Construction Maison

CLOSE A quick history of how Asheville's "RAD" went from post-industrial grittiness to tourist haven. Joel Burgess/Citizen-Times The Stoneyard Apartments are proposed for 175 Lyman St. in the River Arts District . (Photo: Form & Function Architecture)   ASHEVILLE - Approval of a proposed $19 million River Arts District apartment complex has been delayed a second time after City Council concerns about high rent prices . The 133- unit Stoneyard Apartments were slated to be reviewed at Tuesday's council meeting, but Mayor Esther Manheimer asked that the public hearing be delayed to "a date uncertain." The council unanimously approved the change with no discussion. No one from the Saluda- based AltInvest development group spoke at the meeting. On Wednesday morning Sasha Vrtunksi , with the city's planning and urban design department , said the delay happened at the request of AltInvest. Chief developer David LaFave couldn 't be reached by text...

In January 2015, a massive fire in Edgewater, N.J., demonstrated that buildings with sprinkler systems are not always protected against fire. The blaze destroyed 240 residential apartments and displaced 500 people from the Edgewater Avalon apartment building . The fire began when a maintenance worker’s plumbing torch accidentally ignited wooden wall studs , and flames quickly spread throughout the structure. Fifteen minutes passed before workers called the fire department . In that time, the fire spread throughout combustible void spaces (between walls and floors) and soon engulfed the building. Emergency personnel from 35 different cities and towns ultimately responded to the incident. Thankfully, there were no fatalities. Immediately after the blaze, people asked why the fire was so devastating. The building had sprinklers, after all. Shouldn’t the sprinkler system have extinguished the fire? To make matters worse , this building had already burned down 15 years prior during i...

We offer our predictions on communities that will rank among the city's most desirable in 2026. Plus a look at developers who are working to make those visions a reality. February 18, 2016 (page 7 of 7) 8 developers with insight who are rethinking our urban neighborhoods   BY DEBRA SMIT G reat neighborhoods — with ample green space , commerce and good housing stock — empower their residents to grow and prosper. Developers are key when it comes to weaving together the physical threads of a community, particularly in urban neighborhoods frayed by years of blight and decay. These are among the developers who are working to revitalize some of the city’s most challenged neighborhoods, striving to be restorers of streets in which to dwell. All have one eye, certainly, on the bottom line. Still, they are well aware of expectations that they give measured consideration to quality of life in the neighborhoods in which they build.   Wi...

Let’s face it: Nobody really knows what to do about the homeless crisis. The sheer numbers of 60,000 people in city shelters and nearly 4,000 more on the streets — many in the latter group psychotic, drug-addicted and violent — overwhelm the best-intended plans to help them. That said, there are better and worse ways to cope with the nightmare. It’s bad enough that the city now spends $2.3 billion a year on homeless services including $1.4 billion on shelter housing , twice what it spent just three years ago. But making things worse : City Hall is now paying landlords more money to put up the homeless than the property owners could make by renting apartments and hotel rooms to non-homeless people at ordinary market rates . Shouldn’t developers be incentivized to create actual affordable housing for permanent residents — not more shelters for transients with no links to a community? The hapless Department of Homeless Services has gone off the deep end at a site in The Bronx, whether ou...

Westbrook will not charge fees based on a development’s impacts to the school and sewer system. The decision is a reversal from last fall, when the Westbrook City Council expressed interest in the idea and planned to charge impact fees on all building projects with permits issued since Oct. 3. The fees were popular among residents and officials concerned about the pace of growth in the city at a time when hundreds of housing units were proposed for Westbrook. City staff spent months developing the formulas for the fees, which are designed to pay for new capacity needed as a result of a development. Under the system proposed, for example, the owner of a new three-bedroom house would need to pay a $3, 245 school impact fee to offset the future costs of adding children to local classrooms. But when the final proposals for those fees came before the City Council last week, the group rejected them. A majority of councilors said they were worried the fees would discourage families and b...

Solano Park and Orchard Park Apartments are set to close for redevelopment because of their antiquity. The many structural replacements required for both buildings make renovation too costly. Orchard Park, located in the northwest corner of UC Davis, is to close July 31, while the demolition of Solano Park, in southeast Davis, is scheduled for July 31, 2016. The complexes have been known to provide affordable housing with spacious grass areas and community environments for full- time student families and their children since the 1960s. Current plans for the redevelopment of Orchard Park, which will be completed by fall 2016, include student family and single graduate apartments for 500 students, as well as additional units for transitioning faculty and staff. A Graduate Student Assistant Association member and the Graduate Student Assistant to the Chancellor were asked to join the project committee. Costs for the Orchard Park project are still unknown. “There isn’t a publish...

East Putnam Avenue in Riverside. Photo: Ridberg And Associates / Contributed" class="landscape" /> East Putnam Avenue in Riverside." src="src" /> Photo: Ridberg And Associates / Contributed Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Image 1 of 1 Artist rendering of the proposal for J and J Greenwich’s mixed-use building, planned for the corner of Sheephill Road and East Putnam Avenue in Riverside. Artist rendering of the proposal for J and J Greenwich’s mixed-use building, planned for the corner of Sheephill Road and East Putnam Avenue in Riverside. Photo: Ridberg And Associates / Contributed Clock ticks for Greenwich P&Z decision on Sheephill apts Back to Gallery GREENWICH — Although there is still time to tweak the controversial apartment complex plan on Sound Beach Avenue before Planning and Zoning votes yea or nay, J and J Greenwich’s application for a mixed-use building at the corner of Sheephill Road and East Putnam Avenue has been closed an...

Affordable housing activists are calling out Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto , saying he hasn't done enough to help low- income residents evicted from East Liberty's Penn Plaza Apartments . But Peduto responded, saying his administration has gone "overboard" to help relocate the displaced residents. "To say that the city didn't do enough is an insult," Peduto said.  "Even when we did [find new housing], they said no, and now they're holding protests saying we didn't do enough." In the summer of 2015, approximately 200 residents of the Penn Plaza Apartments were served 90- day eviction notices by developers LG Realty Advisors . This was a shock to the mostly low-income residents, who found out their homes would be razed to support an upscale Whole Foods grocery store , a plan that has since been cancelled. Although the city stepped in to give residents more time to move, activist groups like Homes for All and the Penn Plaza Support ...

John Altschul with his dog, Ethanol. (Photo by James Mills) EDITOR’S NOTE: The is another in a series of occasional stories titled “The Grownups” about West Hollywood residents 75 years old or older who are active in civic life. He’s been called the elder statesman of West Hollywood . He possesses the leadership, diplomacy, patience, charm and institutional memory necessary to hold that honorary title. More importantly, he has the ear of city leaders, community activists , business leaders and developers that is required of an effective statesman. Although he was not involved with the formation of the city, he became a guiding force in shaping West Hollywood . And this week, John Altschul celebrates his 81st birthday. He reluctantly accepts the idea of being the city’s elder statesman, but would prefer he wasn’t quite so much on the elder side of it (wouldn’t we all!). “ West Hollywood has always been a place where everyone has been so friendly,” says Altschul. “I’ve always felt ...