The construction sector in Australia expanded in March,driven by a solid increase in house building activity, the latest survey from the Australian Industry Group and the Housing Industry Association showed Thursday.

The Ai Group/HIA Australian Performance of Construction Index,or PMI, climbed by 6.2 points to 50.1 in March from 43.9 in the previous month.

A reading above 50 indicates expansion in the sector, while any score below 50 suggests contraction in the sector.

The improvement in March was largely driven by a solid increase in house building activity, with the corresponding index rising by 10.4 points to 55.8.It was the strongest rate since October 2014.

Apartment building activity also strengthened in March while mining related engineering construction weakened further and commercial construction again declined.

New orders increased solidly by 12.1 points to 50.8 in March. It was the first expansion since October 2014. Employment level in the construction sector stabilized, with the sub-index rising to 50.0 in March from 47.6 in February.

"It is therefore important that new home building activity does not end up being stifled by the unhelpful policy settings in place, both for the sake of economic growth in the short term and Australia's housing requirements over the longer term," HIA Senior Economist, Shane Garrett, said.

"In this regard, the RBA's decision not to reduce interest rates this week adds to uncertainty across the economy and represents a lost opportunity."

by RTT Staff Writer

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Australia Construction Sector Swings To Expansion: AiG

Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

By: Aldo Santin

Posted: 3:00 AM | Comments:

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JOE BRYKSA / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Only rubble remains Tuesday following Mondays massive fire at an abandoned building on Hargrave Street.

THE vacant downtown apartment building destroyed in a fire Monday was about to undergo a major redevelopment.

A local spokesman for the California-based owner said the three-storey brick apartment building on Hargrave Street had been gutted and the owner was about to initiate a major redevelopment of the structure.

"There was a redevelopment underway, rebuilding it as an apartment building," lawyer Rick Adams said. "Very, very preliminary work had just started."

Adams said the owner, Benjamin Bingaman, of San Jose, Calif., had bought the building, located south of Broadway, as an investment property.

Winnipeg police estimated the loss at $1 million. Adams said he didn't have another figure on the loss.

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Burned building had bright future

People stand behind a gate at the entrance of an abandoned residential apartment building in Flamengo neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Squatters invaded the residence and demanded city officials put them into social housing. Photograph: Silvia Izquierdo/AP

A vast Art Deco residential building in Rio de Janeiro that Brazils one-time richest man was supposed to transform into a luxury hotel ahead of the 2016 Olympics has been invaded by squatters.

Around 100 people moved into the building overnight Monday and Tuesday, slipping through a breach in the wrought-iron fence.

The squatters, many recently evicted from another site in downtown Rio, said they were determined to remain in the building until city officials agreed to provide them housing.

Were only leaving here with a house. If not, were staying right here, said Alexandre Pereira da Silva, an unemployed father of three, one of several squatters who spoke to reporters across the iron fence, their faces shrouded from cameras by blankets.

Long owned by Rio soccer team Flamengo, the building was part of a deal by a company belonging to former Brazilian billionaire Eike Batista, who pledged to turn it into a hotel in return for paying millions of dollars in back taxes owed on the property.

More than 20 stories high, the commanding structure looks over Guanabara Bay as well as the citys two landmarks, Sugarloaf Mountain and the Christ the Redeemer statue.

Former residents of the apartment building were evicted in late 2012, around the time when Batistas oil, mining, logistics and ship-making empire began to crumble. He now is on trial, accused of insider trading.

The company responsible for the renovation declared bankruptcy, and construction never began. The building remained empty, becoming a breeding ground for mosquitoes and cockroaches. Residents of the surrounding middle-class neighbourhood complain it has attracted vandals, contributing to a surge in muggings nearby.

Local city councilwoman Leila do Flamengo said she thought legal proceedings to expel the squatters soon would be taken.

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Squatters invade Rio building that was to become a luxury hotel for Olympics

Winnipeg Free Press - ONLINE EDITION

By: Aldo Santin

Posted: 04/7/2015 4:47 PM | Comments:

STAN DOERKSEN / SUBMITTED PHOTO Enlarge Image

A vacant building at 44 Hargrave Street is engulfed in flames Monday evening.

The downtown apartment building destroyed in the Monday night fire was about to undergo a major redevelopment.

A local spokesman for the California-based owner said the three-storey brick apartment building on Hargrave Street had been gutted and the owner was about to initiate a major redevelopment of the structure.

"There was a redevelopment underway, rebuilding it as an apartment building" lawyer Rick Adams said. "Very, very preliminary work had just started."

Adams said the owner, Benjamin Bingaman, of San Jose, California, had bought the building, located south of Broadway, as an investment property.

Winnipeg police estimated the loss at $1 million. Adams said he didnt have another figure on the loss.

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Hargrave St. building that burned down was going to be redeveloped as apartment building

Josh Crabb, CTV Winnipeg Published Tuesday, April 7, 2015 2:22PM CST Last Updated Tuesday, April 7, 2015 5:32PM CST

The massive inferno that destroyed a Hargrave Street apartment building Monday night has turned into an arson investigation.

The fire was so intense it cracked windows in Tedale Molla's apartment on the opposite side of the back lane.

"As soon as we saw the fire we left, said Molla, who took her three children outside, fearing the fire would spread.

Mollas daughter, 5-year-old Yedidiya Abasha, said it was a frightening ordeal.

"I saw a big fire," she said. "After that the firefighters came and watered it out."

The abandoned 4-storey apartment block was vacant.

No one was hurt but Winnipeg Police said the fire caused $1-million in damage, and based on witness accounts appears to have been deliberately set.

"We have what appears to be some youth observed in the building at some point, there's certainly some witness accounts that suggest some youth fleeing the area at the time of the fire, said Constable Jason Michalyshen.

Police said the suspects were described as three girls and two boys, 14 to 15-years-old.

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Owner was trying to repair apartment building before suspicious fire

The developers of a proposed new mid-rise apartment building on the Pilgrim Village site just north of the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus are scaling back their project and rearranging their parking plans to reduce costs and address problems they encountered with the previous design.

Pilgrim Village owner MHT Holdings Inc. and partner McGuire Development Co. have cut back the first phase of their Campus Square redevelopment of the 90-unit, affordable-housing townhome complex, which was originally built in 1980 on 12 acres at North and Ellicott streets. That phase had called for demolishing 25 townhome units and replacing them with an eight-story, 380,000-square-foot structure on the southwest corner, with 60,000 square feet of first-foor retail space and 190 residential units.

Instead, plans now call for six stories and 152 units in an L-shaped, 260,000-square-foot building, including 62 affordable apartments for senior citizens and 90 market-rate units, with some designated for graduate students. The retail space is unchanged. And the parking, which was supposed to be underneath the building, will now be contained in a separate, four-story, 85,000-square-foot parking ramp with 210 spaces, attached to main building in a U-shape.

The changes were necessitated as part of the normal process when evaluating a project and making sure it makes sense, said attorney Marc A. Romanowski, who is representing the developers. The cost had to be manageable, he said, and the developers also realized that the underground parking would hit the water table, which in that area is only 12 to 14 feet underground. We had to really look back at it and re-engineer it.

Romanowski and McGuire Chief Financial Officer Jeffrey P. Lehrbach explained the changes in a presentation Tuesday to the Buffalo Planning Board, which had previously approved the earlier concept in December. City planners agreed that the changes were significant enough to warrant a new public hearing and board consideration at the next meeting April 21.

Lehrbach estimated the new cost at $65 million to $70 million.

Weve been right-sizing the project based upon coming with an economical project but still having the aesthetics and integrity that are so important for it, he said. Plans call for breaking ground this summer and finishing in the first quarter of 2017.

The concept for the new Campus Square, at 905 Ellicott, ultimately envisions 17 mostly residential buildings and a maintenance building, with hundreds of new mixed-income and intergenerational-living units, as well as some mixed-use commercial and retail space. The first phase will include a bank branch, a grocery store, a coffee shop, a music school and a dance school, as well as possibly medical or dental services. Lehrbach said that all but the bank branch are finalized, and hes encouraging the grocery store to carry prepared foods, fresh produce and basic medicines.

A second major construction phase involves 300 units for students, medical staff and conventional housing, with at least 20 percent of the units slated for below-market rents. Remaining townhomes will be renovated. In all, the project could cost about $200 million when completed.

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Pilgrim Village developers scaling back project near Medical Campus

Winnipeg Free Press - ONLINE EDITION

By: Nick Martin

Posted: 04/6/2015 8:48 PM | Comments: | Last Modified: 04/7/2015 11:52 AM | Updates

Winnipeg police are investigating the likelihood a massive blaze Monday at a vacant building on Hargave Street was deliberately set.

The four-storey building at 44 Hargrave, which stood for 105 years, went up in flames about 6:45 p.m.

There were no injuries.

Today, police gave a damage estimate of $1,000,000.

Witnesses told police several youth were seen fleeing the area. The suspects are described as three girls and two boys, all about 14 to 15 years old.

Members of the Winnipeg Police Service arson unit continue to investigate. Anyone with further information that may assist investigators is asked to call 204-986-6813 or Crime Stoppers at 204-786-TIPS (8477).

Firefighters were able to save the apartment building at 42 Hargrave to the immediate south, although it was damaged Monday night. The residents there were quickly evacuated just in case.

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Vacant downtown apartment building destroyed

Crane Removal at Woodmont Triangle Apartment Building Construction site
Removing a large crane on the weekend of March 28-29 in downtown Bethesda, MD.

By: Andrew Metcalf - Bethesda Magazine

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Crane Removal at Woodmont Triangle Apartment Building Construction site - Video

HARTFORD The long-troubled, four-story brick apartment building that anchored the corner of Main and High streets for more than a century came tumbling down Friday, a day after it was weakened by a fire police say was set accidentally by a squatter.

As crews from Environmental Services Inc. of South Windsor razed the structure, people stopped by to watch the workers, reminisce about the building and speculate about what might replace it.

"I think it's horrible that one person could cause such destruction," said Sheri Garrett, who once lived nearby. "It's very sad, but at the same time it's an eyesore. It needs to come down."

"My father fought several fires in this building about 60 years ago," said Jack Dooley of Newington, who admitted he stopped by to gawk at the demolition.

A man who rode his bicycle over to watch the demolition said he had lived in the building about 15 years ago. The man, who identified himself only as Frank, said when he was there the building was full of tenants and had shops and a popular club on the ground floor.

"It was good. It was full," he said. "It was a nice building."

The building's owner, Eric Dornevil of Watertown, Mass., bought it in June 2003 through a city tax sale. He paid $125,000.

Since 2003, tax and utility liens have been placed on the property, which is listed in city land record as 1359-1363 Main St. The city also assessed $88,000 in fines in December after Dornevil failed to address blight issues at the property, according to land records and court filings. He could not be reached for comment Friday.

Francheska Dornevil is listed as the owner of the adjoining structure, 1355-1357 Main St., which was not razed Friday. There are tax and other liens on that property, too.

The fire caused extensive damage to the building, including a partial collapse in the rear, city officials said. Unable to reach Dornevil after the fire, city officials hired Environmental Services to take the building down.

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Demolition Of Burned-Out Hartford Building Draws A Crowd

View Larger Legacy of neglect landlord project See More

In a four-part series, The Dispatch examines neglected properties and neglectful owners. See stories, video and more.

The owner of a crime-plagued apartment building in Franklinton that the city boarded up last week plans to improve security there and reopen.

The buildings owner, Interstate Construction of Grove City, has no plans to sell, said the companys attorney, Erica Probst.

She said the companys president, Dwight Douglas Kincaid, has owned the 17-unit building at 398-404 S. Central Ave. for 30 years but didnt know about the claims in the citys complaint, including drug use and drug dealing.

Probst said the issues that led to the city shutting down the building came about in recent months.

Dispatch special report: Legacy of Neglect

City prosecutors and the owner agreed last week to remove the residents and close the building until Franklin County Environmental Judge Dan Hawkins hears the citys request for a permanent injunction on June 15.

We agreed to the property shutdown so my client could investigate the allegations and make sure the tenants were safe and secure, Probst said.

She said Kincaid will work over several months to see how he can boost security, including hiring a guard and installing cameras, hiring a new property-management company and possibly starting a neighborhood watch.

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Owner of boarded-up Franklinton apartment building promises to improve security