You know that people care about something when theyre willing to sit in sweltering heat for it. (Jess Schiewe)

Last Friday morning, Felix Guzman woke up early, grabbed his fishing pole, and headed over to the East River for some catch and release fun. For 40 years he has lived in the same building on Academy Street in Inwood and in that time he has seen a lot. So when he got back to his apartment around 11 am and saw that his street was teaming with newscasters, elected officials, cameramen, and local community members, he wasnt surprised. Theyd been there before. Its always been tough here, Mr. Guzman said. Im glad theyre doing something about it.

The building in question was 552 Academy Street, a crumbling 72-unit brick building located across the street from Mr. Guzmans apartment. A year ago he had stood outside and watched as dozens of tenants dragged their belongings onto the sidewalk, confused and frightened and wondering where they would relocate to next.

The building, the city told them, was unsafe, which was why they had to vacate the premises. Although Mr. Guzman had never been inside, he heard rumors that at times the units lacked gas, running water, and electricity. This is what happens when you get these slumlords and all they care about is the money, Mr. Guzman said, referring to the buildings landlord, Rachel Arfa, whom the City blames for the hazardous conditions.

With the help of the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, the tenants31 families in total were relocated to temporary apartments around the city, in neighborhoods like Hillside, Thayer, and Elmwood.

But on Friday, many of the tenants were back in their old neighborhood, rubbing shoulders with the suits and construction workers who were there to announce the good news: 552 Academy Street would be rehabilitated and open for residency in the next 18 months. As part of Mayor Michael Bloombergs New Housing Marketplace Plan, the structure has received $21.1 million in funding that will be used to rebuild, stabilize, and improve the old, defunct building.

This is a really big step for us, said Iris Bertoni, a representative of the buildings tenant association who had lived in the same apartment on the third floor for 50 years. Were coming back home.

In addition to improved mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems, the building, which was formerly a walk-up, will be redesigned to include an elevator line, a community room, and new kitchens, bathrooms, and laundry room. The renovations, which will modernize the building and bring it up to code, are the result of a lengthy battle between the City and Arfa for possession of the building. According to the Department of Buildings website, Arfa was charged with allowing structural stability and egress issues to develop over the last ten years, and has since been removed as the buildings owner.

This building has a history that is unfortunately not as uncommon as we would like, HPD Commissioner Mathew Wambua said,but one thing that it has in its favor is a support network equal to no other.The rehabilitation of the building, Mr. Wambua said, as well as the selection of a new owner, will bespearheaded by the Community League of the Heights (CLOTH) and Alembic Development Corporation.

Council Member Ydanis Rodriguez, who donated $1 million to the project from his discretionary funds, was at the event on Friday, donning a plastic hardhat and black suit. I feel great, he said minutes after plunging a golden shovel into a pile of dirt as part of the symbolic groundbreaking ceremony. Not only was he glad that the tenants would be able to return to their former homes, he said, but he hoped that the event would serve as a warning to inept landlords throughout the city. We have no tolerance for negligence, he said. This is a message to any other landlord who doesnt reflect what they are supposed to be doing in terms of providing decent living situations for their tenants.

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Inwood Stability: City Saves Neglected Apartment Building with New Program and Private Partnership

A long-vacant site in the heart of downtown Los Angeles has been sold to investors who are expected to start work within two months on one of the largest new apartment buildings to be built in the region since the economic downturn.

The seller was Beverly Hills developer Sonny Astani, who secured city approval to build a 700-unit, steel-and-glass apartment building with a rooftop pool on nearly a full city block. It would include enough ground floor retail space for a grocery store and almost an acre of open space.

The development would cost $300 million to build and house about 1,000 residents on what is now a 3-acre parking lot on 8th Street flanked by Grand Avenue and Olive Street. The existing buildings on the block are early 20th-century office structures, facing 7th Street, including the Brockman Lofts.

A 40-foot pool on the roof of the eighth floor surrounded by cabanas, a lounge and barbecues would be the centerpiece of the development, said Astani, who won't be involved in building the project. "It was a complicated structural engineering process to design it," he said of the large pool.

Astani sold the entitled land to a Colorado limited-liability corporation called CPIVG8 for $63 million. At $500 a square foot, it was one of the most expensive land deals ever in downtown L.A., Astani said.

With vacancy falling and rents rising in much of Southern California, apartments are considered a choice investment among many institutional and individual investors.

"Downtown is a great center for job growth, and the multifamily market has stayed vibrant through the downturn," real estate broker Bradford McCarthy of CBRE Group Inc. said.

Astani built the $260-million Concerto, a 30-story condominium tower, a few blocks away at 9th and Figueroa streets. He sold his interest in the property in 2011 after a complex legal battle with hedge fund Starwood Group after federal regulators seized control of Astani's lender.

Italian investors buy Fine Arts Building in L.A.

Italian investors who specialize in buying trophy historic properties have acquired one of the best in Los Angeles the 84-year-old Fine Arts Building.

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Development planned for long-vacant downtown L.A. site

KITCHENER City buildings officials say the residents in an eight-storey apartment building at Ottawa Street and Midland Drive cannot use their enclosed balconies.

Building inspectors declared the balconies at 24 Midland Dr. unsafe because wooden studs and drywall were used to build the exterior walls when the balconies were enclosed in 1990 with no building permit.

The exterior walls of the balconies do not comply with the Ontario Building Code.

The owners have until Dec. 1 to complete the work to make the balconies safe for each of the 73 units. The building is in the ward represented by Coun. Berry Vrbanovic, who organized a meeting among the residents, city building officials and engineers.

The latest review says all the balconies do not meet the code, there are concerns with them, some are particularly bad and there are life-safety issues, potentially, with the balconies, Vrbanovic said in an interview Friday.

The building, known as Stanley Park Place, was built in 1967. The units are owned by the occupants in a condominium-like arrangement.

For the seniors it is worrisome, Vrbanovic said. It is going to be a potentially significant chunk of money.

It could cost up to $25,000 to bring each balcony up to the standards of the building code. The construction season is in full swing right now and that could push the costs up, so Vrbanovic hopes the deadline can be extended.

Mike Seiling, the citys top building official, said nobody is allowed to use the enclosed balconies until the exterior walls are replaced.

If we have to give them some extra time we will be willing to listen, but we want to see some action, he said. We understand this is going to be expensive, we are sympathetic to that.

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Safety concerns mean apartment owners can’t use their balconies

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Ferndale Drive parking ban: ON THE AGENDA

Home : Canada : Ontario cracks down on condo window pane rules

ctvtoronto.ca

Date: Thursday Jun. 21, 2012 10:46 AM ET

The province has strengthened the rules behind balcony glass used in new building construction after a spate of glass panes fell and shattered in downtown Toronto.

The Ontario government said on Thursday that it had changed the Building Code to require construction companies to use heat-strengthened laminated glass near the edges of a balcony.

It is the same kind of glass used in windshields and is less prone to shatter than the type most commonly currently used.

Construction companies will also need to use heat-strengthened laminated glass or heat-soaked tempered glass when glass balcony guards are inset from the balcony edge.

The change was a recommendation made by an advisory council and comes after several glass panes fell from Toronto high rises. The new rule with be enforced on any construction beginning as of July 1.

"This amendment will help protect the public and offer clarity and certainty to the building industry," Kathleen Kynne, Ontario's municipal affairs and housing minister, said in a statement.

"I'm thankful to the members of the expert advisory panel for their contributions and sound advice."

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Ontario cracks down on condo window pane rules

NEWPORT The group that built the SouthShore condominiums tower will begin construction on a new building with more than 90 upscale apartments.

A ground-breaking ceremony is set for 9 a.m. Thursday for the Vu 180 building, which will house 93 high-end rental apartments. The building will be located between the I-471 Big Mac bridge and the existing SouthShore tower on the riverfront in Newport, said David Bastos, a partner with the Capital Investment Group, Inc.

The building will be four stories of one- and two-bedroom apartments above a parking area. Rent for a one-bedrooms apartment will be about $800 per month and a unit with two bedrooms will be about $1,400 per month, Bastos said.

The construction of the building is estimated to take a year and will cost $15.8 million, he said.

Vu 180 is the second phase of the SouthShore development project, said Adam Caswell, president of the Campbell County Economic Progress Authority. Caswell said the expansion to SouthShore will benefit the demand for rentals in the area.

With the difficult economy, owning is not a viable option for everyone, and having the opportunity to rent high-end apartments is in demand, Caswell said.

The new building is the first major development to SouthShore since 2007. Capital Investment waited for the condos in the SouthShore tower to sell out before starting construction on the Vu 180 building, Bastos said.

The third phase of the project will be another condominium tower on the other side of the SouthShore tower, he said. Construction will begin on that tower after all of the apartments in Vu 180 are rented. Bastos estimates it will take five to six years to fill the building, adding that about 10 condos in the SouthShore tower are sold each year.

The project is part of a continuing demand for downtown living for people who want the close proximity of downtown Cincinnati, Newport and Bellevue, Bastos said.

For the past 10 years, he said, Capital Investment Group has been focusing on the niche market of young professionals taking part in Newports urban migration.

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Construction starting on Newport apartment building

News 12 at 11 O'Clock / Tuesday, June 19, 2012

AUGUSTA, Ga -- Neighbors from West Augusta packed the commission chambers Tuesday to fight against a proposed apartment complex.

"We'd rather see some houses go back there instead of apartments," Kevin Wilson said. He lives in the Hillcreek neighborhood.

People in the quiet neighborhood off Augusta West Parkway say they want their neighborhood to stay quiet, and building an apartment complex would bring concerns.

"The crime element, the noise level, the traffic," Jeanne Corley said. She also lives nearby.

Right now, the land near the neighborhood is zoned for commercial offices, but developers want to put more than 200 apartments there instead. They say the apartments would actually cause less traffic than offices would.

"[Here is a] full traffic study showing that current zoning will generate between 2,100 and 7,000 daily trips," Jim Trotter said on behalf of potential developers.

"That traffic leaves in the afternoon and night time and weekends." Jeanne rebutted. "We're not constantly bombarded with constant flow of traffic."

Commissioners sided with neighbors as they voted unanimously to deny rezoning the land that would allow apartment construction.

"It's nice to have the consensus there," Commissioner Joe Bowles said.

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Commission denies apartment construction, protects neighborhood's privacy

The city of Rapid City issued permits for $32.5 million in construction work in May, pushing the total so far this year to more $100 million.

Two large apartment projects were among the biggest projects, city officials said. A full list of projects permitted in May was not available at news deadline because the city is implementing a new electronic permit-tracking system and was not able to generate the full report at the time of the Journal's request.

May permits include the $11 million Village at Founders Park apartment complex, with 126 upscale units, as well as the $3.5 million, 34-unit Rocker Square student apartment building near South Dakota School of Mines & Technology.

The projects are part of a total of 266 new residential permits permitted through May in the city, including 71 single-family homes. That is more total units than were built in each of the last three years.

Crews on Monday placed the final precast concrete panel on the Rocker Square building. Project manager Brandon Moore of J. Scull Construction Services said the project is on track for its Aug. 15 completion date. The roof is going on this week, and inside, workers are on different floors finishing framing, mechanical systems and drywall.

Everybodys kind of chasing each other up, Moore said, referring to how different tradesmen are progressing up the floors of the six-story building.

Construction on a second Rocker Square student apartment building is expected to begin within 30 to 40 days, Moore said.

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Apartment projects boost May building permits

Builders broke ground on fewer homes in May, due mostly to plummeting apartment construction, but requested the most permits since September 2008.

Overall housing starts last month dropped 4.8% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 708,000, but thats compared with Aprils 744,000 figure, which was revised up.

Compared with May 2011, new construction is up 28.5%, according to the Commerce Department report.

Initial work on multi-family housing, an erratic gauge which plunged 21.3% last month, was a drag on the overall measure. Housing starts for single-family homes rose 3.2% in their third straight monthly increase.

Builders also seem to be looking forward to the next 12 months, requesting the most permits in more than three years.

Permits were at a seasonally adjusted rate of 780,000, a 7.9% increase from April and 25% above last May.

The new data raises the question du jour: Is the housing market making a gradual recovery?

Both the housing starts and building permits measures are at about half the 1.5-million level usually considered healthy. A report Monday found home-builder confidence still weak, despite being at a five-year high.

But home prices, while low, seem to be turning around. Record-low mortgage rates may be attracting more buyers, causing home sales to surge in California. Inventories seem to be shrinking, according to some studies.

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Building permits at 4-year high, single-family housing starts up

By Maura Webber Sadovi

After slowing to a crawl following the recession, the pace of apartment construction is coming back in downtown Los Angeles.

In downtown Los Angeles a number of new projects are getting under way following a pause that ended last year, according to Carol Schatz, president of the Central City Association of Los Angeles, an organization that advocates for Los Angeless businesses. (The Journal wrote last month about the downtown L.A. office market, which is also rebounding, albeit slowly.)

Some 1,526 new apartments and condos are under construction in downtown L.A. Thats still far below the 8,224 units under way at the peak of the market in 2007, but Ms. Schatz says its a positive sign that an increasing number of developers are once again confident enough to build. Its anyones guess when we get back to the ferocity we experienced before the crash, but its good news, Ms. Schatz says.

Most of the units being built downtown are rentals, which is not surprising given the still troubled for-sale market. Prices for condos and town homes in L.A. have yet to stabilize. The median price of condos and town homes in Los Angeles County fell 8.4% in the first quarter to $214,458 from $234,185 in the year-earlier period, according to a sample of sales by the California Association of Realtors.

By contrast, apartment rents have been rising since last year and the first quarter average asking rent stood at $1,425, just below the recent annual peak of $1,464 hit in 2008, according to Reis Inc, a real-estate research firm.

Related Cos., one of the developers whose delivery pipeline is gearing back up in the Los Angeles area, says only select locations like the tony beachfront city of Santa Monica have recovered enough to warrant condos. L.A.s rental market is strong, says William Witte, president of Related California. Except for a few niche locations, the condo market is still a work in progress.

Later this year Related will begin building a 271-unit high-end rental apartment in downtown L.A. near the new Broad art museum being built on Grand Avenue. Rents in most units are expected to start at $2,200 a month. In January, Related began building a 158-unit luxury condominium project in Santa Monica, where the asking prices will start at $800,000.

But some analysts are keeping a wary eye on the uptick in construction because it is coming even as L.A.s apartment markets recovery is relatively new.

For landlords to have pricing power they need, one rule of thumb is that rents should rise about 5% annually for at least 12 to 18 months before new supply is added, says Hessam Nadji, managing director of research and advisory services at Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services.

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Apartment Construction Stars Again in Downtown L.A.