Construction Maison

After a UBS housing report pointed to as many as one in four homes owned offshore by mainland Chinese buyers being kept empty, and a further quarter used on a "temporary" basis, experts have been quick to say the results do not apply to Australian real estate . Among the naysayers is Jane Lu, head of Australia for Chinese international property site Juwai . She said there was "no hard data" and called the idea of vacant apartments held by offshore buyers as an "urban myth". "Most Chinese buyers of inner- city apartments are not so wealthy that they can afford to leave their property vacant ??? rather than renting it and earning some sort of income. There are some who do not live there full-time, because it is their second home. " Chinese investors are no more likely to turn down easy rent money than are Australians ... Australian second-home owners probably have more vacant properties in Ballina and Byron Bay than Chinese investors do...

Bayside Villas may be under new ownership but residents, who complain of deplorable conditions and discrimination, say nothing has changed. “Nothing has changed,” Bayside Villas resident Barbara Williams said. “It has gotten worse.” The Bradenton Herald first reported on the “deplorable” conditions found at Bayside Villas last November. Multiple government investigations are underway, including one by U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio’s office, at the apartments located just off 20th Lane East in Palmetto. But previous property owner Robert Goodman said his recent sale of the complex was not related to the probes. “We were never contacted by any local or state agency regarding any investigation in any matter regarding the property,” Goodman said in an email Friday. “We sold because the sale and the timing of the sale fit our business model.” It was when the 44- unit apartment complex last changed ownership in 2013 that residents say conditions started to deteriorate. In May 2013, Highland ...

San Francisco Supervisor Aaron Peskin has asked the city attorney to explore legislation to impose a vacancy tax on large property owners who leave residential and commercial buildings empty . During a supervisors meeting this month, Peskin said he continues to receive complaints about the impact of “ghost buildings” on neighborhoods. The problem is, nobody really knows how many vacant homes there are in the city and whether a vacancy tax would be legal or effective in freeing up much-needed housing. In an interview, Peskin cited a 28- unit apartment building at 1656 Powell St. that was vacated after a fire damaged some units in December 2013. It remains empty. The three-story building is in a prime North Beach location across from Washington Square Park . Four businesses on the building’s ground floor — a liquor store, a bar, a Thai restaurant and a seafood restaurant — are open, but the apartments above still have boarded-up windows and a littered lobby. Some work was done in the...

SELLER: Estate of A. Jerrold “Jerry” Perenchio LOCATON: Malibu, CA PRICE: $5,495,000 SIZE: 936-square feet, 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom plus detached guest quarters with 2 bedrooms and 1 bathroom YOUR MAMA’S NOTES: Quick on the internationally publicized heels of his ten-plus acre über-luxe estate in Bel Air hitting the market with a vertigo- inducing price tag of $350 million, one of the many properties in Malibu’s exclusive, guard- gated Colony enclave owned by recently deceased media tycoon A. Jerrold “Jerry” Perenchio has come up for sale with an asking price of $5,495,000. Tax records show the property spans nearly one-third of an acre on the landward side of the enclave — meaning it’s not ocean front — and includes a pint-sized cottage that dates to the early 1940s and measures in an apartment-sized 936-square-feet with just one bedroom and one bathroom. There are, per marketing materials, two more bedrooms and a bathroom attached to the back of the detached two-car garage....

Madison Square Garden Co., which owns and operates the Forum in Inglewood, Calif., isn’t alone in its apprehension about an agreement between the city and the L.A. Clippers to negotiate construction of another arena in the immediate neighborhood – residents and businesses aren’t thrilled, either. Buried in the 22-page document is a proposal to employ eminent domain to acquire additional land to supplement acreage already owned by the city near the proposed project. A site map filed with the document indicates a four-block area containing 100 “potential participating parcels” where the arena might be built. The Los Angeles Times reports that within that four-block area are “an estimated 2,000 to 4,000 people, predominantly Latino” as well as businesses, schools, churches, apartments and single-family homes, in some cases occupied by the same families for generations. Not only did the city and Clippers identify the 100 parce...

Jennifer Johnson was freezing cold and so was her 5-month-old baby. It was January, and the heat in her apartment wouldn 't go above 60. When the wind blew outside, her drapes fluttered inside . She called the maintenance department at Lakecrest Park Apartments in Roosevelt Park . The man who answered was rude, then crude, then hung up on her. Desperate and shivering, Johnson called the police. The result? Inspectors were called who issued citations, city leaders changed the ordinance to allow stricter enforcement of building codes and the apartment complex's East Coast owners became "cooperative" with city officials . And what about the apartment's management and maintenance department she dealt with? All fired. It's unusual for officials of any city to move so quickly to step into a tenant-landlord dispute. But with only a few large apartment complexes in the one-square-mile city, inspectors and leaders decided change was needed fast. A lease nightmar...

Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills recently opened ." width="580" height="326" /> The Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills recently opened .  (Photo: Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts)   The U.S hotel industry reported positive year -over-year results in three key areas during the last week of July. Occupancy rates were up 0.3% to 77.4%. The average daily rate reached $132.21, an increase of 1.2% over the same week last year. And revenue per available room was up 1.5% to $102.39. That’s all based on the latest data from research firm STR for the week of July 23 to July 29. Hoteliers moved into August feeling optimistic , with a slate of new openings, renovations and other updates. First new Waldorf Astoria on the West Coast opens The iconic Waldorf Astoria New York may be closed for renovations for the next few years, but the luxury brand has moved to the West Coast. Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts, Hilton’s luxury brand, opened the Waldorf Astoria Beverly ...

By Diana Hubbell Travellers have long looked towards Asia – with its shimmering azure waters and near-limitless selection of palm-fringed white-sand beaches – in their search for paradise. Intrepid hippies put the area on the map as a tourist destination in the 1960s. The intervening years, meanwhile, have seen rustic bamboo beach shacks edged out by a growing phalanx of upscale hotels and resorts. Indeed, these days it is just as likely to be high- powered investors making for the region’s resort destinations as singlet-wearing backpackers and other holidaymakers.   Countries such as Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Cambodia and the Philippines, can ably cater to the most demanding of buyers, with sumptuous properties ranging from secluded island hideaways to palatial residences with easy access to first-class restaurants and highly developed transport infrastructure . MORE: The Mediterranean is still the dream second home for wealthy Asianssztbauwa Investors who are as keen on po...

QUINCY, MA - From Callahan Construction and the City of Quincy: Hines, Callahan Construction Managers and Quincy Mayor Thomas P. Koch helped launch a public boardwalk celebration at Meriel Marina Bay , Quincy’s newest waterfront apartment community , on Saturday, August 12, 2017. The event commemorated the expansion of the Marina Bay boardwalk with a ribbon-cutting led by Quincy Mayor Thomas P. Koch, followed by a free boardwalk festival adjacent to Meriel Marina Bay offering fun and entertainment for all ages. “Our city has experienced an ongoing positive evolution across all neighborhoods over the last number of years with the steady addition of new businesses and residents proud to call Quincy home ,” said Quincy Mayor Thomas P. Koch. “Marina Bay has particularly continued to thrive as a destination where residents and visitors alike come to live, work and play, and I’m thrilled to see the continued growth of this community with the expansion of the boardwalk through the ...

Strike London Hotel Gold at Charming, Posh (and Shockingly Affordable ) Flemings Mayfair" />Let's talk about the drawing room. All photos courtesy of Flemings Mayfair. Can it be? A gorgeous, centrally located, family-owned hotel in Central London that's actually affordable? Contributing editor and London regular Christina Ohly strikes hotel gold at Flemings Mayfair. LONDON – Visitors to London are spoiled for choice when it comes to fantastic hotels, so I am always on the lookout for the latest, greatest, newest offering when I return to this city that I consider my second home. I tend to stay in more residential areas — Chelsea, Kensington, Notting Hill — but my latest favorite find is in the heart of Mayfair, tucked away on sweet Half Moon Street . I literally can't stop raving about this hidden gem. Originally opened in 1851, Flemings Mayfair was converted from thirteen adjoining Georgian townhouses , which gives it an intimate, smaller feel than the oth...