SANTA BARBARA, Calif. -

The Entrada de Santa Barbara hotel and retail project has been in the planning stages for over 20 years, but now heavy equipment has arrived to begin some of the serious work.

Construction crews have been tearing down the last set of older buildings that once housed Hot Spots Coffee, a T-shirt shop and bike rentals on the corner of State St. at Mason St.

This site is one of three corners involved in the project.

Construction is planned for the next year and a half with completion set for summer of 2016. All three phases have to be done at the same time according to city requirements for the project.

The Entrada development and the nearby facelift in the "Funk Zone" recently are combined, the largest retail, restaurant, and hotel changes the city has seen since the early 1990's when the Paseo Nuevo Mall was built downtown.

The developer is known as 35 State Street Partners and the group involves Los Angeles businessman and developer Michael Rosenfeld who has been to Santa Barbara to usher the project through after several setbacks over the last 20 years involving other owners.

Once completed it will have 123 rooms, over 20, 000 square feet of retail space, paseos, and 243 parking spaces.

The historic Californian Hotel was partially preserved for this project. It dates back to the early 1920's and the facade remains in place and the rest of the building, torn down years ago, will be rebuilt in an area west of State St.

Nearby two creek projects and bridge replacements are also taking place, and MOXI The Wolf Museum of Exploration + Innovation, a children's museum is going to be built near the train station a block to the north.

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Entrada de Santa Barbara Project Site Demolition Underway

Las Vegas real estate market, after getting battered by the recession, had one of its busiest years in a while in 2014.

Investors built retail, apartment and office projects in the suburbs, the housing market stayed volatile and new projects were proposed and took shape along the Strip.

What lies ahead? Heres a rundown of what happened in 2014, and what insiders expect this year.

Housing

After hitting bottom, home prices rose at one of the fastest rates nationally in recent years as investors paid cash, sight unseen, for low-priced houses to turn into rentals.

But now, with fewer bargains out there, investors are pulling back. They triggered a valleywide slowdown last year as more listings went ignored, sales volume dropped and prices rose at a much slower pace.

Real estate pros expect things to keep cooling in 2015. But with the market relying more on regular, mom-and-pop buyers, that could turn a slowdown into a slump, as many locals cant get a mortgage because of tighter lending requirements and past bankruptcies, foreclosures or short sales.

Meanwhile, homebuilders had a topsy-turvy 2014.

Sales totals dropped hard as would-be buyers, saddled with financial woes and sticker shock, backed off. Through November, sales volume was down 20 percent year-over-year in Southern Nevada, prices were flat, and builders pulled fewer construction permits.

All told, theres little reason to feel warm and fuzzy about 2015, Home Builders Research President Dennis Smith recently said.

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After a busy 2014, whats in store for Las Vegas real estate?

Tribune Media announced plans Thursday to redevelop Times Mirror Square, home of the Los Angeles Times, and a separate vacant printing plant in nearby Costa Mesa.

The Chicago-based media company is seeking partners for both California properties, including a mixed-use project for Times Mirror Square in downtown Los Angeles. The property sits on a multiacre site next to City Hall.

"The Times Mirror Square master plan promises to deliver a compelling urban project that includes the restoration of important buildings and the construction of complementary new buildings around a new metro rail station directly connected to four of the region's major rail lines," Murray McQueen, president of Tribune Real Estate, said in a statement. "We look forward to identifying the best development partner to help us achieve the immense potential of this site and bridge two of Downtown LA's most dynamic districts."

Tribune Media spun off its newspaper business in August and began trading last month on the New York Stock Exchange. As part of the spinoff, Tribune Media retained a real estate portfolio that includes 80 assets, 8 million square feet of space and 1,200 acres of land. The real estate portfolio brings in about $50 million annually in revenue, most of which comes from rent paid by Tribune Publishing newspapers, including the Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times.

The Los Angeles Times continues to occupy parts of Times Mirror Square.

Tribune Real Estate is also pursuing a partner to oversee development of the 21-acre site in Costa Mesa, which had served as printing plant and distribution facility for the Los Angeles Times. Features include a functional rail spur and a helicopter pad.

"The site has been a well-known part of the Costa Mesa landscape for over 40 years," McQueen said. "Costa Mesa is developing a strong identity as a cultural hub of Orange County and we are excited to be developing the site during this next chapter of civic vibrancy."

A brokerage house will be hired "in the near term" to assist Tribune Real Estate in finding development partners for the projects, the company said.

Tribune Real Estate unveiled broad plans last month to redevelop Tribune Tower in Chicago, potentially tripling the building's space with residential, retail and hotel components. The landmark 34-story neo-Gothic building on Michigan Avenue, which houses the Chicago Tribune and other tenants, has 737,000 square feet of space, but is zoned for up to 2.4 million square feet of space.

Tribune Media said its real estate holdings are valued at $650 million, but the company sees significant upside in optimizing the portfolio, with an estimated market value of $1 billion.

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Tribune Media to redevelop home of Los Angeles Times

Jupiter, Florida (PRWEB) January 08, 2015

Cyclo Industries, a leading global automotive brand for over 50 years, announced today the launch of Clear View, an at home solution to repair and prevent damages caused by environmental elements to glass windscreens.

With groundbreaking technology and industry-first innovation, Clear View is a proprietary blend of polymers that works together to polish and protect damaged glass surfaces.

In our international markets, there are a growing number of people looking for an easy at home solution to repair windscreens, said Mike McGlynn, Director of Research & Development. We created a product that not only repairs, but also protects against any future damages too.

Clear View offers an innovative solution to the marketplace, eliminating the need to replace scratched or etched windscreens. With the launch of Clear View, the consumer now has a more affordable and accessible option to not only fix a damaged windscreen, but also to protect it against more damage.

Cyclo Industries delivers high performance products in the automotive, heavy duty / fleet, industrial, agricultural and marine services. Cyclo Industries features such brands as Rain Dance, Tanners Preserve, Rally, and No. 7. For more information about Cyclo Industries and the new Clear View product, please visit http://www.cyclo.com

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Cyclo Industries Introduces the Next Evolution in Glass Restoration, Clear View, an at Home Solution to Repair and ...

(Toledo News Now) - The extreme cold could be destroying your home, putting you on the hook to fix thousands of dollars in damage.

Many local companies are working overtime to fixed pipes that burst. The weather is keeping crews at Quest Restoration busy.

Clients around this time often have to deal with burst pipes, which inevitably leads to the water thawing, flooding your home with several inches of standing water.

Quest Restoration employees say this tends to happen when people try to save money on their heating bill, turning it down when they leave the house.

Crews are expecting even more trouble when the next big batch of snow hits.

One thing you can do to protect yourself is to clear the snow from around your house so when it melts, it won't seep into your basement.

Crews also urge everyone to have a good insurance policy.

The Red Cross of Northwest Ohio has some tips to prevent frozen pipes here.

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Restoration crews seeing rise of burst pipes from winter weather

Three months after a drawn-out and controversial election, analysts give Afghan President Ashraf Ghani's performance mixed marks. While they credit him for his work ethic and eagerness to make necessary changes, the former finance minister and World Bank economist is also under fire for failing to form a cabinet at a crucial time for the country.

Ghani came to power in September 2014, following a disputed poll overshadowed by fraud claims which only ended when he and his electoral rival Abdullah Abdullah signed a power-sharing deal to form a national unity government. The US-brokered agreement also created the position of chief executive officer, a post akin to prime minister, which was filled by Abdullah.

One of Ghani's first acts during his first 100 days in office was to sign the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) with the United States, which former Afghan President Hamid Karzai had refused to sign. The BSA not only ensured that US and NATO troops could remain in Afghanistan, but also removed a significant thorn in the US-Afghanistan relationship.

The US-brokered agreement between Ghani and Abdullah created the position of chief executive officer

A 'welcome change'

Furthermore, Ghani spent his first two months acting on a clear reform agenda. He not only announced plans for sweeping political changes, but also re-opened an investigation into the Kabul Bank scandal, all of which were well received. The president also spent a good deal of time traveling abroad seeking to convince key allies that he was serious about implementing these changes.

"All in all Ghani has in many respects established himself as a welcome change from his predecessor, Hamid Karzai. He has proven to be a tireless worker and extremely hands-on and done well managing, at least publically, the awkward power-sharing arrangement hatched with CEO Abdullah Abdullah," Jason Campbell, an international security expert at the US-based RAND Corporation, told DW.

The problem is that Ghani, while being decisive and reform-oriented, has so far acted alone. He has failed to agree on a cabinet with Abdullah. While this may have allowed Ghani to act with a great deal of flexibility and decisiveness in the short-term, analysts believe that the ensuing problems may quickly undermine the legitimacy of this government and the two men who are supposed to lead it.

No ministers

Moreover, experts are of the view that the political vacuum also threatens to hamper the fight against a resurgent insurgency. According to media reports, many Afghans are attributing the ongoing economic and security crisis to the fact that no ministers have been appointed to oversee these important ministries.

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No cabinet in sight as Ghani marks 100 days as Afghan president

(MENAFN - Daily News Egypt) The government has begun to remove all obstacles impeding implementation of the National Roads Project to begin expropriating for the public benefit, according to Prime Minister Mehleb. This will provide adequate compensation and expedited customs procedures to release the equipment necessary to carry out the project.

According to a cabinet statement, the Prime Minister, along with Transportation Minister Hany Dahi, reviewed the situation for each road and means to overcome their various obstacles. The project will cover 1,250km and 13 roads divided into 22 projects, with 16 companies carrying out the work.

Dakar Abdellah, a member of the Egyptian Union of Construction & Building Contractors and the Construction Committee of the Businessmen's Association, said that the National Roads Project's bitumen needs are estimated at approximately EGP 750m per month. This is for a total of nearly EGP 6bn when the project is finished next September.

In a Wednesday press statement, Abdellah stressed the need for bank financing to be integrated. He pointed out that a large amount of bitumen is required to implement this mega-project, and that utilising three layers of asphalt will require implementing 670,020 tonnes of bitumen.

He emphasised that the project would be implemented by September 2015 as per the schedule, as President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi wants 208,752 tonnes of bitumen supplied per month.

Total production for Egyptian laboratories, in addition to bitumen imports, reach approximately 84,490 per month.

Mehleb stressed the need to ensure safety and security during implementation of these projects, while simultaneously paying attention to quality. He warned that low-quality implementation for any project would not be acceptable, and requested that any company that finds itself unable to implement the project leave the work to others.

"We must set out modified timelines for road projects which will be followed-up on weekly," Mehleb said, emphasising that each company head would be responsible for the details of each project.

On Tuesday evening, Mehleb met with the Minister of Transportation at his ministry's headquarters in addition to General Authority for Roads, Bridges, and Land Transport (GARBLT) officials and officials from companies undertaking the project in order to follow up on the progress of implementation of the road network within the framework of the project.

During the meeting, those present reviewed the situation of five roads in the Project's framework that have operated unhindered.

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Egypt- Government begins accelerating implementation of National Roads Project: Cabinet

Crook Town 2 Jarrow Roofing 6 - 03/01/15
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Crook Town 2 Jarrow Roofing 6 - 03/01/15 - Video

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EMERGENCY ROOF REPAIR, SHIRLEY, NY 11967 | Roofing Company, Roofing Leaks, Roof Construction - Video