Construction continues on the Savory House, a three-story apartment building on University Drive. The project is the latest from former Starkville mayor Dan Camp. Camp owns nearly all of the properties in the Cotton District, a 95 percent student-residential and commercial neighborhood near campus. Photo by: Micah Green/Dispatch Staff

Enrollment at Mississippi State University is set to increase for the eighth consecutive year and, with no signs to indicate a change in pattern, University and Starkville developers are making strides to accommodate the continued student influx.

Construction on two new residence halls at MSU is scheduled to finish this summer. Oak Hall and Magnolia Hall, temporary names given to the nearly completed buildings, each will house more than 350 students.

Director of Housing and Residence Life Dr. Ann Bailey said she expects the new dorms to be at capacity by the beginning of the fall semester and she stressed the importance of providing students, especially freshmen, with a comfortable living experience.

Bailey said a housing experience could determine whether a new student stays at MSU or transfers to another school.

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Student housing boom: Innovation key to new developments

By KENNETH KNIGHT | The Tampa Tribune Published: May 30, 2012 Updated: May 30, 2012 - 12:00 AM

The construction of an apartment complex under way on Regents Park Drive is the first sign of multifamily housing in this New Tampa subdivision in at least a decade.

Tampa-based Bayfair Development is building 168 apartments on eight acres adjacent to the Pebble Creek Golf Club, company president and founder Michael Morris said last week.

It is the second apartment complex being built in a two-mile radius just south of the Hillsborough-Pasco county line.

The Bayfair multifamily community is expected to begin signing up tenants by late October or early November, Morris said.

"We will have a building ready for occupancy by the end of the year," he said.

The complex will have one- and two-bedroom apartments with standard appliances and a washer and dryer in each unit.

The size of the one-bedroom apartments will range from 800 square feet to 850 square feet, and the two-bedroom dwellings will top out at about 1,100 square feet.

No lease prices have been set, Morris said, "But we will be competitive in the marketplace."

The complex will be marketed to young professionals, upwardly mobile residents and empty-nesters interested in living in an active community in a suburban setting.

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Apartments touted as sign of strengthening economy

(Credit: Cherri Gregg/KYW Newsradio)

By Cherri Gregg

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) A West Philadelphia nonprofit held a ribbon cutting ceremony on Wednesday to mark the completion of the $7.5 million renovation of a historic apartment building. Its one of the first major investment this area has seen in years.

Originally built in 1912, this is the second facelift for the California Mission-style Von Lour Building in the past 20 years.

Were not talking about gentrification here, were just talking about transforming a community, says Marcus Allen, President and CEO of ACHIEVEability, a group that provides affordable housing to low income families. He says the 30-year-old organization used a combination of historic and federal tax credits and banking contributions to fund the multi-million renovation.

It has 24 units. Two of the units are handicap accessible. As part of the construction, we were able to build an elevator for if we have families with disabilities.

Allen says the goal is to help restore the area near 60th Street Station to its former glory.

This community has suffered from the building of the EL; many businesses and affluent people left the community left because of that. I think now we are in a cycle where we can begin to repay the community for the sacrifices they made.

Allen says ACHIEVEability impacted the Haddington and Cobbs Creek communities by increasing property values by more $300 million over the past three decades. The group owns a number of properties in the area and provides social services to formerly homeless single-parent families. For more info on ACHIEVEability, go to http://www.achieveability.org.

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West Philadelphia Nonprofit Unveils $7.5 Million Apartment Building Renovation

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS chats with some of the residents of Vergennes Senior Housing before a ceremony Monday marking the completion of the affordable housing complex on Armory Lane. Independent photo/Trent Campbell

VERGENNES Larry Carlson was on the waiting list for an apartment in the Vergennes Senior Housing building for more than three years. Once construction began, he checked back every week to see if he would get in. Now a resident of the newly opened facility off Armory Lane, he is thrilled with his experience.

As soon as the architect first came out, I was over to the offices and signed up. I was here every single week to check and see how the progress was coming, said Carlson.

At an open house Monday morning, Addison County Community Trust (ACCT) Executive Director Terry McKnight said that Carlsons satisfaction with the project was typical.

You can look around and see the faces of the people that now live in that building. If you talk to any of them, theyre really enjoying it, McKnight said.

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., joined McKnight and representatives of Housing Vermont, ACCT, and other project contributors to celebrate the opening of Vergennes Senior Housing. The $6.2 million facility will provide 25 affordable and energy-efficient apartments to seniors.

The facility was paid for through a mix of public and private funds, from Peoples United Bank, various Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) programs, Vermont Housing Finance Agency, Vermont Housing and Conservation Board, Vermont Community Development Program and Efficiency Vermont.

Sanders secured $380,000 for the project in a HUD grant.

This is exactly the kind of housing we should be building, Sanders said. Not only does it meet the significant need for quality and affordable senior housing , but it does it in a very energy-efficient manner.

Nancy Owens, president of Housing Vermont, acknowledged the importance of creating affordable housing.

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Seniors enjoying new city housing: officials point to project as a model

Syracuse, NY -- An $8.1 million apartment building for homeless veterans is planned to replace the vacant former Jewish Community Center on East Genesee Street in Syracuse.

Housing Visions, a non-profit that builds homes for low-income residents, is teaming up with the Veterans Administration on the project, which will be called VanKeuren Square. It will be at the T-intersection with Fellows Avenue on the city's East Side.

The plans are to demolish the 132,293 square foot brick building and replace it with a two-story structure with 50 apartments, said Ben Lockwood, the non-profit's director of development. The building will have 44 one-bedroom and six two-bedroom apartments and total 45,000 square feet.

Housing Visions is funding the project with a mixture of low-income tax credits, state homeless housing assistance and a city loan, Lockwood said. The majority of tenants will be referred by the VA, which will provide 25 housing vouchers lasting 15 years.

Housing Visions is paying more than $100,000 in back taxes and will pay about $25,000 a year in taxes, more than the current tax levy on the property. The taxes will go up slightly each year as rents increase, Lockwood said.

The project is part of the VA's goal to eliminate homelessness among veterans, Lockwood said. The VA will provide services to the veterans to get back on their feet.

Housing Visions has previously built veterans housing on East Fayette Street and at the former Cherry Hill public housing site.

"Absolutely, there's a pretty acute need in the community," Lockwood said.

Housing Visions hopes to close on the property in July from its last owner, an arm of the Seventh Day Adventist Church. It will take about 30 days to clean up asbestos and lead before demolition.

The new project has final planning and zoning approval from the city. Lockwood says he sees no obstacles in getting final approval for the demolition and construction.

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New 50-unit apartment building for homeless veterans planned for East Genesee Street in Syracuse

BY MATTHEW BRUCE Correspondent May 18, 2012 8:26PM

A rendering of the proposed Boulevard at Central Station apartment building in Tinley Park. | Supplied photo

storyidforme: 30720624 tmspicid: 10272743 fileheaderid: 4733890

Developers of a nearly $35 million mixed-used project proposed for downtown Tinley Park introduced their vision to the villages plan commission Thursday.

The development team laid out construction plans for The Boulevard at Central Station, a five-story building that would include 167 apartment units and 24,500 square feet of commercial space.

The project, to be located along South Street between 67th Court and 174th Street, would include one-, two- and three-bedroom units that eventually can be converted to condominiums if market conditions dictate. The majority of the apartments would be two-bedroom units.

The estimated cost of $34.8 million makes it essential to get the project rolling while interest rates are favorable, officials said.

We need to start this year. We want to start this year, project attorney David Sosin told the plan commission. Of course, one of the key issues for a developer are interest rates, which are wonderful right now. Next year, we dont know.

Bob Hansen, the main developer, said in April he first approached village officials in 2002 with the idea to build on the vacant strip. Fluctuations in the real estate market changed the plans over the years, with developers submitting six major plans to village officials, Sosin said.

This plan has been in the works for quite some time, as you know, he said. Weve weathered the worst downturn in residential housing in memory. ... We think were there today, and really ready to go with the plan.

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Plan for downtown Tinley apartment project ‘really ready to go’

A new apartment building near the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology is on schedule to go from foundation to finished in just five months.

Using pre-cast concrete panels, contractor J. Scull Construction Services expects to have the six-story building finished by Aug. 15, in time for 130 students to move into the two-, three- and four-bedroom apartments and start the school year.

Passers-by will see the progress advance by a floor a week for the next five weeks, and the roof will go up during the sixth week, leaving time for interior finish work.

The time frame is very aggressive for a six-story structure, Scull project manager Brandon Moore said. Getting turned loose in April and then finishing in August is a quick turnaround.

He said the precast panels are trucked to the site from a manufacturer in Sioux Falls.

In addition to being quick to install, the panels are energy-efficient, with insulation within the panel, along with more insulation installed on the interior wall.

You really get an efficient building type that will reduce heating and cooling costs, Moore said.

Project developer Hani Shafai, owner of Dream Design International, said his management group, Technology Housing LLC, has started leasing units in the building, which is called Rocker Square. Rents range from $370 to $475 a month for a 12-month lease, with the option of furnished or unfurnished space. The price includes utilities, a washer/dryer unit in each apartment, plus cable and Internet.

When this apartment building is finished, Shafai said, he will start construction on a similar apartment building next door that will have apartments ranging from studios to two-bedroom units. Together, the buildings will house 336 people. The ground floor of the first building will include a management office, a common area and a small coffee shop run by the universitys food-services provider.

The apartments are being built on the former site of a group of dilapidated houses and apartments that were razed this spring. The construction is the first step in the School of Mines 30-year, $500 million plan to redevelop the neighborhood between the university campus and East Boulevard. Plans call for student housing, a new sports arena and event center, parking structures and an expanded student center.

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Apartments rise quickly along St. Joe

An unknown buyer has paid over $90 million for an unfinished penthouse apartment, setting a new mark for the priciest home in New York City. The developer of a new high-rise building under construction on157 West 57th Street would not reveal the exact price for the 11,000-square foot, two-story penthouse, but did tell The New York Times that it was below the elusive $100 million mark that real estate watchers expect to be broken any day now. It breaks the previous New York City record of $88 million paid by a Russian billionaire to buy a Central Park West apartment for his daughter last year. On a per-square foot basis, however, this is a much better deal. The latest sale went for about $8,000 a square foot, while the Central Park West pad went for more than $13,000.

The new building, called One57, will eventually rise to 90 floors over Midtown Manhattan, making it one of the tallest residential buildings in the world. With more than half apartments still be to sold, it's possible that the $100 million mark could be surpassed on one of the lower floors before construction is even finished. Two other New York apartments have gone for more than $50 million in just the last week suggesting there is plenty of one-percenters looking to pay top dollar for a new pad.The buyer of the One57 penthouse was not revealed, but the developer said that the family was not from anywhere in the former Soviet Union and it is someone that people would recognize.

Want to add to this story? Let us know in comments or send an email to the author at dashiell at dashiellbennett dot com. You can share ideas for stories on the Open Wire.

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$90 Million Apartment Sets a New Real Estate Record

A proposal to build a five-story, 20-unit student apartment building at 2124 Grand Ave. won approval from the St. Paul Planning Commission on Friday, May 18, with conditions.

The building, which will replace a duplex and a single-family home at Grand Avenue and Finn Street, will have one level of underground parking with 37 stalls. Three more stalls will be along an alley.

The building, which will be constructed in the permit parking district by the University of St. Thomas, will be limited to up to 20 on-street parking permits for residents and up to five additional permits for management.

The developer, Cullen LLC, is required to provide up to 24 bicycle stalls and a space for a car-sharing service such as HourCar, as long as a car-sharing company is willing to locate there. Other conditions governed stormwater management and the placement of windows on the site.

Neighboring residents had objected to an increase in student housing, but city staff found that the project does not defy an ongoing moratorium against converting owner-occuped homes into student rentals since the development will be new construction.

The planning commission approved the project by a 15-1 vote.

SALVATION ARMY

Meanwhile, the Salvation Army won one and lost one before the commission Friday.

The Salvation Army recently received the go-ahead to open a co-ed youth shelter at the Booth Brown House on Como Avenue.

The 16-bed emergency shelter would house young people

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St. Paul Planning Commission: Student apartment building on Grand Avenue gets the nod

Enlarge Damian Dovarganes/AP

The increase in housing starts, along with rising builder confidence and stronger job growth, is a hopeful sign that the home market may be starting to recover.

The increase in housing starts, along with rising builder confidence and stronger job growth, is a hopeful sign that the home market may be starting to recover.

U.S. builders began work on more homes last month, evidence that the battered housing market is slowly healing.

The Commerce Department said Wednesday that builders broke ground at a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 717,000 homes in April from March. That's 2.6 percent more than March's total, which was revised higher. Construction rose for both single-family homes and apartments.

Building permits, a gauge of future construction, fell last month from a 3 year high to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 715,000. But that was because of a 23 percent drop in the volatile apartment category. Permits for single-family homes rose almost 2 percent.

Even with the gains, the rate of construction and the level of permits requested remain roughly half the pace considered healthy. But the increase, along with rising builder confidence and stronger job growth, is a hopeful sign that the home market may finally be starting to recover nearly five years after the housing bubble burst.

Builders have grown more confident since last fall, in part because more people have expressed interest in buying a home. In May, builder optimism rose to the highest level in five years, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo builder sentiment index.

Seasonally adjusted annual rate, in thousands

Homebuilders reported improving sales and higher traffic from prospective buyers, the survey showed. A gauge measuring confidence in sales over the next six months also rose to 34 from 31.

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Housing Construction Up 2.6 Percent In April