MIAMI (CBSMiami) Nearly 6,000 new apartments and more than 2,500 condos are under construction in the city of Miami. And a new, luxury, mixed-use building is expected to break ground this summer.

The 70-story skyscraper called Okan Tower will sit on North Miami Avenue near NW 6 Street.

Its not the only new addition to Miamis skyline though. Within the next couple years, the skyline will include 14 additional skyscrapers.

Mayor Francis Suarez says the city is growing faster than ever.

From Wynwood to Brickell and downtown to Miami Beach, cranes and construction are everywhere.

Everybody wants to be here, were an extremely desirable city which is a great thing. We dont want to be less desirable but its also creating a bit of a supply glut, raising prices a little bit because a lot of people want to come, says the Mayor of Miami, Francis Suarez.

Since the pandemic began, people from all over the country have been relocation to Miami, businesses included. Theres just one major problem, real estate prices are soaring to new levels.

Mayor Suarez is doing an incredible job attracting new businesses and industries to Miami but we have to have the ability to house those professionals that are coming to work here, says Edgardo Defortuna, president of Fortune International Group.

According to the Miami Association of Realtors, the median sales price for houses jumped another 15% just last month. In the new Okan Tower, studio apartments are starting at $387,000.

Its a challenge that both the public and private sector need to tackle to provide affordable housing for the workforce, says Defortuna.

At a panel discussion with developers Monday day, Mayor Suarez says its a supply and demand issue. He says right now, there is tremendous demand and not enough supply. Thats why the city of Miami is taking on so many new projects. More than 8,000 condo units and apartments are expected to be complete within the next couple of years.

Its important that Miami continue to grow because thats what will keep real estate prices down, says Suarez.

While real estate prices are at an all-time high right now, Suarez hopes in time theyll even out. He points out, revitalization and growth will help prevent taxes from increasing.

Were starting to see thousands and thousands of units that are going to be constructed which will keep our prices relatively low compared to other major cities in America, says Suarez.

Okan Tower is expected to break ground in June.

According to the Downtown Development Authority, the wave of new companies and people moving to south Florida is having an unmistakable impact on the real estate market with apartment occupancies at 95% even as rents continue to rise.

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Miami Mayor Francis Suarez Says City Is Growing Faster Than Ever At Panel Discussion With Developers - CBS Miami

The real estate market is still hotand in the Northern Virginia area, that means borderline insane. Existing homes are still going very quickly, and new construction has also been affected by delays in permitting and inspections, backlogged supply chains, labor shortages, and increases in the cost of building materials.

While sales pace is expected to be slower in 2022, impacted by inventory growth for some locations/home types, rising rates predicted for Q2 and buyers being shut out by record prices, we believe the market will remain strong, said Compass agent Susan Isaacs. But there is some good news for buyers: spring will still see low interest rates, and Fannie Mae increased the 2022 loan limit in the region to $980,700, allowing down payments as low as 5 percent for homes priced up to $1,020,000. While this doesnt offset payment shock associated with higher rates, it does open the door to buyers who were being held back in that price range by the need for a higher down payment.

But some typical go-to areas of Northern Virginia are also getting too competitive, so homebuyers may need to start looking elsewhere.

McLean, a town where just about everyone would like to live for the schools, is getting a bit crowded, says Keller Williams agent Nicole Jamil. There is too much competition there and its very low on inventory. But if buyers are flexible, there is more land in other areas that are very close to McLean, like Falls Church or Pimmit Hills, which is zoned for part of Falls Church.

With everyone vying for a new home in NoVA, here are some of the top up-and-coming neighborhoods on the market.

The neighborhood is made up of Crystal City, Pentagon City, and parts of Arlington, but its also pushing growth and demand in the adjacent neighborhoods like Ballston, Clarendon, and Rosslyn. National Landing is still hot for its access to all things Amazon and Arlington, proximity to DC, transportation options, and new construction condo and apartment pipeline. This neighborhood has convenience and investment value, and due to the pre-pandemic progress made by JBG Smith for National Landing, a good number of residential new construction projects are already in the works and progressing toward completion.

An upscale urbanburb with character, it features single family homes in a variety of architectural styles (mostly late 1800s through the 1950s). Popular parks and great schools abound, and the neighborhood shares amenities with nearby Clarendon. Its also a very easy commute to DC.

According to Jamil, Pimmit Hills is picking up, especially for builders looking for land to develop into homes. Anderson Road is particularly attractive to builders right now, and new construction homes are starting to pick up, she said. With proximity to parks, libraries, great schools, and shopping in Tysons, its a central suburb thats attracting more and more homebuyers.

With offices for Google, Salesforce, and Docusign, Reston has become a big tech hub. Buyers will experience competition in the area, but depending on the housing type, its not as competitive as other Northern Virginia areas, so you may be able to get a teeny bit more for your money.

Del Ray is always popular because of its community culture, eclectic mix of architectural styles, artsy downtown, popular Saturday farmers market, and proximity to Potomac Yard, Isaacs said. It also offers a reasonable commute to DC and is less than 15 minutes by bike to Old Town. Its a suburb that doesnt feel so suburban, thanks to its proximity to DC, the walkable, cobblestreet neighborhood of Old Town, and its amenities and decently sized townhomes and single-family homes.

This neighborhood is about three miles from DC, less than two from the Pentagon, and adjacent to the Fort Myer Army Base with a lot to offer. Housing is a blend of single-family homes, townhomes, duplexes, condos, and apartment buildings of various sizes. Plus, its more affordable than other comparable locations. We especially like the value proposition for townhomes/rowhomes in this neighborhood, both as owner-occupied residences that mature into investment properties, and investment properties, Isaacs said.

Buyers like the Mosaic District and recently The Boro area (see below) because of the shops and restaurants. Not to mention all of the new apartments, condos, and hotels that are coming up by the metro in Tysons.

Even buildings in the area that are older, like Rotunda, which was built in the 1980s, are getting popular because of great amenities that are all walkable or a short drive away, Jamil said. Whole Foods is the center amenity in The Boro, along with several shops, restaurants, and big box stores, like the nearby Walmart and HomeGoods.

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These Will Be the Hottest Up-and-Coming NoVA Neighborhoods in 2022 - northernvirginiamag.com

A Downtown DeLand apartment project came one step closer to being built when DeLands Downtown Community Redevelopment Agency narrowly approved a hefty incentive package for the developer.

The incentive was almost denied, but City Attorney Darren Elkind saved the day, calling for a two-minute recess, which he used to negotiate a compromise with Atlantic Housing Partners, who ultimately received a tax break that could be worth $3.5 million.

The developer wants to build 178 units of housing 173 single family apartments and five town homes and a minimum of 5,000 square feet of retail space on a Downtown plot of land that includes the former Save-A-Lot grocery store at 221 S. Woodland Blvd.

The project would not be possible without a 90-percent rebate of taxes that will be due on the propertys increased value, once its developed, Scott Culp of Atlantic Housing said at a Downtown DeLand CRA meeting Jan. 18.

The goal of the project is to offer attainable workforce housing, he said, and to do that, they need the tax break.

Were basing it on workforce rents; quality development that will bring people, a workforce, Downtown, Culp said. With this incentive, we have the ability to make this work with our own resources. I cant say the same without it.

DeLand has been trying for 30 years to get more housing Downtown, to provide merchants with a built-in market of shoppers and diners.

One of the stumbling blocks that has kept apartments from being built, city officials said and Culp agreed, is that there is no existing project to prove that Downtown housing will be a financial success.

Another reason his company needs the tax break, Culp said, is rising construction prices that make the true cost of the project unknown. Atlantic Housing expects to spend about $40 million to build the apartments.

The tax breaks will last until 2036, or until the benefits outpace a cap of $3.5 million.

With the incentive package, the CRA fund will reap new revenue totaling around $22,000 annually. If Atlantic Housing were to build the project without the tax break, the CRA fund would reap about $200,000 a year over the next 14 years.

But building Downtown apartments with a goal of maintaining workforce rental costs is a gamble. Some on the CRA, including Mayor Bob Apgar, feared if the city doesnt provide incentives to lessen the risks of the first apartment project, the citys goal of more housing Downtown may never materialize.

For the long-term economic viability of Downtown, having heads in beds and feet on the street is, to me, a big part of the equation for the long-term success of Downtown, Apgar said, later adding, If we dont move forward with a project like this with the incentives at this time, Im not sure when well ever see residential living in our Downtown.

Not all of the commissioners were so keen.

Commissioner Charles Paiva feared it would be difficult to measure how successful the project was, something he said was important if the project was receiving a tax incentive. Commissioners Jessica Davis and Chris Cloudman were concerned about the affordability of the rental units.

Culp said Atlantic Housing is aiming to serve the missing middle market of people whose household income is between $32,000 and $91,000, but no specific language in the tax-break agreement specifies this. Thats because earmarking a housing project as affordable housing can add federal hoops to jump through, and those add additional costs Culp did not want to incur if Atlantic Housing could avoid it.

One DeLand resident, Frank Schnidman, took issue with the tax break. Schnidman, a DeLand resident of two years and the former chair at Florida Atlantic Universitys School of Urban and Regional Planning, said the incentives should be handed over only if they were really necessary. Schnidman said the city probably cant afford to deprive the CRA budget of so much needed money.

Before you give a percentage number, think about the other demands that you have on your Downtown to improve the quality of life and to provide an atmosphere where incentives may, in fact, not be needed from the perspective of the alleviation of slum and blight, because the market is there, he said.

While in favor of the project, Schnidman also raised concerns about other factors, including the lack of specific language related to affordability.

When the CRA composed of the five-member DeLand City Commission and two representatives from the Downtown DeLand business community voted on a motion by Commissioner Kevin Reid to grant the incentives, it failed 3-3. CRA Commissioner Ella Ran was absent.

For some of the dissenting commissioners, concerns over the lack of a definitive end date for the tax break overshadowed a desire for Downtown apartments. As originally proposed, the benefits could continue annually if DeLands CRA was extended after its 2036 expiration date.

Mayor Apgar and Commissioners Reid and Bill Budzinski voted in favor, while Commissioners Davis, Cloudman and Paiva dissented.

After Apgar announced that Reids motion to approve the incentives had failed, City Attorney Elkind asked for a two-minute recess to negotiate with the developer. Elkind returned with an agreement from Culp to end the benefits definitively in 2036, or earlier if the $3.5 million cap on incentives is reached.

Paivas motion based on those new terms passed on a 5-1 vote, with only Cloudman opposed. Cloudman still wanted a way to hold the developer to his promise of workforce, rather than luxury, rents.

With approval of the proposed tax incentive by the CRA, which was also endorsed later in the evening by the DeLand City Commission, Atlantic Housing Partners plans to move ahead on building apartments and retail space at DeLand Commons.

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Downtown DeLand CRA throws big incentive to apartment developer - The West Volusia Beacon

The task force askedto findways to make Ontario housingmore affordable wants to do away with rules that entrench single-family homes as the main option in manyresidential neighbourhoods, according to a draft report.

The nine-member Housing Affordability Task Force, chaired by Scotiabank CEO Jake Lawrence, wants to "create a more permissive land use, planning, and approvals systems" and throw out rules that stifle change or growth including ones that protect the "character" of neighbourhoods across the province.

The wide-ranging 31-page draft report, which is making the rounds in municipal planning circles and could look muchdifferentwhen it's officially released Jan. 31, makes 58 recommendations.

It includes discussions on speeding up approval processes, waiving development charges for infill projects, allowing vacant commercial property owners to transition to residential units,and letting urban boundariesexpand "efficiently and effectively."

It also calls for all municipalities and building code regulations not to make it just easier for homeowners to add secondary suites, garden homes, and laneway houses to their properties, but also to increase height, size and density along "all majorand minor arterials and transit corridors" in the form of condo and apartment towers.

But perhaps the most controversial recommendationis the one to virtually do away with so-called exclusionary zoning, which allows only a single-family detached home to be built on a property.

Instead, the task force recommends that in municipalities with a population of more than 100,000, the province should "allow any type of residential housing up to four storeys and four units on a single residential lot," subject to urban design guidance that'syet to be defined.

According to the report, Ontario lags behind many other G7 countries when it comes to the number of dwellings per capita. And housing advocates have long argued that more modest-projects duplexes, triplexes, tiny homes and townhouses are needed in established neighbourhoods, especially if the environmental and infrastructure costs of sprawl are to be avoided.

But neighbourhood infill and intensification is often a hard political sell.

"While everyone might agree that we have a housing crisis, that we have a climate emergency, nobody wants to see their neighbourhoods change," said Coun. Glen Gower, who co-chairs Ottawa's planning committee. "So that's really the challenge that we're dealing with in Ottawa and in Ontario."

After last week's housing summit with Ontario's big city mayors, reporters repeatedly asked Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Steve Clark if he supported doing away with zoning for single-detached homes, as other jurisdictions like Edmonton and major New Zealand cities have done.

Clark said he'd heard the idea but did not give a direct answer one way or the other.

Many of the recommendations revolve around making it easierand fasterfor builders to construct homes.

According to the draft report, not only would a streamlined process allow dwellings to get on the market faster, but reducing approval times would also save developers money which, in theory, could be passed onto residents.

The report cites an Ontario Association of Architectsstudy from 2018 showing thatcosts for a 100-unit condo building increase by $193,000 for every month the project is delayed.

That's why, for example, the task force is recommending that any "underutilized or redundant commercial properties" be allowed to be converted to residential units without municipal approvals.

The draft report also calls for quasi-automatic approval for projects up to 10 units that conform to existing official plans and zoning, and goes so far to recommend that municipalities "disallow public consultations" for these applications.

The report speaks to reducing what the task force characterizes as"NIMBY" factors in planning decisions, recommending the province set Ontario-wide standards for specifics like setbacks, shadow rules and front doors, while excluding details like exterior colour and building materials from the approval process.

The task force would even eliminate minimum parking requirements for new projects.

The report touches on a number of subjects it believes unnecessarily delay the building of new homes, including how plans approved by city councils can be appealed.

It recommends the province restore the right of developers to appeal official plans a power that was removed by the previous Liberal government.

And in an effort to eliminate what it calls "nuisance" appeals, the task forcerecommends that the fee a third party such as a community group pays to appealprojects to the Ontario Land Tribunal should be increased from the current $400 to$10,000.

That doesn't sit well with NDP MPP Jessica Bell, the party's housing critic.

"My initial take is that any attempt to make the landtribunal even more difficult for residents to access is concerning," said Bell, adding theNDP is askingstakeholders and community members for feedback.

The tribunal can overturn a municipal council's "democratically decided law," she said, "and I would be pretty concerned if it costs $10,000 for a third party to go to the land tribunal and bring up some valid evidence."

While she was pleased to see the task force address zoning reform to encourage the construction of townhomes, duplexes and triplexes in existing neighbourhoods the so-called "missing middle" between single-family homes and condo towers Bell said increasing supply is not enough to improve housing for all Ontarians.

"We need government investment in affordable housing," she said.

"We need better protections for renters, and we need measures to clamp down on speculation in the housing market We need a more holistic and comprehensive approach than what we are seeing in this draft report right now."

(While the task force was directed by the province to focus on increasing the housing supply through private builders, it acknowledges in the report that "Ontario's affordable housing shortfall was raised in almost every conversation"with stakeholders.)

From his first reading of the report,Ontario Green Party leader Mike Schreineragreed with thezoning recommendationsbut said streamlined processes need to be balanced with maintaining public consultations and heritage designations.

"One of my concerns with my very quick read of the draft report is that it talks about expanding urban boundaries and I'm opposed to that," he told CBC.

"We simply can't keep paving over the farmland that feeds us, the wetlands that clean our drinking water [and] protect us from flooding, especially when we already have about 88,000 acres within existing urban boundaries in southern Ontario available for development," he said.

Schreinersaid he's also "deeply concerned" that the report discussesaligning housing development with the province's plan for Highway 413in the GTA.

"I simply don't think we can spend over $10 billion to build a highway that will supercharge climate pollution, supercharge sprawl, making life less affordable for people and paving over 2,000 acres of farmland, 400 acres of the Greenbelt and crossing over 85 waterways," he said.

According to the draft, the task force consulted with builders, planners, architects, realtors, labour unions, social justice advocates, municipal politicians, academics, researchers and planners.

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Why a 4-storey apartment could be coming to a residential street near you - CBC.ca

It was 2016, and Abraham Rodriguez received a text message that made him light up. It was from his friend Nik Pappaconstantine, who had just picked up a new toy: a sleek, speedy dirt bike perfect for back road riding in Lewiston, the small city in Maine where they lived.

Mr. Rodriguez had just turned 50, and had arrived in Lewiston a year or so before with nothing. He met Mr. Pappaconstantine, who worked at a local bank, when he came in to set up his first-ever bank account, and the two men grew close. They bonded over a shared love of cars and adventure sports, and when Mr. Rodriguez saw the text he bolted over to try out the new bike.

They carted the motorcycle to the woods, and Mr. Rodriguez hopped on. He revved the engine, popped a wheelie and rode it for a quarter mile. Then he turned, popped another, and rode it back, slipping through the empty, wooded field like a professional street rider.

Mr. Pappaconstantine was stunned. But Mr. Rodriguez laughed it off: I used to ride bikes back in the day, his friend recalled him saying.

At the time, Mr. Pappaconstantine brushed off the remark. It would be years before he learned that Abraham Rodriguez was not the mans name; his friend with the trick skills was actually Alberto (Alpo) Martinez, one of New York Citys most notorious cocaine dealers of the 1980s.

Five years after he tore through that Maine field on a dirt bike, Mr. Martinezs wild ride ended on Halloween in Harlem, when he was shot and killed through the window of a lifted pickup that he drove into the city from Maine.

The end was as dramatic as the rest of Mr. Martinezs life. As a young man in Harlem, Mr. Martinez rocketed to infamy as one of the flashiest, most successful cocaine dealers during the height of the drugs popularity. His fall, though, was swift: He murdered one of his best friends, expanded his business to Washington, D.C., and by 1991 was arrested and charged in a sweeping drug trafficking case. He would later inform on scores of associates as a federal witness.

Now, as the police investigate his murder, they say they are running into an unusual problem: An awful lot of people wanted to see Alpo Martinez dead.

No shortage of suspects, said one senior law enforcement official at the time of the killing. Part of the difficulty may be too many suspects with too many motives.

In the aftermath of Mr. Martinezs death, friends and neighbors who knew him in Lewiston have clammed up, unsure how to feel about the man they knew as a kind, affable friend.

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He was the nicest neighbor, said Marissa Ritchey, who was smoking a cigarette in an icy parking lot Saturday, and throwing a ball for her dog. He was always polite, nice with the dog.

You never would have thought anything, she said. He was one of the decent ones. Hed help the old people take their trash out.

In Lewiston, Mr. Martinezs killing was a bizarre, dark blip in a former mill town of about 36,000 people nestled between Portland and Augusta on the Androscoggin River.

There certainly was some buzz around town, the Lewiston mayor, Carl Sheline, said of Mr. Martinezs death. A convicted murderer from New York City, he said, was not your average neighbor in town.

Who would have thought that? said a neighbor, Harold Hanlon, who had a friendly relationship with the man he knew as Abraham. I was just as shocked as the next person when my neighbor goes, Hey, Abraham got killed. What?

Even in death, a coherent picture of Mr. Martinezs double life which was once the subject of a Hollywood movie proves elusive. He was both a loyal confidant and one of the most infamous turncoats in New York lore. He was a kind friend and an admitted, ruthless killer; a selfless neighbor and a man so loathed in Harlem that former friends popped champagne in the streets to celebrate his violent end.

He died almost like a comic book villain, said Kevin Chiles, a reformed cocaine dealer and former friend of Mr. Martinezs from Harlem. He antagonized fate.

The path that led Mr. Martinez from New York to Lewiston and then back to his death in the neighborhood where he made his name began more than 30 years ago. Nicknamed The Mayor of Harlem, Mr. Martinez rose to fame as a kingpin of the crack cocaine era, known for luxury cars and loud street bikes ripping wheelies down entire city blocks.

He was an attention seeker and an adrenaline junkie, Mr. Chiles said. You have to figure, we were all young adults, teenagers, and we had more money than we knew what to do with.

But even in an illicit business, Mr. Martinezs ruthlessness stood out. In 1990, he orchestrated the killing of a close friend and fellow dealer, Rich Porter.

The killing was the beginning of the end of Mr. Martinezs reign. He was arrested less than a year later after attempting to expand his cocaine empire to Washington, D.C. Facing drug-trafficking charges, Mr. Martinez one of Harlems hardest players agreed to become a federal witness, and pleaded guilty to contracting seven murders. His testimony would decimate the Washington, D.C., metro areas cocaine infrastructure.

Hes killed people for less than what he ultimately turned out to be and do, Mr. Chiles said.

The betrayal would later be set to film in the movie Paid in Full, which followed fictionalized versions of Mr. Martinez, Mr. Porter and another kingpin through Mr. Porters killing.

Mr. Martinezs real-life arrangement earned him a mitigated sentence, and a place in the federal witness protection program. The program, which officials routinely note has a 100 percent success rate of keeping witnesses safe when they adhere to its rules, requires participants to completely leave behind their old life, identity and contacts.

Released on parole in 2015 with a new name Abraham Rodriguez Mr. Martinez started over in Lewiston, the kind of place where people mind their own business and dont tend to pry, said Shawn Gummo, an owner of a local construction company.

Shielded by the program, Mr. Martinez flourished. He got his commercial drivers license and started working for Walmart, and played basketball with teenagers in the area. With the help of Mr. Pappaconstantine, he set up in an apartment, and was a well-liked neighbor.

By 2017, Mr. Martinez had started his own construction business, founding his own L.L.C. and working in construction cleanup. He often worked south of Lewiston, said Mr. Gummo, who said some members of his crews knew Mr. Martinez while he was living under his assumed identity.

Mr. Hanlon, who lived next door to the six-unit apartment building on College Street where Mr. Martinez stayed, said he never suspected anything.

Both of us owned Dodge trucks, so wed give each other rides to the dealership for repairs, and stuff like that, Mr. Hanlon said. It was a cordial relationship. He just came in and out, he didnt hang around here too much. He was a nice enough fellow.

Still, Mr. Martinezs old life and legacy beckoned. Almost as soon as he got out of prison, Mr. Martinez reached out to Mr. Chiles through a mutual friend. He said he wanted to explain himself, and what had happened in 1991. Soon, he was regularly returning to Harlem.

There were these sightings, almost like Bigfoot, Mr. Chiles said. People would say that theyd seen him.

Mr. Martinezs trips to Harlem would have almost certainly been a violation of his witness protection arrangement. (The U.S. Marshals, who operate the witness protection program, did not comment for this story.) Those who knew him in his post-incarcerated life said he seemed to have been kicked out of the program around the same time that he started returning to the city.

He apparently had somehow messed up the conditions of witness protection back in 2018, Mr. Pappaconstantine said. He would ride down to New York with somebody else. He was always worried about the government watching.

Around the same time, Mr. Martinez also appeared to capitalize off his notoriety in a YouTube clip from 2019, Mr. Martinez takes the film director Troy Reed to the corner where he says he killed Mr. Porter.

It happened right here. At this light, Mr. Martinez says in the video clip, leaning his head against the car window. I grabbed the gun from my little man and put one in his head.

By 2020, Abraham Rodriguez had largely disappeared from Maine. Alpo Martinez was once again a fixture in Harlem.

What ultimately got Mr. Martinez killed in the early hours of Halloween remains a mystery. Some say the killing was a belated meting of long-sought street justice for testifying against so many former associates. Others posit that Mr. Martinez was killed over a girl, or simply found trouble the same way he always had: He was cocky and ambitious, and angered the wrong people.

A senior law enforcement official said investigators now believe Mr. Martinez likely was back in the drug trade in Harlem. When the police discovered him dead in his truck last year, a trail of heroin packets led from his open window down the street, the official said as if he had tossed the drugs out of the car in a panic.

For those like Mr. Pappaconstantine, who only learned the true identity of Mr. Martinez just before his death, his demise feels complicated.

I want to sit here and say I know that he was fully genuine all the time, Mr. Pappaconstantine said, struggling to articulate his feelings on his former friend. You take somebody you know unbelievably well, and then you read this thing and it doesnt connect.

But to Mr. Chiles, Mr. Martinez was never going to start over it was always going to end in Harlem.

He wanted to peg his hat on redemption, said Mr. Chiles, adding that Mr. Martinezs thirst for his former glory may also have played a role. Hes a narcissist beyond anything that I could put my finger on. He needed that attention.

In a scene that now feels foreboding, Mr. Martinezs character in Paid in Full spends the final scene agreeing to cooperate with federal agents.

Im not snitching on nobody in Harlem, Mr. Martinezs character says. Cause when I come home, Im still gon be the king.

Murray Carpenter contributed reporting from Lewiston, Maine. Kirsten Noyes contributed research.

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He Was in Witness Protection in Maine. But His Harlem Life Kept Calling. - The New York Times

New York is a city thats seemingly always under construction. But for all that building, some richer neighborhoods havent added a single new home overall in the past decade and have even lost units.

Thats because so many people combined apartments or homes into one dwelling, the total for new housing dipped below zero, according to a new analysis by the Department of City Planning.

The Upper East Sides stagnation was particularly stark, the study shows. The area saw more than 2,000 residential units built since 2010. But because so many alterations took place there over the same period, much of the neighborhood lost housing.

Overall, the area added fewer new residential units over the past decade than 57 of the citys 59 community districts, the report said.

The news came to no surprise to Barry Schneider, an Upper East Sider for 54 years who lives in a condominium building on First Avenue that he estimates has lost about 20 units to combination renovations since hes lived there.

Its fairly common, he said. The apartment directly below us combined two floors. The apartment directly to the south of us, next door, they have a combined apartment.

The department analyzed the figures using its new database of all housing construction and demolition jobs approved by the Department of Buildings in the five boroughs since Jan. 1, 2010.

The vast majority of city neighborhoods added housing. In Hudson Yards, Long Island City, the Greenpoint waterfront and Downtown Brooklyn, the net gain for housing proved high up to 65 new units per acre.

But in other parts of town, demolitions and alterations wiped out new construction gains including in the Upper East Side, the Upper West Side adjacent to Central Park, most of SoHo and the West Village. Those areas lost between half a unit and six units per acre over the 10-year period analyzed.

The report analyzed data through June of 2020, accounting for the early part of the COVID-19 pandemic when some New Yorkers fled the richest parts of the city including both the highest and lowest housing-producing neighborhoods.

Howard Slatkin, deputy executive director for strategic planning at the Department of City Planning, believes this type of analysis is important to help New Yorkers to grasp the forces affecting the housing supply.

People see housing demand when it spreads vertically when buildings pop up, when you see new construction but what they dont see is that the demand for housing also spreads horizontally, he said. In the absence of those new additions, as affluent people take more space and larger residences for themselves, what you get is a reduction in total housing units.

The report includes alterations of all kinds, from relatively simple two-apartment combinations to mega-mansion projects like Russian billionaire Roman Abromavichs four-townhouse complex on East 75th Street.

It also includes those places where alterations actually added units, such as in Queens Ozone Park, where creating multiple apartments within a single-family home is common.

The report comes as conversations about how to contend with New Yorks housing affordability crisis seeps into the citys upcoming elections, with a fight over rezoning SoHo to allow for more residential housing taking center stage. Many mayoral candidates are aiming to make affordable housing a priority in their administrations.

More broadly, a cohort of City Council candidates have made bringing more affordable housing to the citys richest neighborhoods part of their campaigns.

On the Upper West Side, Sara Lind is among them. Her housing plan calls for changing land use rules to allow more dense residential construction and create subsidized apartments for low-income families.

Were losing units. We need more housing, and more of it needs to be affordable, she said. Instead, people are doing these conversions to create what works for their family.

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NYCs Wealthy Enclaves Lost Housing in Past Decade as Combining of Apartments Outpaced New Construction - THE CITY

The Leo at LaGrotte Square would incorporate the former Indianapolis Public Schools School No. 7 building (at right) at 748 E. Bates St. (Rendering courtesy of Holladay Properties)

Holladay Properties plans to develop a 138-unit apartment project adjacent to its downtown Indianapolis offices in the Fletcher Place neighborhood.

The South Bend-based firm is expected to start construction this summer on The Leo at LaGrotte Square in the 200 block of South College Avenue, which will include new construction and the rehabilitation of the former Indianapolis Public Schools School 7 building at 748 E. Bates St.

The project, with an estimated development cost of $27 million, would include a six-story, 124-unit building on a lot north of Holladays local headquarters at the former Milano Inn restaurant.

The project would feature four stories of apartment units over a two-story parking podium with 134 parking spaces and a mix of studios and one- and two-bedroom units. Another 14 apartments with exposed brick and high ceilings would be incorporated into the former school building, which is currently being used as office space.

The Leo is expected to include a variety of amenities, such as courtyards, a fitness center, a dog park, a game room and clubhouse, a business center and a dog washing and grooming area. It is also expected to include bicycle storage and a bocce court.

The buildings would be connected by a one-story building housing some of the amenity spaces. The business center and a library will be in the school building, with the fitness center incorporated into the new construction.

Holladay acquired the properties containing the Milano Inn and the former school building in 2017 and 2018 from the LaGrotte family, which ran the Italian restaurant for several decades.

Dan Phair, a partner and vice president of development for Holladay, said the firm considers the project a perfect fit for the southeast side of downtown.

He pointed to the projects location within a few blocks of corporate campuses for Eli Lilly and Co., Indiana Farm Bureau, Anthem Inc. and Rolls-Roycealong with a variety of amenities like Bankers Life Fieldhouse and the Indianapolis Cultural Trailas likely being key drivers for the the project when it comes time to lease units.

Those, Phair said, along with the amazing views of the skyline, are just some of the benefits of the location of The Leo.

The project is expected to go before the citys Regional Center Hearing Examiner for design approvals on Feb. 25, after the group received a continuance from the previously scheduled Feb. 11 meeting.

Axis Architecture is the designer on the project.

The project is south of the $28 million Vue apartment project by Herman & Kittle Properties Inc., a 240-unit complex completed in early 2018, and the 31-unit Switchyard townhouse project from Onyx & East.

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Holladay planning $27M apartment project in Fletcher Place by former Milano Inn - Indianapolis Business Journal

February 8, 2021 Prices for residential building construction increased at a faster pace in Q4 2020 (+2.9%) than in Q3 (+2.5%). In the fact, gain in the fourth quarter was the largest on record, reports Statscan.

Conversely, the growth in prices for non-residential building construction slowed in Q4 (+0.4%) compared with Q3 (+0.5%).

Construction prices for residential buildings were up in Q4 in all of the census metropolitan areas (CMAs) covered by Statscans survey. Non-residential construction prices increased at a slower pace in every CMA except Moncton, where they were flat.

Year over year, residential building construction costs (+6.6%) rose at 4X the pace of non-residential construction (+1.5%) in the fourth quarter, mainly because of the high demand for housing and a shortage of lumber across the country.

Lumber shortages still impacting residential construction prices

A combination of tight supply and high demand for lumber continued from the third quarter into the fourth, driving up the cost of residential building construction.

Typically, the seasonal nature of the construction sector results in less activity in the winter months and provides sawmills with the opportunity to restock their log yards in preparation for the coming year. However, shutdowns of sawmills last spring because of Covidas well as unseasonably mild weather in British Columbiamade it more difficult to harvest logs.

The resulting tight supply drove up prices for lumber and other wood (+44.0%) and softwood lumber (+78.8%) in December 2020 compared with December 2019.

The demand for residential construction in the United States and Canada also remained high, with the total value of building permits increasing 9.5% in Q4 2020.

Costs increase for all residential building types

Nationally, construction costs rose for all residential building types covered by Stascans survey in the fourth quarter.

The largest quarterly price increases were for townhouses (+4.1%) and single-detached houses (+3.8%). Due in part to the smaller usage of lumber in high-rise apartment construction compared with all other residential building types, the cost for this building type rose at the slowest pace, edging up 0.6% in the fourth quarter.

While construction costs for residential buildings were up in every CMA covered by the survey, St. Johns (+5.5%) and Ottawa (+4.7%) recorded the largest gains.

Non-residential construction price growth is minor

The growth of the cost of non-residential building construction slowed in the fourth quarter, with price increases ranging from 0.3% for shopping centres and bus depots with maintenance and repair facilities, to 0.5% for warehouses and factories.

The largest increases in construction costs for non-residential buildings were in Halifax (+1.1%) and Ottawa (+0.9%), as well as in Montreal and St. Johns (both up 0.6%).

The slower price growth in non-residential buildings was partially attributable to lower construction costs in this building type, which requires less lumber, as well as to business uncertainty and a reintroduction of tighter physical distancing measures in certain regions of the country during the recent resurgence of Covid cases.

The year 2020 in review

Nationally, residential building construction rose at a faster pace in 2020 (+3.8% versus 2.9%) compared with a year earlier, while non-residential construction costs rose at a much slower pace (+1.6% versus 3.5%).

Residential construction costs increased the most in Ottawa (+5.8%), Moncton (+4.5%) and St. Johns (+4.3%) in 2020.

Non-residential construction costs increased the most in Montreal (+3.4%), Ottawa (+3.0%) and Toronto (+2.6%), while Saskatoon was the lone CMA covered by the survey to show no price movement in 2020.

Construction costs for residential buildings rose the most for townhouses (+4.4%) and single-detached houses (+4.1%) from 2019 to 2020, while construction costs for high-rise apartment buildings (+2.3%) increased the least.

Slowdowns in shipments of construction materials, along with physical distancing measures, curtailed or temporarily halted building construction activity in the first quarter of 2020.

Although construction resumed in the second quarter in all CMAs covered by the survey, productivity on worksites declined as employees abided by increased health & safety protocols.

Supply chains continued to be disrupted throughout 2020, and lumber shortages drove construction prices higher in the wake of increased demand for new housing and renovation projects.

Outlook for 2021

Shifts in homebuyers preferences to accommodate working from homecombined with historically low interest rates and increased optimism for the reopening of the economy as the vaccine rollout beginsare factors that should continue to drive demand for housing and put upward pressure on residential building construction prices.

Lumber prices are predicted to continue rising for most of 2021, which will increase the construction costs of new homes. Homebuilders could struggle to take advantage of the demand for new housing as they scramble to obtain the lumber they need amid tight supplies.

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Building construction price indexes, Q4 2020 - Lumber still an issue - Electrical Business - Electrical Business

BOAT WORKS RESIDENCES

Marathon, Florida

What: 52 units of affordable housing featuring a majority of two-bedroom, two-bath apartments, but also one-bedroom and one-bath apartments and three-bedroom, two-bath apartments. Market rate homes will be developed on the oceanfront (gulf) in a separate phase. Building is three stories over parking.

Where: Corner of Louisa and 39th streets.

What used to be there: boat yard.

When: Scheduled to be complete by late summer.

How much? Rent is calculated based on household income and number of bedrooms based on rules by Florida Housing Finance Corp., a state-run entity. The units at Boat Works are intended to serve locals who earn 80% of the median income of $81,400. A two-person household earning $64,480 would qualify for a two-bedroom apartment that rents for $1,814.

How can I apply for residence? Registration is handled by the AGPM Management team and company officials say there is already a waiting list of 300. For more information, visit the office at 624 73rd Street, call 305-916-5416 or email [emailprotected].

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WHATS THIS? ANOTHER 50+ AFFORDABLE APARTMENTS UNDER CONSTRUCTION - Florida Keys Weekly

ANN ARBOR, MI A major housing development on a 64-acre site could bring 538 new homes to Ann Arbors north side, along with nature trails and new connections to Leslie Park.

The new community, dubbed the Village of Ann Arbor, would rise between the Arrowwood Hills housing cooperative to the south and the Northside Ridge condos to the north and west.

An initial conceptual plan calls for a variety of rental and for-sale homes, including 78 townhomes with two-car garages, 67 townhomes with one-car garages, 48 units of townhomes over flats, 45 single-family homes and 300 apartments.

Bloomfield Hills-based Robertson Brothers Homes is teaming up with Lansing-based DTN Management Co. on the development off Pontiac Trail and Dhu Varren Road.

They presented initial plans to neighbors during a virtual Zoom meeting Monday night, Feb. 8.

Our vision for the property really is more of a village type of concept, said Tim Loughrin, Robertsons land acquisition director. What were envisioning is a wide mix of housing options for all ages and stages of life.

As for pricing, townhomes could start in the $200,000s while the single-family homes may start in the $300,000s, with upscale apartments priced at about $2,000 per month on average, according to the development team.

A closer look at the mix of housing types included in the Village of Ann Arbor conceptual plan.Land Design Studio courtesy of Robertson Brothers Homes

Housing units could range from 684 to 3,000 square feet overall, including everything from one- to five-bedroom units, Loughrin said, assuring residents they would be very high quality. A lot of the homes would be family-oriented, he said.

The apartments would have lots of amenities and would be designed to look like houses, the development team said.

The conceptual plan shows a small dog park, an outdoor barbecue area and grassy outdoor seating area within the apartment community, plus an outdoor pool next to a community clubhouse, which could include amenities such as a fitness center/yoga studio and work stations.

The project, while within the citys ultimate borders, involves annexing a township island from Ann Arbor Township into the city and zoning it for residential development.

That process could take several months, Loughrin said, predicting the development could start in 2022 or 2023 with approvals from the city and state.

24 Ann Arbor developments to watch in 2021

The development team plans to seek brownfield tax incentives for an environmental cleanup of the site.

Part of the site used to be an old city landfill up until about the 1950s, and another part was a sand and gravel operation that was heavily mined in the 1920s and 30s and later filled with mainly construction-type debris, Loughrin said.

Theyre planning to leave the landfill area, which is filled with household waste and now nicely treed over, as a nearly 10-acre community woodland park with trails connecting to the adjacent Leslie Park, Loughrin said.

The former gravel pit area is where there would be some cleanup before homes are built on top.

There are environmental concerns that were working through with our environmental consultants, Loughrin said.

The site is across from two new developments taking shape on Pontiac Trail: the North Sky project by Pulte Homes, which includes 139 single-family homes and a four-story, 56-unit condo or apartment building, and a 682-bed apartment complex called The One targeting University of Michigan students.

The Village of Ann Arbor plan shows access drives from both Pontiac Trail and Dhu Varren, giving the public new ways to access Leslie Park by cutting through the development.

There also could be a connection for pedestrians and cyclists to the condo neighborhood to the north via Hunley Drive.

There will be multiple open space areas and plenty of new neighborhood connections that will connect Olson Park all the way through Leslie Park through the development, and this would include biking and walking trails, Loughrin said.

The primary concern of neighbors who spoke Monday night was the potential for more vehicle traffic, as well as more people walking and cycling on their streets, including people walking dogs to and from Olson Park, and the need to ensure safety.

Some suggested doing more to coordinate plans with the other neighboring developments, including configurations of driveways, crosswalks and bus stops.

James Adams, who lives in the Dhu Varren on the Park neighborhood on Leslie Park Circle, raised the issue of traffic to and from Leslie Park via his private street off Dhu Varren.

Development team representatives said they think the new Village of Ann Arbor development will actually help with that by giving people more ways to come and go from the park, and many coming up Pontiac Trail will be able to take a straight shot over to Leslie Park through the new development.

There are several more layers of review to go and traffic studies will be done, the development team noted.

With hundreds upon hundreds of new housing units being built in the area, several neighbors said theyre hoping to eventually see some new retail built so they can have a neighborhood store. Thats something they agreed is missing.

As for the level of housing density proposed, Loughrin said its in line with the citys master plan for the area, which calls for 10 units per acre. The Village of Ann Arbor would have 8.4.

Robertson has constructed over 7,000 homes in southeast Michigan over the last 75 years, with about 100 different developments, and 97% of homebuyers are willing to refer their friends and family to Robertson, Loughrin said.

The company has 15 more residential developments underway and about 1,200 more homes in its land acquisition pipeline, Loughrin said.

The company focuses on infill developments that create vibrant communities, rather than building out in corn fields, he said.

DTN, founded in 1972, manages about 120 properties and has acquired or developed over 8,000 residential units, plus about 1 million square feet of commercial space, Loughrin said. DTN would manage the apartment community.

Julie Roth, leader of Ann Arbors Solarize Program, asked the development team about possible sustainability features to help meet the citys carbon-neutrality goals and whether there could be solar panels and a district geothermal loop tapping into the earths energy to heat and cool the entire development.

The development team has been in talks with the citys sustainability office and the project will strive for several green-energy initiatives, Loughrin said, mentioning the possibility of having all-electric buildings, for example.

As far as geothermal, the team would have to work with environmental consultants and engineers to see if thats possible, he said.

Parking spaces for all units would be wired for electric vehicle chargers, the development team said.

Following Mondays meeting, next steps in the process include the developer finalizing and submitting a site plan to the city that will be reviewed by city staff and then eventually go through Planning Commission and City Council for approval.

MORE FROM THE ANN ARBOR NEWS:

Big zoning changes on the horizon could allow more housing in Ann Arbor

Developer aims to save Ann Arbor oak forest from becoming a subdivision

Ann Arbor spending $1.5M to add 3.8-acre wooded area to city park network

Expecting senior population boom, Ann Arbor officials OK new housing for older adults

Hybrid learning information sessions for elementary students being hosted by Ann Arbor Public Schools

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538 new houses, condos and apartments proposed on Ann Arbors north side - MLive.com