Frustrated with the lack of info?

I don’t know about you but I’m often very frustrated with the lack of information about a project; I want to know all the details about sound proofing, cable drops, plumbing, etc. Or I’m frustrated that no information is available until days before the pre-sale/reservation process begins. Fortunately one our readers, Andy, has a great tip, visit the Department of Planning and Development:

As for research, I visited the mayor’s Design & Planning office at 700 Fifth (floor 20) to learn more about Trace. They have a stack of microfilm architectural plans, to scale, under the address 1412 12th Avenue. Free to peruse and $1 per sheet for a hard copy. It was good to see the floor plans in context and they had some elevations and structural details that ate up a good hour of browsing. The ventilation system for the parking structure was a bore, but seeing the relationship between Trace and the (immediately) adjacent Trace North redirected my interest from 306/206 to the 12th Avenue side. Looking at plans for an hour may have saved me a few years of looking at weird naked neighbors. Trace has updated their website to be more clear on this.

Other resources from the city include an historical record of permits and complaints (permit status) (note the scary earthquake reference at the bottom), and a meaty “Analysis and Decision of the Director of the Department of Planning and Development.” (PDF) It’s full of words like chamfered and fenestration.

In a later comment he also mentions,

The renovation plans for Trace are detailed–with specific views of the demolition, salvage, residential and commercial floor plans, soundproofing, waterproofing, structural, and landscaping design for the project (commercial floor plans for the street and mezzanine levels are in PDF format here: http://www.12thandmadison.com/trace_building.htm) There were interior and exterior elevations and unit plans down to the cable and power hookups, etc. There were plans for both the Trace Lofts proper and Trace North.

I’ll be making a trip down there one day next week to check out the plans for Trace North since the marketing firm won’t be sharing them until April after you’ve signed your purchase and sale at Trace Lofts.