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The weekend before 'Super Saturday' saw steady home sales. Simon Johanson reports.

Gone are the days when a pool or gym would suffice in a new apartment building.

Now nightclubs, bars, shared dining facilities, poker rooms and yoga are being included to create "vertical villages" and provide communal spaces for residents.

As a result, modern apartment blocks are becoming more like pseudo hotels.

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New apartment blocks, such as Fifty Albert as seen in an artist's impression, are emphasising communal space.

The large array of lifestyle services on offer caters for an increasingly sophisticated set of high-rise dwellers wanting spaces and facilities not found in older buildings.

Developer Hamton's new Fifty Albert building near Albert Park Lake offers residents a health club, day spa, on-site yoga, indoor garden retreat and concierge service at ground level.

On the top floor are a sun deck, hot tubs, fully equipped barbecue, kitchens, dining, lounge, cinema and poker rooms all shared.

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Rise of the vertical village

New apartment blocks, such as Fifty Albert as seen in an artist's impression, are emphasising communal space.

GONE are the days when a pool or gym would suffice in a new apartment building.

Now nightclubs, bars, shared dining facilities, poker rooms and yoga are being included to create "vertical villages" and provide communal spaces for residents.

As a result, modern apartment blocks are becoming more like pseudo hotels.

Advertisement: Story continues below

The large array of lifestyle services on offer caters for an increasingly sophisticated set of high-rise dwellers wanting spaces and facilities not found in older buildings.

Developer Hamton's new Fifty Albert building near Albert Park Lake offers residents a health club, day spa, on-site yoga, indoor garden retreat and concierge service at ground level.

On the top floor are a sun deck, hot tubs, fully equipped barbecue, kitchens, dining, lounge, cinema and poker rooms all shared.

Another architecturally striking building about to begin construction in A'Beckett Street called MY80 will feature a private rooftop nightclub-bar and lounge on the 53rd floor.

As well as a pool, residents get a business centre, cinema and barbecue terrace.

Link:
Welcome to the vertical village

Tenants that were evacuated out of a South Bend apartment building after it was hit by a car are anxious to get the rest of their belongings.

AsWSBT first reported early Thursday morning, a car slammed into the building located at the corner of Olive and Lawson Streets.

There is a major crack running up the building and city officials say it is unsafe and will have to be demolished.

However, South Bend's Code Enforcement Office is trying to have the building stabilized enough so the people that lived there can get their things out.

The building is made up of nine rooms that people rented. According to the St. Joseph County Red Cross, no children lived in the building and tenants were mostly older people who had fixed incomes. When the accident happened in the middle of the night, most of them were evacuated before they could grab all their belongings.

City building inspectors say the building is so unstable they blocked off part of Olive Street and are detouring traffic away from the area because of the potential danger of the building crashing down. On Friday a construction crew was brought in to board up a gaping hole in the front of the building and to try to stabilize the complex.

The local Red Cross has been assisting the 12 people that lived there.

"In this case we provided folks with a prepaid debit card they could use for food or whatever they determined was their need, as well as the motel," said John Pinter, St. Joseph County Red Cross director.

The tenants could stay at a local hotel through Saturday morning, but were told they needed to contact friends or family to find a place to stay after that.

South Bend Code Enforcement Director Katherine Topple said early Monday morning she and her inspectors plan on going in the building to see what the damage looks like from the inside. If they can stabilize it enough they are going to allow tenants to go inone byone to get their belongings out. And then they are going to tear the building down

Continued here:
UPDATE: Smashed South Bend apartment building to be demolished

After hibernating for years, apartment construction is poised to boom in San Francisco, where desperate renters say those high-rises can't rise high or fast enough.

Largely in response to the city's growing technology sector, 22,000 residential units are in various stages of approval and construction. In a few years, residents could be signing leases for new addresses in South Beach, South of Market, Central Market and Mission Bay.

"There's been so much approved over the last four years that's never been built, so there's essentially a backlog of projects waiting for financing," said John Rahaim, the city's planning director.

Since 2008, only about 1,710 units were built each year, compared with an average of 2,220 each year between 2004 and 2008, according to the department.

Now, five major dwellings that were approved before 2008 and stalled during the recession have been restarted. Developers have begun, completed or been cleared for construction on more than 2,000 units.

More are on the way. Eight residential buildings, with more than 1,300 combined units, received building permits last year. There are permit applications for another $1.6 billion worth of projects, Department of Building Inspection records show.

The upcoming construction boom, real estate observers say, gets its boost from a more stable economy, financiers once again being willing to invest and an incoming wave of employees at local companies like Twitter, Zynga and Salesforce. While some city-mandated affordable housing will be built, many of the new units will be priced beyond the reach of working- and middle-class residents.

"If these tech companies are moving in right now, where are all these people going to live?" asked Joske Thompson, a local real estate agent. "The demand is far greater than the supply right now."

One site that has come back to life is 1844 Market St., west of Octavia Boulevard, where construction will start in April.

Set to open in fall 2013, the $55 million building will have 113 rental units - 99 market-rate and 14 affordable units.

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S.F. apartment construction boom around the corner

Developers broke ground on two new apartment complexes at the St. Johns Town Center in the past month.

A few miles to the west, residents started moving into the 242-unit Bennett Creek apartments in January.

A mile or so south, Cabana Club is about to open on Baymeadows Road with 252 units. And the same developers plan to break ground this summer on another 300-unit complex, called Hacienda, right across the street.

Then theres Seagrass on San Pablo Road, 396 units. And 220 Riverside with another 294.

It hasnt always been like this. Apartment complexes suffered the same downturn that single-family construction did. In the 2009-10 fiscal year, not a single building permit was issued by Jacksonville for a new apartment complex. But thats changed with complex after complex breaking ground.

I think its seems about right, said Abe Fort with Perimeter Realty, the developers of Cabana Club. Historically, it wasnt uncommon to see 1,500 units a year. In the 90s, it was almost every year.

But in 2000, it became condos, and after 2008, we had nothing. We can easily handle 1,000-2,000 new units a year.

Ed Forman, president of Watson Realty, said hes going to meet with his managers next week to discuss, among other things, the recent growth in apartments.

If you look at the last five years, building stopped, both homes and apartments, he said. Now its a supply-and-demand issue. A lot of people exited their homes due to short sales or lost their homes to foreclosures. Now they cant qualify for a mortgage.

But housing is a requirement. You cant live on the street.

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After downturn, Jacksonville apartment construction is picking up

NORCROSS, Ga. -- A large fire raged through a building undergoing renovations Thursday morning.

The fire was reported shortly after 5 a.m. near the Overlook Summit apartments on Chase Lane in Norcross. The original 911 call reported a brush fire; 11Alive's Julie Wolfe learned that crews are trying to determine whether the brush fire caused the building fire or vice versa.

The flames were visible from Interstate 85, according to Gwinnett Fire spokesman Tommy Rutledge.

Originally, investigators thought part of the apartment complex was on fire. They now say that the fire was limited to a nearby empty building.

When crews tried to tap a nearby fire hydrant, they discovered that it was dry; they had to use 1,000 feet of fire hose to bring water to the blaze, according to investigators.

Two nearly buildings were evacuated while crews battled the fire. The all-clear was given at around 7 a.m.

Julie Wolfe learned that the opposite side of the same building caught fire in October. That blaze burned all the way into the building's firewall. Some of the apartment complex residents have complained of flickering lights and bad wiring in their units.

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NORCROSS | Fire rips through apartment under construction

A worker was crushed to death this morning and two others were injured after a building collapsed in Harlem, authorities said.

The construction workers were demolishing the one-story building at 604-606 West 131 Street near Broadway at 7:51 a.m. when the accident occurred, police said.

The deceased was identified as 69-year-old Juan Ruiz Sr.

His wife, Francisca Ruiz, sobbed uncontrollably at their home in the Bronx, crying out for her husband as relatives wept with her. She wasnt able to speak as family members held her shaking hands.

"He was a great person and a great father, Ruizs son, Juan Ruiz Jr., said. He was a man of his family and a man of his work. I am very sad and we are all very sad today.

The building, which is owned by Columbia University, is part of a plan on the part of the Ivy League school to expand across a section of upper Manhattan.

One shaken worker, holding a safety helmet covered in soot, said the building tumbled even before they began razing it.

I dont know what happened, said a confused Keith Henry, 54, a machine operator who was inside the building minutes before it fell. The whole thing was falling and nobody touched it.

A resident who witnessed the crash from his apartment window said it sounded like an explosion.

I saw the concrete wall just falling down on the workers, said Willy Katende, 46. Everything just crumbled. Bricks were falling. It sounded like a bomb it came down so fast.

See the rest here:
One construction worker dead, 2 others injured in Harlem building collapse

Posted: Wednesday, March 21, 2012 5:08 pm | Updated: 5:50 pm, Wed Mar 21, 2012.

MONACA -- A former elementary school building may be granted new life.

A Center Township developer has applied to Monaca Council for a conditional use permit to convert the former Fourth Ward school into an apartment building.

Phil Laird, representing Laird Construction and Kelar Properties, has been granted a public hearing at 6 p.m. March 27 in the borough building.

Kelar properties bought the building for $68,101 in November from the Central Valley School District. Laird's application says he intends to construct 11 apartments in the building, which is located at the corner of Allen Avenue and Walnut Street.

In 2010, borough council approved conditional use criteria that includes garden apartments as a conditional use for school buildings.

The Fourth Ward building was built in 1952 and closed in 1992, according to Times files.

After closing, the building was used as a classroom center for a Beaver County Head Start program, and as the Monaca Senior Center, which eventually moved to the Beaver Valley Mall.

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Developer wants to convert Monaca school

A city design commission granted final approval Wednesday for a proposed five-story apartment building, although a university planning official said it conflicts with future campus expansion plans.

The proposed 14-unit apartment complex would be located at 202 and 206 N. Brooks St. near UW-Madisons Educational Sciences building and would target student renters.

UW-Madison Facilities Planning and Management Director Gary Brown said the area should be used for academic and research facilities as outlined in the Campus Master Plan, which is a construction planning guide for the university.

In addition, Brown said the design violated guidelines which call for the building to be set at least 10 feet from the street.

Brown also said the university continues to oppose the project because it does not follow the neighborhood plan.

Despite the universitys disapproval, commission members decided the Campus Master Plan includes planning guidelines rather than strict rules for future construction projects.

The commission decided to grant final approval of the project at Wednesdays meeting and said the design would be consistent with other buildings in the neighborhood.

Being this close in vicinity to the campus, I feel like this would be a great project for students, said Ald. Scott Resnick, District 8. I see it fitting into context with the development of the neighborhood its in.

At the same meeting, developers introduced plans for a 65-unit apartment building with a design complimentary to Union South at 1323 W. Dayton St.

Read more here:
City officials approve Brooks Street apartment proposal

Construction of a $55-million apartment building at Annapolis Towne Centre will start next week, but the prospect of congested parking lots has some businesses wary.

To cope with construction, workers will reconfigure the Riva Road median so motorists can turn left into the parking lot in front of Gordon Biersch. An additional security guard will be hired to work 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. at that entrance to help with parking. On Thursday, a free valet stand also will be set up.

Weve done these things proactively, Greenberg Gibbons President and Chief Operating Officer Tom Fitzpatrick said.

We want (the tenants) to be successful, Fitzpatrick aid. We take this as a positive for the Towne Centre. There will be some transition while were going through construction, but at the end of the day, weve demonstrated being good operators and that we know how to manage first-class retail property.

Tenants have mixed feelings about the addition of the apartments, which are expected to be two- and three-bedroom units with rents as high as $1,600. An online petition has been launched in opposition, because Annapolis does not need further development, crowding our streets, and cluttering our skyline, according to the document at Change.org.

The planning for this addition has been going on for some time. In 2010, the Baltimore County developer announced that it wanted to increase the propertys residential units by as many as 225 apartments. The developments Mariner Bay community has 208 apartments, while Parole-based Sturbridge Homes built 150 condominiums in the GrandView building.

There is also concern that more development will make parking even tighter on the Riva Road side of the property. Pei Wei Asian Diner and Qdoba Mexican Grill will also open at that end of the property.

Its going to be a complete nightmare that is going to dramatically affect all of us, said a tenant who does not want to be identified. Mariner Bay Apartments has been in the upper 90 percent occupancy for a very long time. Theyll make a lot more money off of this building than they will off of our building.

But some said there will be a long-term payoff to the work.

Its going to hurt us for traffic on that side, when you try to get out on the Riva Road side, said Lisa Gilmore, manager of Lucy, an active wear store in the development. Itll add more construction (and) traffic, but in the long run itll bring more people.

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Annapolis Towne Centre to add 208 apartments