Construction Maison

Nova Classical Academy )" width="718" />(Courtesy of Nova Classical Academy ) Off West Seventh Street , a charter school and an apartment developer have bumped heads over building heights. By a vote of 6-0, the St. Paul City Council on Wednesday declined to side with Nova Classical Academy in a dispute over the height of a proposed apartment building at 763 Kay Ave. Chase Real Estate , which has opened two apartment buildings in the new Victoria Park neighborhood , has proposed a third building of four floors and 50 units. Nova, a K-12 charter school, recently appealed a decision of the planning commission, which allowed changes to the Victoria Park Master Plan to accommodate the proposed building height of up to 49.5 feet. The master plan had previously envisioned the site to someday host 13 townhomes with a maximum height of 40 feet. The Chase proposal , recently amended, calls for 50 apartments with a maximum building height of 45 feet. The structure heigh...

TOLLING THE TYCOONS — Albanese calls for 'politically popular' pied-à-terre tax, by POLITICO New York’s Conor Skelding : Foreign "oligarchs" who own real estate in New York but don't live in the city should have to pay two or three times what they pay now in property taxes, Democratic mayoral candidate Sal Albanese said Wednesday. The "politically popular" new tax's revenue, which Albanese said would amount to billions, could then be put toward the development of affordable housing . "Look, there's a lot of money across the world that people want to outsource," he said during a news conference outside the gates of City Hall. "There's a lot of money there, and we can use that to build real affordable housing ." Mayor Bill de Blasio promised years ago to "take a look" at a pied-à-terre tax, but the proposal is opposed by many of the city's real estate interests . "They own Bill de Blasio , big real estat...

LAKE FOREST — Developers interested in converting apartments into condominiums would face new hurdles under a proposal under consideration in Lake Forest. Last month the City Council discussed a new ordinance that would, in effect, preserve the stock of apartments in the city. The council is scheduled to go over it again Wednesday. The city has fewer than 20 major apartment complexes . “Our concern is the conversion of one apartment complex could potentially take out a large number of rental units,” said Gayle Ackerman, city development service director . Two years ago, the City Council placed a moratorium on the conversion of apartments into condos while the city worked toward a new ordinance regulating them. The moratorium expires on Aug. 18. The new proposed ordinance on condo conversions requires a number of standards that must be met, including a 6 percent apartment vacancy rate across the city. The city’s average vacancy rate is 4.3 percent and has not exceeded 5.5 percent i...

RANCHO CUCAMONGA - The residents who had a seemingly endless list of complaints about their forgotten neighborhood might have shifted the City Council's attention to their woes, but they failed to halt a proposed affordable-housing project. After four hours of debate, the council voted unanimously late Wednesday to approve San Sevaine Villas , the 225 units of affordable apartments that Northtown Housing Corp . wants to build on the south side of Foothill Boulevard near East Avenue. Council members said Northtown has had a good reputation of building quality projects in the community and that affordable housing is desperately needed in order to accommodate families of all income levels. …