Construction Maison

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...

BATTLE CREEK, Mich. (WOOD) — Arcadia Ales announced last week it will close its downtown Battle Creek location after more than two decades there. The company hopes to open a new location somewhere in Battle Creek next year. Empty store fronts are a common sight in downtown Battle Creek . “I hate to see any business close up downtown because the more you have the more foot traffic you’re going to draw,” said Maryann Angelo, who owns Barista Blues Caf é in downtown Battle Creek . “You want diversity, we want all those buildings filled.” Angelo has been serving up hot food and coffee for 11 years in downtown Battle Creek . Despite Arcadia’s departure and dark windows on Michigan Avenue, Angelo doesn’t think the downtown business market has grown cold. “I see it going on the upswing, actually, as far as when I look at our business and what we’re doing,” she said. “I mean, we are definitely on the upswing.” Battle Creek Downtown Development and Small Business Director John Hart said ...

Over the past two years, the vacant grassy field that once capped off East Dundee's downtown district has been transformed into a $4 million mixed-use development. The 24,500-square-foot building at 311 Barrington Ave. was designed to bring more residents downtown, contribute to the village's culinary district and aesthetically complement other historic structures in the area, said Tracy Burnidge, broker and leasing agent. Developers are in the midst of pinning down retail tenants before building out the 12,000 square feet of available restaurant space on the first floor, he said. Other work on the property, such as landscaping, parking and additional building details , also have yet to be completed. However, residents have already begun moving into the loft- style apartments upstairs , Burnidge said, and it won't be long before the development is fully occupied. "We're trying everything possible to get people in here," he said. De...

click to enlarge Rob Donnelly Sporting a bandanna over a graying ponytail, Arthur Madeiros sat bare -chested on the northwest corner of Church and Main streets on August 16, holding a cardboard sign that read: "Homeless Anything helps." The 50-year-old Rutland man had arrived in Burlington a week earlier, just hours before a fight among three itinerant men turned violent in City Hall Park . Police said Conner Lucas was intoxicated when he stabbed two fellow homeless men — one in the hand, the other in the neck — on August 9. Within 24 hours, Madeiros had gotten a knife of his own, for protection. He has no plans to use it, he said, but, "Of course, I'm nervous." He's not alone. The stabbing incident was the second in the last five months involving homeless men in downtown Burlington . In March, Louis Fortier allegedly used a knife to kill 43-year-old Richard Medina on the corner of Church and Cherry streets — in broad daylight. In additi...

Change is coming to Hicksville. It may not come easily. It will take time, and the right combination of local leadership, private investment, community engagement, innovative thinking and, perhaps most important, a new Oyster Bay way. Most Popular But it is coming. The pieces of the puzzle that hopefully will bring new energy to downtown Hicksville have been slowly falling into place: the $ 121 million upgrade of the Long Island Rail Road ’s busiest station; renovations of the Hicksville athletic center and the once vibrant Broadway Mall ; and the repaving, cleanup and drain repair of Routes 106 and 107. And the recent approval of the third track expansion project will mean vastly improved LIRR service and the potential to lure workers to Hicksville businesses. Now, town and state officials are starting to fill in critical missing pieces that could turn this tired crossroads into a major hub with housing for younger adults starting out and older ones wanting to downsize, entert...

While the lawsuit case is tied up in litigation, nothing is being done with the property at the corner of Market Street and East Aquarium Way. (Image: NewsChannel 9 SkyCam) CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. —  It's been nearly five months since the building housing Cheeburger Cheeburger and other businesses collapsed in downtown Chattanooga . Bits of brick and rubble are all that remain of the restaurant. But since the building was torn down, it's turned into an eyesore in the heart of downtown Chattanooga . It first collapsed in March. Crews tore down the rest of the building in April after a judge called it a danger to the public. Fortunately, no one was hurt, but the whole ordeal was particularly hard on one business owner. Amy Petulla runs Chattanooga Ghost Tours . She had to find a new place to set up shop, and nearly lost her sign in the process. “We had to find a new spot - something we could afford - because we had a really tiny spot. There's not a lot of really small spots aroun...

The Saco Planning Board is considering a project that calls for 22 “micro-apartments” to be built in a former mill building on Saco Island. Saco Island West LLC wants to build the 470-square-foot apartments on two floors above the popular Run of the Mill Public House and Brewery on Saco Island, which sits between downtown Saco and Biddeford. If approved, the project would join others in both cities that offer apartments in renovated mill buildings that also house businesses. The project would also be the second in Saco to feature micro-apartments. The former Notre Dame de Lourdes church on Cutts Avenue will become 80 units ranging from 600 to 800 square feet as part of a three- phase project expected to begin late this year. The “Saco Island SmartLofts” plan presented by Saco Island West LLC to the planning board includes a commercial space on the second floor and a total of 22 micro-apartments on the third and fourth floors. The micro-apartments will attract young residents t...

The innovative project looks to transform this downtown district through the infusion of a diverse set of programs that will provide activated street frontages and a variety of housing typologies at all levels of affordability. The Exchange LOS ANGELES - Aug. 25, 2017 - PRLog -- KTGY Architecture + Planning unveiled today the preliminary design for a new mixed-use development that was selected as part of Salt Lake City 's plan to revitalize its downtown core developed by The Domain Companies , one of the nation's leading real estate investment and development firms specializing in sustainable mixed-use development, and the GIV Group, which combines a non-profit and entrepreneurial approach to community development. Called The Exchange, the design envisions a pedestrian- and transit-oriented mixed-use district focused on innovation and includes "startup" micro-unit apartments, business incubator space , creative office space , affordable and market-rate apartm...

NORFOLK Plans for the new five- story complex north of downtown, featuring shops and more than 200 apartments, were approved three years ago. Last year, the former headquarters of Hampton Roads Transit was demolished to make way. But the 2- acre lot remains nothing but a fenced-off patch of dirt. And a few weeks ago, for-sale signs went up near the fences where renderings used to hang. The developer behind the proposed $42 million complex at 1500 Monticello Ave., next door to Chick-fil-A, said the project isn’t dead – merely delayed by financing problems. “We think it’s still a great site and a great opportunity to do something there,” said Michael Haller, the executive vice president of Fairfax- based developer Concord Eastridge . “We love what’s going on with Norfolk. ... We’d love to be a part of it.” By the end of the year, he said, the company hopes to either partner with new investors or find a purchaser to step in and build the “shovel-ready” project. The pr...

The city of Bellefontaine and a local contractor plan to partner to save a more than 100-year-old building from demolition. The old post office, at the corner of West Chillicothe Avenue and South Detroit Street , was built in 1913 and has been vacant and locked up for decades, Bellefontaine Mayor Ben Stahler said. The post office moved across the street to a different building in the ’60s, he said, and the historic property was last used as a Mexican restaurant during the early ’90s. RELATED: Historic downtown Springfield building could become apartments “Really we couldn’t find anybody in our community that was even willing to have this building for a dollar because of the known expense that they would have to put into the building to bring it up to speed,” he said. It was slated to be demolished, he said, until someone came forward. Local contractor , Ron Coleman, said he was interested in saving the building. “They said it was going to come down,” Coleman said. “I was like, “No...

NORFOLK Plans for the new five- story complex north of downtown, featuring shops and more than 200 apartments, were approved three years ago. Last year, the former headquarters of Hampton Roads Transit was demolished to make way. But the 2- acre lot remains nothing but a fenced-off patch of dirt. And a few weeks ago, for-sale signs went up near the fences where renderings used to hang. The developer behind the proposed $42 million complex at 1500 Monticello Ave., next door to Chick-fil-A, said the project isn’t dead – merely delayed by financing problems. “We think it’s still a great site and a great opportunity to do something there,” said Michael Haller, the executive vice president of Fairfax- based developer Concord Eastridge . “We love what’s going on with Norfolk. ... We’d love to be a part of it.” By the end of the year, he said, the company hopes to either partner with new investors or find a purchaser to step in and build the “shovel-ready” project. The pr...

Houston has a lot going for it: An active professional sports scene , two international airports, delicious Tex-Mex. The fourth-largest city in the US (2.3 million residents) has also long held a reputation as a center for big business, boasting 20 Fortune 500 companies . But in recent years, it’s quietly been building one of the most extensive startup ecosystems in the country, too. The city’s economy (as with much of Texas) is intrinsically linked to oil, which means it’s faced its share of adversity. Houston got hit hard in the 1986 oil collapse -- though the silver lining is that it escaped the 2008 recession relatively unscathed (it was the first major city to regain all its lost jobs, and then some). Credit the benefit of experience. “Thankfully, our financial system learned valuable lessons during the oil crash in the 1980s and resulting glut of speculative building,” says Rob Todd, a former Houston City Council member and founder of the telecom company Amplified Solutions ...

RICHMOND — Actor- developer Wendell Pierce has announced that a real estate partnership he participates in will build a mixed-use development in the city’s Downtown Main Street Corridor . The development would feature retail and housing, and a goal would be to attract tech sector businesses to the city’s core, according to a post by Pierce on Twitter. “Richmond CA. is an East Bay jewel ,” the New Orleans native tweeted this week. “32 miles of waterfront shoreline, beautiful mountain views , 30 minutes to SF and Oakland city centers .” Pierce said he wants to bring Oakland-based Red Bay Coffee, which he describes as an “ innovative beverage business that practices profit-sharing with staff,” to Richmond. In an earlier tweet, he said he also was bringing Red Bay Coffee to New Orleans, where he is involved in another development. He also is a participant in an apartment development in Baltimore. For more food and drink coverage follow us on Flipboard. Pierce is famous for, among oth...