Jenn G.
5/5
New Avenue has been a joy to work with and we couldn't be happier with the incredible result. Our experience with the New Avenue architect, contractor, as well as New Avenue management has been fantastic from start to finish.
We set out to build an ADU in our back yard, and we knew that New Avenue were the experts in this area—plus they came highly recommended from friends who had worked with them. We didn't have loads of cash to throw at creating a dream house, so we were picturing a very simple, basic box in our backyard, no frills. What we ended up with is a gorgeously designed and built one-bedroom house that anyone would be thrilled to live in. It's energy efficient, has hardwood custom cabinetry and built-in bookshelves, gorgeous tiling and a beautiful kitchen, lovely polished concrete floors. The style is mid-century modern, inspired by the style of the mid-century architect Rudolph Schindler. Our architect, Randolph Ruiz, an architecture professor who is a fantastic communicator with an incredible vision, guided us through a design process that got us to a beautiful design that we absolutely love, despite the fact that my husband and I lack aesthetic talent of any kind.
And it came in on budget. And as quickly as could be expected considering the COVID supply issues. The whole construction process took about 8 months because there were delays in obtaining basic supplies such as wood, windows, and appliances because of COVID. Their original timeline was 4 months, and I believe they would have come in close to that if not for the supply issues. This was for a 500 square foot one-bedroom house with a kitchen and a loft.
We worked with Purev Baatarchuulu as our contractor. Purev's team was communicative, friendly, and affordable. And most importantly, very competent—one of their construction workers is trained as a civil engineer in Mongolia, and often came up with great suggestions for small improvements to the design as they went along. When one of their subcontractors turned out to be unreliable, thus delaying the project by a couple of weeks (unfortunately, he'd started the project and THEN flaked!) they managed to get him moving again by sheer polite persistence. (I'm certain they won't be hiring that particular subcontractor again). We felt consistently great about working with this thoughtful, careful, communicative, ethical, and hardworking team.
Working with New Avenue was key to moving this project along and completing it in a timely fashion, with the confidence that we were doing it right. Kevin from New Avenue was super helpful in answering our questions from the very beginning, when we had just started to think about what it would mean to build an ADU. He knows so much about it, he was able to help us think through our total budget, what our goals were for the ADU, and answer our questions about timeline, as well as many many other questions about how different things work, like getting financing, etc. Kevin is really good at finding the right fit for architect and contractor, so you're not just going with an architect or construction company that your friend recommends, but rather with people who are a good fit for you. He has a deep knowledge of this whole process and is really passionate about building ADUs (which, in my opinion, is super important work to make our cities denser, increase housing supply, drive down the cost of housing, and curb transportation emissions). He also really cares about people feeling great about their homes, and finding solutions that fit your family. Kevin gets it from a holistic perspective, and it has been so great, as people with no previous experience building housing, to have someone with deep experience to guide us through the process.
