April launch is planned for 74 units

Published: 2:00 AM - 12/30/13

CITY OF NEWBURGH A Newburgh project that will provide work force housing and homes for the developmentally disabled was one of 10 statewide awarded a share of $23 million in state aid announced recently by Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

Independence Square, a three-story apartment building, will be built on land at 11 Washington Terrace in the city.

The site is owned by Independent Living Inc., whose Newburgh location is next door.

There will be 14 units for developmentally disabled tenants, with the other 60 for work force housing.

Construction is expected to begin in April.

One of the qualifications for the aid was that it go to projects that were shovel-ready.

The Newburgh project is expected to pump a total of about $16.8 million into the local economy during its construction.

It will be getting $2.4 million from New York state $1 million from the Housing Trust Fund and $1.4 million in low-income housing tax credits.

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$2.4M will help Newburgh apartment project

BARCELONA - In this quiet suburb, children giggle as they kick around a soccer ball in front of their building. Their mothers trade tales nearby, their loud voices filling the entrance.

A father darts around the kids as he heads out to run a few errands.

It could be any Saturday afternoon anywhere in Spain except for some important differences. Homemade signs, calling for human rights and affordable housing, hang from every floor of this building. The elevator has never been operational. The water supply fails constantly.

The apartment building, with its gleaming faucets and brand-new hardwood floors, is home to 15 families who have been squatting here illegally for months.

Known as Bloc Salt, the squatters' home is one of many created because of the hundreds of Spanish families who are served eviction notices daily and the thousands of properties that sit abandoned across the country since the Spanish housing bubble burst.

"In this country, we have people without houses and houses without people," says Marta Afuera Pons of the Mortgage Victims' Platform (Plataforma de Afectados por la Hipoteca). It only makes sense, she says, to start using one problem to solve the other.

One in four Spaniards is out of work, which in a country that boasts one of the highest rates of home ownership in the world means many families fall behind on their mortgage payments and face foreclosure.

At the same time, the number of empty buildings across the country swelled after a building boom went bust.

The Spanish government estimates that there are more than 650,000 finished properties that sit empty across the country, alongside nearly half a million properties that were left idle while under construction.

Bloc Salt has become the poster child of a national campaign to fill Spain's empty homes with evicted families. The building's five floors are home to 37 people - 17 of them children - who call each other by their first names, share meals and raise chickens in the building's front yard.

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Spain squatters take over buildings after foreclosures

Arturo Mazano unravels an extension cord as construction continues on phase two of Walnut Commons apartments at the intersection of East Third Street and Walnut Street. BY THE NUMBERS

95.1 Average percent occupancy of Chattanoogas apartment complexes surveyed as of mid-2013

30 Percent of apartment properties surveyed offering concessions to get new tenants

$37 Average monthly amount of concessions

Source: Rock Apartment Advisors

Michael VanSleen says hes tiring of apartment living and about ready to start looking for a house.

Id rather be in a house with a yard, he said outside his downtown Chattanooga apartment building. It would be nice to own a house.

Some people, such as VanSleen, who may have rented in the past because of tighter credit standards, bigger home down payments or personal financial uncertainty, are getting back into the single-family market or at least looking to do so.

The past year or so saw modest declines in both occupancy and rent from the prior 12-month period, indicating that the sizzling apartment market in the city has cooled off a little.

Still, Chattanoogas apartment market was extremely strong in 2013, and next year is shaping up as a healthy one as well, according to an industry expert.

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Urban living: Chattanooga apartment market loses a bit of its sizzle

NORTH MIAMI, Fla. (WSVN) -- Clean up crews are working hard to get residents back home in one South Florida apartment building after heavy rain forced them out.

More than 200 people had to leave their homes, located off of 132nd Street and Sixth Avenue and find shelter Thursday evening.

According to the building owner and manager, they are doing everything they can to make sure the building is safe for the residents. Crews have been working all day Friday, and the work could continue later into the evening.

Residents were allowed, under supervision, to return to their homes just to retrieve valuables. "The manager come and talked to us now. He said he's gonna make the security go with us and one by one to get some stuff this morning," one resident said.

Construction was previously being done on the roof, but after heavy rain on Thursday, the residents were evacuated after apartments were drenched with water.

Tenants were frustrated, forced to pick up their lives and leave. "It's a mess; it's not good," one resident said.

A shelter was set up by the American Red Cross at a Miami Gardens Church. At first, residents were told it would be three days before they could return. "The order and the city authority are working jointly to get the building reopened," the building manager, Roberto Touissant said.

With crews still working to fix the building, residents are still left wondering where they will go for shelter. "I don't know where I'm going to go tonight," a resident said.

More than 50 workers are in the process of drying the apartments and getting rid of the standing water on the roof.

Crews also have to work to get electricity restored, with Florida Power and Light arriving Friday afternoon. "We're really sorry for what happened," Touissant said. "We make sure we work jointly with the tenant, with the owner, with the city authority and to make sure that everybody can get back safely."

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Building clean up continues after tenants displaced

The site of the former Aviv Center for Living/Jewish Rehabilitation Center will soon be home to a new project. The Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) unanimously approved a special permit for the construction of a two-building apartment complex at 326-330 Paradise Road by the Hanover Company, at their meeting Wednesday, Dec. 18.

"I'm thrilled with the decision," said Hanover development partner David Hall.

The permit grants site plan and dimensional relief for two four-story buildings containing 184 market-rate luxury apartments. Ninety-nine of those apartments will be one-bedroom units, 70 will be two-bedroom units and 15 will be three-bedroom units.

Building 1, with a projected 104 units, is designed as a horseshoe-shaped building on the side of the property near Longwood Drive towards the Lynn side of town and further away from the street than the present two-story building.

Building 2 will be a long rectangle with 80 units on the other side of the property with its rear facing Crown Pointe Condominiums, towards Salem. It is the same layout first presented to the Planning Board July 15 and ZBA July 24, although concerns about drainage and the location of the driveway were addressed in the meantime.

In October, the original location of the driveway was moved from 326 Paradise Road to a spot closer to Vinnin Square because it was found to be zoned a residential lot, having held a house at one time.

Other concerns were finally laid to rest Dec. 18, at least to the satisfaction of the ZBA. The original plan for emergency access via Longwood Drive and a second plan for such access from Eastman Road behind the complex, which upset residents, were superseded by a new plan for emergency access through Crown Pointe land via a connecting path in the northwest corner of the Hanover site. Hall reported Crown Pointe is amenable to the idea, which will be reciprocal.

It would only be used in the case of a large fire when we'd need more apparatus," Fire Chief Kevin Breen said. "We couldn't see it until the leaves came down. What we thought was steep was a gentle grade."

The ZBA was also satisfied with traffic information submitted by Hanover through consultant Jeffrey Dirk. Using numbers from a similarly sized Hanover development in Braintree, he said Hanover Vinnin Square will generate the same traffic level as the JRC did, although residences generate outbound traffic in the morning and inbound traffic in the evening, the opposite of a workplace.

When the complex is 90-95 percent full, traffic counts will be made. If the count exceeds 110 percent of the projections mitigation is in order, probably taking the form of retiming traffic signals, to be paid for by Hanover.

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JRC site in Swampscott to see new project

In a triangular block where Fairmount Avenue merges into Ridge Avenue in North Philadelphia, another milestone for Project HOME is rising.

Workers are hurrying to finish the $16 million JBJ Soul Homes, a 55-unit apartment house for low-income and formerly homeless people.

Project HOME got its start 25 years ago, running a wintertime shelter for homeless men. Now, it's one of the most active nonprofit developers in the city.

Outside the site, two men in a cherry picker seal seams with caulking in the building's vermilion facade. Inside, others sweep hallways, haul away empty cardboard boxes, and mop floors.

About two years ago, his "home" was a steam vent outside a Chinatown restaurant at Ninth and Vine Streets. He was addicted to crack, and panhandling for money and food.

Today, he's clean, working full time for a builder, and living in a communal residence run by Project HOME. "There are not many places like this," Wise said.

People on the streets, he said, often have a choice between a shelter "or more depressing situations."

The JBJ Soul Homes will give homeless men and women "another shot at a normal life," Wise added.

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Apartment building designed for homeless and low-income families

by ADAM MERTZ / KING 5 News

KING5.com

Posted on December 24, 2013 at 7:27 PM

SEATTLE- Massive cranes are fixtures at construction sites around downtown. Andersen Construction Senior Project Superintendent Paul Beethe says he is always asked two questions. How tall is it going to be and what is the building, said Beethe.

Andersen Construction Company is working on a 27 floor apartment tower at 3rd and Cedar in Belltown. It will have 298 apartment units and is expected to be completed this summer.

"It's pretty exciting because there is a lot of work out there so you're always looking down the road, said Beethe. About 3,200 housing units will be completed or are under construction in downtown Seattle and an additional 1,215 residential units will be added in South Lake Union, according to the Seattle Department of Planning and Development. There is a lot going on people are catching up. I think there were a lot of projects, they had their permits in hand, put on the backburner during the recession and they were ready to go as soon as they could get the financing, said Bryan Stevens, Department of Planning and Development spokesperson. In addition to the residential construction, Stevens said Amazon is in the process of building near Denny Triangle and there is also some development underway near Pioneer Square north of CenturyLink Field.

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Change on the horizon for Seattle skyline

CARLSBAD (CBS 8 / CNS) - Four people escaped an overnight fire that gutted their apartment in Carlsbad.

A call came in 2:25 a.m. Wednesday about a fire in a four-unit apartment building at 4653 Park Drive, Carlsbad Fire Department Capt. Steve Hardy said.

"Black smoke was blowing out of the apartment, and flames were coming through the roof," Hardy said. "The initial report was that people were trapped, but they had gotten out by the time firefighters arrived."

Hardy said eight fire engines, two ladder trucks, two ambulances and two battalion chiefs were dispatched to the two-alarm blaze.

The fire also threatened an adjacent structure under construction, Hardy said.

The blaze was completely extinguished by 3:15 a.m. Firefighters remained on scene doing mop up until 5:20 a.m.

There was no estimate of damages and the cause of the blaze was under investigation.

One person suffered minor injuries and a pet was also hurt. The Red Cross was helping those who were displaced.

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Early morning fire in Carlsbad guts apartment

Linsette Hawkins walks back to her apartment near Kentucky Avenue and Dexter Street, where more than 100 windows are set to be replaced as a result of damage from a nearby blaze. (AAron Ontiveroz, The Denver Post)

Officials still do not know what caused a Dec. 14 fire in Glendale.

The blaze burned so hot that it leveled an apartment building that was under construction and melted vehicles parked across the street.

A team of investigators spent five days on the scene and interviewed numerous witnesses, but officials have not been able to determine what started the blaze, according to a news release issued Monday.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the Denver Fire Department, the Glendale Police Department, and the Colorado Bureau of Investigation participated.

"If information is developed in the future to indicate or warrant further investigation, the finding of undetermined can be changed," the release said.

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Investigators can't determine cause of giant Glendale fire

A Minnesota developer proposesconstruction ofa 48-unit apartment building at the corner of Davenport's West 4th and Gaines streets, away from the booming rental neighborhood at the east end of downtown.

Stan Buesing, whose family owns the property, confirmed the interest in his property at that intersection. They have a tentative offer with MWF Properties of Minneapolis, pending financing. He declined to say how much the offer is.

Alderman Bill Boom, 3rd Ward, who represents the downtown, said he likes the project. It is expected to have a handful of market-rate apartments along with affordable housing options.

"I think it is the start of something," Boom said. "We are starting to see investment further and further west. It would be a great development for that corner and allow us to clean up that corner."

The building will be four stories and offer underground parking on the north half of the block. The project doesn't require rezoning but would go through the Design Review Board process for the downtown.

Alderman Gene Meeker, at large, who chairs the council's economic development committee, sees good and not so good in the project.

"It would be nice to get some of those properties cleaned up over in that area," he said. "Were always looking for investment in our community, but were getting more than our share of subsidized housing."

MWF, one of three companies the city council backed for tax credit applications earlier this month, isn't expected to hear whether it will receive those until the end of January, Buesing said. Bruce Berger, of the city's Community Planning and Economic Development Department, said he doesn't expect an answer until March.

Buesing said it was time to sell the property and it had been on the market for some time.

"We wanted to get out from under the building," Buesing said of his family. "Wed like to get the money so our kids dont have to worry about it if something happens to us.

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West end of Davenport downtown may get development