Construction Maison

Cross posted from our sister-site, Santa Monica Next . California state legislators are back in Sacramento after a month- long summer recess and they are looking to tackle the state’s growing housing crisis with a package of bills that could generate more than $3 billion for affordable housing as well as streamline new housing approval and construction. But lawmakers and political observers alike have noted that it won’t be an easy task to get the votes necessary to pass some of bigger-ticket legislation, like S.B. 2 and S.B. 3 , both of which have passed the State Senate but still need to get through the Assembly. And both require a two-thirds supermajority to pass. S.B. 2, introduced by State Senator Toni Atkins (D-San Diego), would place a $75 fee on real estate transactions and generate roughly $250 million a year annually. State Senator Jim Beall (D-San Jose) introduced S.B. 3, which would put a housing bond before the voters in 2018 that would generate $3 billion. “We ne...

The former BP station on East Post Road in White Plains. Photo by Bill Heltzel The White Plains Housing Authority has sued BP Products North America for allegedly contaminating water and soil at a former gas station near Winbrook Apartments . A toxic plume under the former BP station at 34 E. Post Road, the housing authority claims , has migrated toward an apartment building. The plume allegedly threatens the health of residents and potentially jeopardizes financing for a $350 million plan to replace five buildings. The lawsuit was filed on Aug. 17 in federal court in White Plains. BP did not respond to a voicemail and an email request for comment. Winbrook is the city’s oldest public housing site , comprising five 90- unit structures built in the late 1940s. The apartments are in downtown White Plains on South Lexington Avenue , Fisher Court and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr . Boulevard. The gas station was next to Winbrook’s Building 33, home of about 350 residents. BP owned or o...

Cass Community Social Services built 25 houses for less than $45,000 each by drawing on the help of construction and design professionals and volunteers from the community. Low-income earners were then invited to apply to become rent-to-own tenants of the central Detroit homes . tiny homes offer big chance for struggling residents" /> Copyright 2017 CNN Cass Community Social Services built 25 houses for less than $45,000 each by drawing on the help of construction and design professionals and volunteers from the community. Low-income earners were then invited to apply to become rent-to-own tenants of the central Detroit homes . Related Content DETROIT (CNNMoney) - This is Detroit, not Hobbiton. Just like the tiny homes of the hobbits in the "Lord of The Rings" series, the Cass Community Center Tiny Homes Project looks cute. But its small buildings house big hopes . Four years ago, Detroit became the biggest American city in history to file for bankruptcy, brough...

After one resident heard rumors that the complex was destined to be scraped and developed into hundreds of new units in the hot Lowry neighborhood , he contacted an official with  Vivage Senior Living Solutions , the company that manages the facility — but that official reported back that the executive director didn 't know about the sale, either. Still, residents worried that they would suddenly get a thirty-day notice to vacate, and that would not be enough time to find a new home. Space is in short supply in metro Denver, and a move can be debilitating even when there are available spaces. Many of the seniors rely on Medicaid and Social Security, and switching those accounts to new addresses can be complicated, too. Nancy Schwalm, chief business development officer for Vivage, says that management knew there were offers on the table for the property, a circa 1938 building that was used as officers' quarters back when Lowry was an Air Force base ,  but were kept in the dar...

Late on a humid Sunday afternoon , July 30, at Twin Oaks apartments on East 36th Street , about a dozen residents mingle under a large oak tree . Some sit on stoops, others pace. Some sit quietly, others discuss the conundrum they've found themselves in through no fault of their own. "I just don't know what I'm supposed to do," one woman stammers between sobs. The residents are young, old and in between. Some have lived here for nearly a decade, some moved in this year. One thing all of the neighbors share in common: they don't know where they'll be living on September 17. Each resident living in the 18 remaining units in the complex — two other units were heavily damaged by fire in February — received a letter on July 13 stating the company they were leasing from, Beatty Investment Homes LLC (BIH), had sold the property and would be knocking it down. Local development firm The Drakeford Company (TDC) and builders Shea Homes plan to build more than 30...

BOONE — The Watauga County Board of Commissioners is hosting a second public hearing on the proposed amendments to the ordinance that governs subdivisions and multi-unit structures on Sept. 19. The ordinance changes originally went before a public hearing in May but the commissioners asked planning and inspections to review the ordinance again after some questions were raised. The department was asked to review the ordinance by the commissioners in January, when Boone’s former area of extraterritorial jurisdiction was returned to county authority. The idea was to clarify some language and add things that reflect statutory changes, said Director Joe Furman back in May. As previously defined in the ordinance, a multi-unit structure is a building containing three or more separate and independent dwellings, offices or commercial establishments (excluding hotels/motels). Ric Mattar, with planning and inspections, addressed the commissioners at their Aug. 15 meeting. Matt...