BOGOTA - The 44-unit apartment complex currently under construction at 297 Palisade Ave. continues to be the center of controversy in Bogota with the filing of a lawsuit by the developer against the borough and the council president.

Council President Jorge Nunez and Borough Clerk Fran Garlicki were served with papers notifying them of the lawsuit before the Jan. 30 special meeting that was called to appoint the boroughs professionals for 2014.

The suit was filed by 297 Palisade Ave. Urban Renewal, LLC, which is the developer of the apartment building set to be constructed on the former site of the Florence E. Dewey Elementary School.

Attorney Paul Kaufman, of the firm Kaufman, Semeraro and Leibman, LLP, which represents the developer, said that his firm had served the borough clerk with an Open Public Records Act (OPRA) request for emails sent by Nunez, including emails that were sent to a local daily newspaper, and was given a certification by the clerk that there were none.

Kaufman said that this "doesnt quite add up" as statements made by Nunez in a Dec. 31, 2013 article in a local daily newspaper, which was on the subject of a stop work order that was issued, were specifically noted to have been said via email. Kaufman stated that it is a violation of the Open Public Records Act.

Construction began on Dec. 23, 2013 with soil removal work being done at the construction site, but was ordered to stop on Dec. 30, 2013 when borough officials could not locate a permit from the county to begin digging. The letter had been on file with Borough Engineer Harry Tuvel, but he was on vacation at the time and officials did not have immediate access to his files.

The lawsuit was filed to compel the borough to turn over Nunezs emails and to have someone appointed to go through the boroughs computers since the borough did not send any of the emails containing the quoted statements that appeared in the article in the local daily newspaper, said Kaufman.

For his part, Nunez stated that he believes this is an attempt on behalf of the developer to intimidate him and stop him from asking questions about the project and voicing his concerns.

Nunez has been a vocal opponent of the tax abatement given to the developer since the Sept. 19 meeting at which the resolution was passed to execute the payment in lieu of taxes agreement between the borough and the developer.

"This sweet heart deal is bad for Bogota and bad for taxpayers," said Nunez in an emailed statement. "I will continue to pursue every avenue to protect taxpayers in Bogota from the negative impacts of this deal. There are many questions that need to be answered about the flawed process and conflicts associated to this project."

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Developer sues Bogota and council president over alleged OPRA violation

http://www.prestige-mls.com/Real-estate-Appartement-Costa-Rica-Escazu-LUXURIOUS-APARTMENT-AT-VALLE-DEL-TAMARINDO-5492.html Features: Location: Valle del Tamarindo, Escaz, Construction area: 460 m2 (4949,6 sq. ft.), Construction year: 2007, Beds: 4, Baths: 4.5, Interior features: hot tub/spa, a/c, Lot features: clubhouse, swimming pool, tennis court, View: city lights, Extra features: balcony, cable available, central elevator, controlled access, covered parking, fitness center, high speed internet available, lobby, private elevator, reserved parking, security guard on duty, Maids quarters. Sale price: $1,400,000, Rental Monthly $6,500 Description: This luxurious apartment located at Valle del Tamarindo features a lobby entrance, living room and studio room with magnificent views towards the Central Valley, dining room, ample kitchen, laundry room, service room, visitor's bathroom, storage room, 4 dormitories with full bathroom each and walk-in closet, TV room, 5 balconies. Total area of 439.680 m2 distributed as follows: 406.455 m2 interior living area, Storage area: 6.420 m2, Balconies: 26.805 m2, Private access elevator and service and freight elevator About Valle del Tamarindo Valle de Tamarindo, the country's most luxurious residential condominium complex, has a magnificent view of the Central Valley, just a few meters away from the Costa Rica Country Club, in an increasingly valued area with convenient access. Valle de Tamarindo offers its prospective residents a 12-floor tower with 16 440m2 deluxe apartments and two penthouses, on a 7,140 m2 lot with 12,700 m2 of construction. They have been designed to suit your tastes, providing the ideal atmosphere where you and your family may share every moment of the day. Valle del Tamarindo offers earthquake-resistant construction, large reception areas, exuberant gardens, a large heated swimming pool, clubhouse, illuminated tennis court, gymnasium, Jacuzzi, sauna, Turkish bath, private security, 59 private parking spaces for owners, a storage room on the lower level, excellent location, and the most wonderful and magnificent view of Escaz and its surroundings. As a resident of Valle Tamarindo, will have direct access from your apartment to a private elevator. There is also an additional service elevator for your convenience. Valle de Tamarindo was created to offer its residents the unique experience of living in an environment with the exclusivity, comfort, and quality of a private club. Valle del Tamarindo features: Earthquake-resistant construction, built to conform to world-class security and quality standards and regulations for residential buildings. Enclosed complex with a Guardhouse completely equipped to provide security 24 hours a day. Fire-protection system (NFPA regulation). Large parking area for 69 vehicles. Elegant Lobby with panoramic floor-to-ceiling windows, with a view of the condominium's extensive lawn and the Central Valley beyond. Security system: closed circuit TV and electronic access control. Each apartment has 2 telephone lines. Pre-wired for: o Cable TV o Internet broadband connection. Clubhouse near the swimming pool, air-conditioned and completely furnished. Gymnasium equipped with: television, treadmill, stationary bicycle and a multi-gym, as well as a sauna and vapor bath. A 10x20-meter Tennis court, with all accessories, well-lit, with a rest area under roof for spectators and players A 190 m 2 swimming pool for adults with two waterfalls, as well as a swimming pool for children. Both will have all the finishings and will be heated. There will be extensive areas to sunbathe and an under-roof Jacuzzi near the swimming pool and the clubhouse. OTIS (GEM2) latest-model noiseless private and service elevators. Speed: 1.5 meters/second. A full-backup Electrical Plant. A drinking water storage tank holding sufficient water to supply all needs for a minimum of 4 days. A separate water storage tank for the fire system, and a modern AMANCO AE.2.6.1 sewage-water treatment plant. Air Conditioning in all

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Apartment Building Construction Price Index, fourth ...

Originally Published: February 13, 2014 12:02 PMModified: February 13, 2014 3:01 PM

Aragona Properties

The 5-story apartment building will be built on South Main Street, south of East Lincoln Avenue.

Aragona Properties

The development, which is awaiting building permits from the city, is located on South Main Street, south of East Lincoln Avenue.

Construction on a new five-story, 48-unit apartment building in downtown Royal Oak is expected to begin in the spring.

Clinton Township-based developer Aragona Properties LLC garnered financing for the project and now awaits building permits from the city, the developer confirmed today.

The development is planned for 1.5 acres of vacant land on South Main Street south of East Lincoln Avenue. Besides luxury apartments, plans call for first-floor retail space.

Paul Aragona, CEO of Aragona Properties, said construction on the $13.5 million project is expected to be complete by the first quarter of 2015.

The building would be about 73,000 square feet, according to Marty Smith, principal at Southfield-based Siegal/Tuomaala Associates Architects & Planners Inc., the architecture firm on the project.

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5-story Royal Oak apartment building to break ground in spring

This morning, Statistics Canada released the fourth quarter figures for the Apartment Building Construction Price Index (ABCPI), which tracks changes in contractors selling prices of new apartment buildings.

This not seasonally adjusted index remained unchanged from the third quarter at 146.0, and is up 1.0 percent year-over-year.

The ABCPI measures price fluctuations in seven major Canadian metropolitan areas (Halifax, Montreal, Ottawa-Gatineau, Toronto, Calgary, Edmonton, and Vancouver), and is weighted by relative importance.

Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver comprise over 85 percent of the index.

Annual price appreciation was muted throughout 2013, keeping pace with the rate of inflation:

Heres how the results stacked up by metropolitan area:

As you can see, the only cities that saw year-over-year price growth that exceeded the national average were the ones west of Toronto, with Vancouver outperforming all other metros by a fairly wide margin.

Though an immense amount of high-rises are under construction, multi-family home values seeing far less of an increase in value than single-family homes across the country.

Such results reinforce the notion that the Canadian housing markets heyday has come and gone, and that real estate is in store for a cooling period though not a U.S.-style crash.

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In 2013, The Growth In Selling Prices Of New Apartment ...

Print Create a hardcopy of this page Font Size: Default font size Larger font size Salt Lake City blaze caused $1.5 million in damage

Firefighters battle a four-alarm fire in Salt Lake City, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2014. Lennie Mahler/The Salt Lake Tribune

Firefighters battle an apartment fire in Salt Lake City, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2014. The apartment building that was under construction. Agency spokesman Jasen Asay told The Associated Press that the Fire Department did a walkthrough of the building on Saturday. Lennie Mahler/The Salt Lake Tribune

Posted: Monday, February 10, 2014 2:34 pm | Updated: 2:45 pm, Mon Feb 10, 2014.

Salt Lake City blaze caused $1.5 million in damage By Brady McCombs AP Writer SantaFeNewMexican.com |

SALT LAKE CITY A major blaze at a vacant downtown Salt Lake City apartment complex that could be seen for miles and brought onlookers from around the metro area caused at least $1.5 million in damage, fire investigators said Monday.

The cause of the four-alarm Sunday night blaze remained unknown, Salt Lake City Fire Department spokesman Jasen Asay said. Investigators cant begin digging through the ashes until inspectors determine if the remaining walls of the 40-foot-tall building are stable. They havent ruled out arson, but Asay says its too early to speculate.

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Salt Lake City blaze caused $1.5 million in damage

Flames and smoke from a fire engulfing an apartment building under construction in downtown Salt Lake City could be seen for miles, but it was almost completely extinguished Sunday night, the Fire Department said.

The blaze at 550 E. 500 South was under control but not completely out, Salt Lake City Fire Department spokesman Jasen Asay told The Associated Press. No one was inside the 40-foot-tall building, and no one was hurt.

Flames shot high in the air and winds flung embers, Asay said, prompting several 911 calls starting at 6 p.m. A Smith's grocery store and parking lot across the street and several nearby structures, including residential buildings, were evacuated as a precaution, he said. Some people have returned, and most should be able to get back in Sunday night, Asay added.

The spokesman estimated that more than 100 onlookers gathered to watch the dramatic flames, prompting the closure of areas surrounding the building for safety.

Sarah Preston was standing more than a half-block away.

"You could just feel the heat," she told The Salt Lake Tribune ( http://bit.ly/1eM0ylc).

Another onlooker, Kitti Smit, told the newspaper: "I've never seen anything like it before."

A cause of the fire was not yet known. Asay says he talked to the construction company, which he did not name, and said no work was being done Sunday, no utilities have been hooked up and there was no heating source.

The Fire Department did a walkthrough of the building on Saturday as it continued to monitor the progress of construction, Asay said, adding that it was in compliance. Investigators were interviewing witnesses and the company.

Exposed wood at the under-construction building allowed the fire to grow quickly, so crews pulled out and battled it from the outside over fears the structure would collapse, Asay said. About 60 firefighters responded. They worked to keep flames away from a large crane they feared would topple if it got too hot, Asay said.

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Salt Lake City blaze in building seen for miles

SALT LAKE CITY It was hard to miss the 4-alarm fire in downtown Salt Lake City on Sunday night, as evidenced by the crowds of people who lined the sidewalk to catch sight of a blaze that became as big a spectacle as it was an emergency.

There were so many flames coming down that we had to move, said Prescott Dunn, who filmed the fire from the Smiths parking lot across the street.

On Monday, Dunn and several others returned to the site to see construction crews begin demolishing a portion of the structure.

It puts it into perspective that something like that could happen, Dunn said.

The 64,000-square-foot building was supposed to house 61 new apartments upon completion, but after burning for hours, only its skeletal remains were left standing.

The fire last night was just giant, a lot of flames, a lot of damage done, said Jasen Asay, spokesman for the Salt Lake City Fire Department.

Because of the extensive damage, fire investigators were not able to go inside the property on Monday due to safety concerns. Construction crews knocked out the top floors of the structure to remove any obvious dangers, though, and Asay expected fire officials to enter the property by Tuesday.

Per protocol, the building had just been inspected by the city fire marshal on Saturday, leaving much room for speculation as to what happened between then and when the fire started.

The cause for this fire is still open and it could be a lot of different things, Asay said. And were not ready to get worried, or to be concerned about something when we dont have any reason to be concerned about that yet.

Investigators were expected to enter the property on Wednesday.

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Crowds return to site of apartment building consumed by flames

COURTESY OF PRESBYTERIAN VILLAGES OF MICHIGAN

Presbyterian Villages of Michigan is in the midst of the second phase of development of Rivertown Neighborhood. An independent living apartment building (upper left) is under construction and expected to be completed in July. PVM plans to begin renovating an existing building on the site to provide an alternative to nursing home care.

Presbyterian Villages of Michigan is in the second phase of development at its $43.5 million Rivertown Neighborhood near Detroit's east riverfront.

After opening an affordable assisted living complex in one of two former Parke-Davis manufacturing facilities on the Detroit campus last spring, Southfield-based PVM and Chelsea-based United Methodist Retirement Communities Inc. began construction of a $7.5 million independent senior apartment building in the fall. The four-story, 50-unit building, which is just under 50,000 square feet, is expected to open in July.

The development, and existing Rivertown complex, is at McDougall Avenue and Franklin Street, two streets south of Jefferson Avenue.

PVM President and CEO Roger Myers

"The demand for that building has been the greatest we've ever seen," said PVM President and CEO Roger Myers.

More than 300 people have expressed interest in living there, but PVM won't begin taking applications until late March, he said.

With a $2 million grant from the Baltimore-based Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation in hand, PVM is getting ready to begin renovations on a second existing building on the site in August.

The 20,000-square-foot building, adjacent to the assisted living center, will be home to the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Green Houses on its upper floors. An alternative to nursing home care, the houses will provide a home-like setting, with 10-12 private rooms for senior citizens, a communal kitchen and living areas, social programming and 24-hour nursing care. PVM plans to put a cafe on the ground floor.

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Rivertown seniors development in 2nd phase

Another image from a construction fire in Salt Lake City near 550 E. 500 South, Sunday, Feb 9, 2014.

Mindy Hatch

SALT LAKE CITY An entire apartment building under construction at 550 E. 500 South went up in flames, Sunday.

Flames from the building shot up 150 feet. Salt Lake City Fire Department responded with four alarms.

No one was in the building when the fire started. The fire was upgraded to four-alarm shortly before 6:30 p.m.

Around 6:45, nearby homes and a Smith's Marketplace across the street were evacuated. There was concern embers from the fire were landing on nearby rooftops.

The Utah Department of Transportation sent out a tweet saying 500 South was closed from 400 East to 500 East. That road closure could stay in effect throughout the night.

Almost 100 firefighters responded to the fire. The Red Cross is on scene to provide relief for those firefighters.

Smoke and flames from the fire could be seen across the valley, and some witnessed embers shooting out from the building for several feet. As of 7:30 p.m., the fire was under control and smoldering.

Updates will be posted when available.

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Blaze breaks out in building under construction in Salt Lake City

The systemic failure by cost-cutting apartment developers to build fire-safe apartment blocks in New Zealand's major city is being kept under wraps by secret legal settlements.

The Sunday Star-Times has learned of a number of secret settlements to homeowners involving professional fire engineers and the Auckland Council for sub-standard fire systems in multi-unit dwellings although the council denies its involvement.

While the fire safety problems are not restricted to Auckland or apartment buildings, the Star-Times understands settlements so far have related to Auckland apartment complexes.

The fire engineers are on the hook if they have certified systems that don't meet the required building consent conditions while the building consent authority is legally liable under the Building Act to ensure the consent documents accurately reflect the work carried out before issuing a code compliance certificate.

The leaky building crisis has been well publicised. But lawyers for leaky building claimants say around one in five claims for defective and shoddily-constructed apartment blocks also involve claims to fix faulty and sub-standard fire systems.

Leaky building litigator Paul Grimshaw's firm currently represents about 6000 clients with leaky properties; the majority are body corporates for apartment blocks in Auckland.

He says the problems with apartment buildings would be better described as construction defects rather than weathertightness issues.

"Leaking doesn't really cover it . . . There are fire issues, there are structural issues, there are cladding issues."

He says builders and developers have cut corners by not correctly fire rating buildings.

Inadequate fire rating means a building will burn too quickly, not slowing the spread of fire enough to allow residents to escape, or may cause the building to collapse.

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Secret fire-safety deals