Construction Maison

1st Lake Properties ' newest apartment complex , Bella Ridge (1101 Dickory Ave., River Ridge, 888-802-9150; www.1stlake.com), offers luxury apartment living . The complex is close to Elmwood shops and restaurants and is a 20-minute drive from downtown New Orleans.   The property's 264 units consist of one- (966 square feet) and two-bedroom (1,366 square feet) apartments. Interiors feature granite countertops , stainless-steel appliances and master bathrooms with stand-alone showers and soaking tubs. They also include crown molding and wood-tone flooring, 10-foot ceilings, recessed and pendant lighting, full-sized washers and dryers and ample closet space .   "Our management company prides ourselves in having great amenities, such as pools with soaking and tanning ledges, 24- hour fitness centers and concierge- style services ," says Michele Shane L'Hoste, president of 1st Lake Properties , which has designed and built more than 9, 000 apartment complexes and ...

Downtown Merchants Association coordinator Jessica Kohn said one resounding issue is brought up at each monthly meeting of downtown Auburn business owners . “A huge hurdle is employees not having designated parking spaces for them,” Kohn said. “Unless business owners lease parking spaces , that’s really the only way they’re guaranteed a space. Certain business owners tell their employees to catch a ride or walk.” On average, 125 employees work at businesses downtown each day, she added. Not having them park their personal vehicles downtown frees parking spaces for customers. Yet the rallying cry from people who work, shop and eat in Auburn is that there is simply not enough parking space available to everyone. “In all the parking studies we’ve done, we’ve always been told that what Auburn needs is not one huge deck with 1,000 cars or 2,000 cars. It’s several little spaces,” interim city manager Jim Buston said. “Because our town is not that big; our town is smal...

Editor’s note: This profile originally appeared in Minnesota Lawyer, a sister publication of Finance & Commerce. Mary Wawro spends much of her time with legal documents as senior vice president and general counsel for Minneapolis- based Ryan Cos . US Inc. Seeing projects such as the Downtown East redevelopment in Minneapolis come to life is among the rewards of her job. Downtown East includes the Commons park near U.S. Bank Stadium, apartments, a hotel, a parking ramp, two Wells Fargo office towers and Ryan’s new headquarters in the Millwright Building at 533 S. Third St. “My favorite part has been the interesting projects that I’ve worked on, particularly here at Ryan and with so many smart, dedicated people,” said Wawro, who has been at Ryan for 15 years after two years as outside counsel. “When you work a lot with documents and concepts, it can feel really good to see the physical buildings that resulted from those documents.” Construction- related legal work touches on...