Darlington

Darlington is a 13 unit, two story lowrise multifamily building in Brentwood. It had no particular character when AGG Construction Group started, and the owners wanted two things from the work: something worth giving back to the tenants, and a building that could hold its position in a market that was moving quickly.

The building was largely nondescript, but it carried several mid century components, and those became the basis of the design rather than something to cover over. The most useful decision on the project involved the existing retrofit framing on the elevation, which is structural and visually awkward on almost every building that has it. Instead of hiding it, the framing was reworked into a picture frame holding the custom address numerals, which turned the least attractive element on the facade into the one that identifies the building.

The decks and walkways were not repaired. They were torn out and replaced completely, which is the right call when the surface a tenant walks on every day is the surface that dates the property. Custom fencing was installed at the perimeter, along with a new mini roof and an enclosed patio space that added usable square footage the tenants did not previously have.

The facade received new stucco, fresh paint, new fascia and gutters, new lighting, custom signage, custom walkways, and new landscape. The owners reported both rents and property value rising significantly inside twelve months. A complete exterior remodel on a multifamily building is one of the few investments where the return shows up in the rent roll rather than only at sale.

If you own a multifamily property in the area, our Brentwood general contractors can walk the building and tell you which elements are actually holding your rents down.

Scope of Work: Brentwood Apartment Building Exterior Remodel

• In house design
• Existing retrofit framing reworked into a frame for custom address numerals
• New stucco and fresh paint
• New fascia and gutters
• Decks and walkways torn out and fully replaced
• Custom walkways
• New mini roof and enclosed patio space
• Custom fencing and new perimeter fencing
• New lighting throughout
• Custom signage
• New landscape

Project Note

The building had gone more than thirty years without an upgrade. Thirty years of deferred exterior work means the finishes, the fixtures, and the code expectations have all moved on, so the scope is closer to a rebuild of the envelope than a refresh of it.

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