteed 'ivy green' or a similar idea, with white trim.

Also, I know that outdoor access is important, but that upper balcony is only accessed by one apartment anyway. For my liability and maintenance of the roofing material I do intend to get rid of that. Historically, no one really used it anyway.

thanks again for all your feedback!

I think I understand about the balcony. You're saying it shouldn't be there in the first place and if totally gone, it would look like another building that never had a balcony. (It's as if someone improvised a balcony just because there was a roof out there that could be made to walk on ...?) The balcony concept does not look particularly appealing on account of there being no roof above it. When searching Certainteed ivy green several images come up of it with white trim. I think it looks quite handsome ... way more than the existing color scheme!

The biggest issue right now is the junky look of the top railing over the balcony not matching the bottom. Clean that up with a good solution and you will go a long way towards curb appeal.

Also, while the brick on the bottom is nice, it's not absolutely necessary for the spruce up, and leaving that part out could be a cost saver for you.