Harrisburg, PA (PRWEB) June 04, 2014

High Associates Ltd. announced that its Building 105 office building in Rossmoyne Business Center placed fifth overall in the EPAs 2013 Battle of the Buildings. The fourth annual national competition recognized buildings that improved energy efficiency, lowered utility costs, and protected health and the environment throughout the calendar year. More than 3,000 buildings participated.

Building 105s performance was also the second-highest in the category of Office Buildings. Steps taken to improve its efficiency reduced energy use by 39.2 percent, preventing 296 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions with savings of $136,967. Located at 5020 Richard Lane in Mechanicsburg, Pa., the building qualifies for ENERGY STAR certification.

High Associates manages Building 105 as well as other buildings in Rossmoyne Business Center, on Harrisburgs West Shore, for lease to commercial tenants. The properties are owned by High Properties, a Pennsylvania limited partnership by High General Corporation, Sole general partner.

High Construction Company Energy Solutions Group tracked the building's monthly energy consumption using ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager, EPAs online energy and water measurement and tracking tool. Energy use reductions were verified by an independently licensed professional engineer at the conclusion of the competition. High Construction was the general contractor for the construction of Building 105, which was completed in 1997.

About High Associates

Headquartered in Lancaster, Pa., High Associates is a leading developer of industrial, office, retail, and multifamily facilities throughout the eastern United States. An affiliate of High Real Estate Group LLC, the firm also provides tenant care and property management services for the High Real Estate Group-owned portfolio of more than six million square feet, and provides development, brokerage, appraisal, and consultative services. For more information, visit http://www.highassociates.com.

About High Construction Company

Based in Lancaster, Pa., with offices in Williamsport, Pa., and Elmira, N.Y., High Construction Company provides design-build, general contracting, construction management, and energy consulting services throughout the mid-Atlantic region of the United States. High Construction specializes in the commercial, industrial, education, hospitality, retail, health care, and multi-family residential markets. High Construction's Energy Solutions Group reduces energy use and operating costs of new and existing buildings through energy audits/studies, retro-commissioning, life cycle design and construction, ENERGY STAR building certification, and turnkey energy retrofits and renovations. For more information, visit http://www.highconstruction.com.

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High Associates Office Building on Harrisburg Pa.'s West Shore Places Fifth in National EPA ENERGY STAR Competition

Property researcher Damian Stone. Picture: Nic Ellis/The West Australian.

Weak office leasing demand in Perth, especially for older buildings, and stronger demand for apartments could set the stage for building conversions in the CBD during the next five years, according to property research firm Y Research.

In an adaptive re-use study, the consultancy found a big proportion of Perth's ageing office stock was potentially viable for conversion to residential apartments in projects that could save on construction costs and take advantage of existing sites and infrastructure.

According to the study, which assessed buildings according to their size, age, grade, location and ownership, as many as 116 office buildings in the CBD and on the city fringes could be put to residential use.

Collectively these buildings contain 921,700sqm of office space and based on the average apartment size in new developments, could deliver 11,240 new apartments. Lower grade buildings don't compete well with better quality buildings when demand falls for office space.

Property Council figures from January show the vacancy level in B-grade buildings was 11.3 per cent and 12.3 per cent in C-grade buildings and these rates are expected to worsen significantly when first-half figures are released. According to CBRE, rents in secondary buildings declined further in March due to a more aggressive increase in vacancy levels.

In the office delivery cycle for the next five to six years, property researcher Damian Stone said the CBD and key suburban markets would get close to 400,000sqm of modern office space with large floor plates and the high environmental ratings demanded by government and private tenants.

Combined with the slowdown in the resources sector which has stalled the overall market, he said owners of older buildings were left with three options - refurbish the building for continued use as an office building, explore the potential for conversion to residential or tourism or demolish for a new development.

"Traditionally Perth developers have favoured demolition but nationally there has been a trend in the past year towards residential conversion," he said.

"More than $700 million of older stock has been sold in Sydney during the past year with plans for conversion to residential buildings. Based on the office market forecasts, the conversion trend is likely to occur in Perth in the coming years, to what scale it will depend but there will be cases in the next five years."

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Offices prime for conversion

Property researcher Damian Stone. Picture: Nic Ellis/The West Australian.

Weak office leasing demand in Perth, especially for older buildings, and stronger demand for apartments could set the stage for building conversions in the CBD during the next five years, according to property research firm Y Research.

In an adaptive re-use study, the consultancy found a big proportion of Perth's ageing office stock was potentially viable for conversion to residential apartments in projects that could save on construction costs and take advantage of existing sites and infrastructure.

According to the study, which assessed buildings according to their size, age, grade, location and ownership, as many as 116 office buildings in the CBD and on the city fringes could be put to residential use.

Collectively these buildings contain 921,700sqm of office space and based on the average apartment size in new developments, could deliver 11,240 new apartments. Lower grade buildings don't compete well with better quality buildings when demand falls for office space.

Property Council figures from January show the vacancy level in B-grade buildings was 11.3 per cent and 12.3 per cent in C-grade buildings and these rates are expected to worsen significantly when first-half figures are released. According to CBRE, rents in secondary buildings declined further in March due to a more aggressive increase in vacancy levels.

In the office delivery cycle for the next five to six years, property researcher Damian Stone said the CBD and key suburban markets would get close to 400,000sqm of modern office space with large floor plates and the high environmental ratings demanded by government and private tenants.

Combined with the slowdown in the resources sector which has stalled the overall market, he said owners of older buildings were left with three options - refurbish the building for continued use as an office building, explore the potential for conversion to residential or tourism or demolish for a new development.

"Traditionally Perth developers have favoured demolition but nationally there has been a trend in the past year towards residential conversion," he said.

"More than $700 million of older stock has been sold in Sydney during the past year with plans for conversion to residential buildings. Based on the office market forecasts, the conversion trend is likely to occur in Perth in the coming years, to what scale it will depend but there will be cases in the next five years."

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Offices ripe for conversion

Some Mount Pleasant residents oppose an office building and parking garage plan at the corner of Mill Street and Coleman Boulevard (upper left) near Shem Creek. Wade Spees/Staff

The developer of a planned 54-foot parking garage and office building near Shem Creek said Monday that he will submit building plans in the next couple of weeks, despite indications from the mayor otherwise.

Last week, Mayor Linda Page released a detailed letter to Jim Owens, a resident leading opposition to the building, stating that the developer indicated the project had become "economically unfeasible." That was due to changes including new setback requirements that Town Council approved this spring.

The letter left the building's opponents, who fear it will overpower Shem Creek, hopeful over the weekend that the battle was won.

However, developer Tex Small said Monday that he still plans to pursue construction.

"It's unfortunate things have gotten so out of kilter," Small said. "It leads to a lot of confusion."

Small said he has revised his plans to fit new requirements including setbacks despite the cost to do so. "Nevertheless, we are moving forward," Small said.

Residents have packed recent town meetings to object to the building which they contend would be too large for the quaint Shem Creek, a popular destination spot known for its water views and shrimp boats.

At the corner of Mill Street and Coleman Boulevard, the building marks a joint venture between the town and Small, developer of The Shops at Oakland.

Small is planning a four-story structure whose top two floors would include commercial office space with views overlooking Shem Creek and Coleman Boulevard. A parking garage on the lower two levels was going to include about 270 parking spaces. Small said his revised plans will include 245 parking spaces.

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Developer plans to move forward with Shem Creek parking garage

Real estate development firm Irgens will host a groundbreaking ceremony on June 18 to celebrate the start of construction for 833 East, a 17-story class A office building that the firm will build at 833 E. Michigan St. in downtown Milwaukee.

Tenants in the 358,000-square-foot building will include the Godfrey & Kahn S.C. law firm; Colliers International|Wisconsin and Inland Companies; and Irgens' own offices. Godfrey & Kahn will occupy about 100,000 on the top four floors of the building.

It will take about 20 months to construct the building, so it will likely be complete in early 2016.

The building will be built on a one-acre site currently occupied by a parking structure built in 1951. An affiliate of Irgens bought the property earlier this year from U.S. Bank for $5.4 million. The site is located just southeast of the 42-story U.S. Bank Center at 777 E. Wisconsin Ave.

The design firm for the 833 East project is Milwaukee-based Kahler Slater and the general contractor for the project is Milwaukee-based CG Schmidt.

A consortium of four banks are providing $71 million in financing for the $105 million project. The PrivateBank and Associated Bank will each provide $24 million in financing and Bank Mutual and Anchor Bank will each provide $11.5 million.

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Irgens plans June 18 groundbreaking for downtown office tower

By Stacy Jacobson sjacobson@abcnews4.com

MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. (WCIV) -- A proposed office building and parking garage at Mount Pleasant's Shem Creek has presented Lowcountry residents with another battle between history and dealing with growth and development. A zoning ordinance change might prohibit the construction of the garage, but officials believed the office building would still be built.

Many are worried Shem Creek's picturesque views could be obstructed.

What this parking garage would do is become the predominant structure. You could see it from the creek, Mount Pleasant resident Joanna Ghegan said.

Mount Pleasant officials said a developer came to them with a plan for an office building and parking garage on a lot near Reds in Shem Creek in 2013. Current zoning allowed for the new building and garage. It came as a relief to some.

"The parking condition is obviously rough. Its a little bit of a pain in the butt," Matt Theders said.

But others said it would stain the skyline of the Shem Creek historic area.

It would be an eyesore. It would be atrocious. But I obviously see the necessity for more parking, Mount Pleasant resident Davis Crosby said.

The parking garage design Ive seen is a brick structure with tall awnings. They are not in keeping with the Lowcountry feel, Ghegan said.

Mayor Linda Page said she hadnt seen any designs or a finalized plan. She also said the town had studied parking and decided it was not financially savvy for Mount Pleasant to build its own public parking. Instead, officials planned to work with the developer.

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Future Shem Creek development divides Mount Pleasant

KUALA LUMPUR, June 2 (Bernama) -- AirAsia Bhd has clarified that it is in the midst of obtaining approvals from the local authorities for its new office at klia2 and does not face any funding issues, as claimed in a news report.

Chief Executive Officer, Aireen Omar, said the company was requested to reduce the height of its new building when the control tower at klia2 was relocated to a new site upon instruction by the authorities.

"As a result of the reduced height, the original site and plan for the new office building became structurally uneconomical," she said.

A local daily today reported that AirAsia might have delayed Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd's (MAHB) plan to turn the Low-Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) in Sepang into a global cargo and logistics hub.

Quoting sources, the local daily said AirAsia wanted its headquarters to remain at the LCCT for at least another year.

"As far as AirAsia is informed, MAHB has told AirAsia that having our office there temporarily poses no disruption to their plans," said Aireen.

She said the new site has to be identified, and plans had to be redrawn and re-submitted for approval which has adjusted the timeline of the new office building significantly for AirAsia.

Construction of the new building was expected to commence in July 2014 for completion late next year, she said.

"We would also like to clarify that no requests have been made to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak to permit the AirAsia corporate office to remain in the LCCT, as reported in the article," said Aireen.

The airline, however, has been in communication with MAHB with regards to its corporate office remaining and occupying part of the first floor of LCCT, she said.

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AirAsia in process of obtaining approvals for new office at KLIA2

The first phase of the development is set to kick off this year and expected to generate 12,000 jobs

MANILA, Philippines A mixed-use development consisting of an office building, commercial complex, and service apartments will rise in Pasay as DoubleDragon Properties Corporation signed an agreement to develop a 4.75-hectare property in the city.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange Monday, June 2, DoubleDragon said it signed a joint venture agreement with Carto Meridian Development Corporation for a project called The Meridian Park at the corner of EDSA and Macapagal Avenue near the SM Mall of Asia in Pasay.

The themed, mixed-use complex is envisioned to be one of the most iconic and prominent landmarks in the area.

Once the whole development is completed, it will have about 334,000 sqm of total floor area and is expected to generate over P1.16 billion in annual rental revenues for the joint venture company, said DoubleDragon, owned equally by Jollibee Foods Corporation chairman Tony Tan Caktiong and businessman Edgar "Injap" Sia II.

Under the agreement, DoubleDragon will have a 70% stake in the joint venture. DoubleDragon said it would launch the master plan and start construction of the first phase by the last quarter of the year. The whole 4.75-hectare project will be completed by 2020.

The first phase of the project, called the DoubleDragon Cyber Campus, will have a total of about 9.02 hectares of floor area. The building will be leased out to outsourcing companies and will have commercial retail space at the ground floor. This phase is expected to generate 12,000 jobs.

The mixed-use project is aligned with DoubleDragons target to reach one million total leasable space portfolio by 2020, of which 70 hectares would be allotted for community malls.

DoubleDragon listed its shares on the Philippine Stock Exchange only last April. Since its listing, the company has made several acquisitions, including a 70% interest in an affordable housing developer based in the Western Visayas, a 5-story tiangge shopping mall in Divisoria, Manila, and two community malls in Zamboanga City. Over the next 5 years, the property firm plans to build 100 community malls.

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Jollibee owners property firm to develop mixed-use project in Pasay

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SIERRA VISTA Plans in place to construct a three-story medical office building adjacent to the new hospital are underway after RegionalCare submitted a site plan for the building to the city earlierthismonth.

Submittingthe plan for review is the first step to breaking ground, and some aspects of the project are subject to change before then, but the initial plan for the 55,000 square-foot building is to provide office space for several medical service providers, said Jeff Atwood, vice president of communications for RegionalCareHospitalPartners.

There will be several large medical providers in the building offering multiple services in numerous offices in their suites. The total number of offices will be determined during the design of the interior suites,Atwoodsaid.

The company is currently in the process of finalizing agreements with tenants for more than 90 percent of available building space. These tenants would provide services including family medicine, orthopedics, pediatrics, cardiology, physical and occupational therapy, wound care, rehabilitation services and obstetrics and gynecology,hesaid.

The original master plan of the hospital campus included plans for two medical office buildings, but the site plan submitted to the citys Community Development department on May 1 was for the office building that was to be built second, but will now come first. It is located close to the new hospitalsnortheastcorner.

Tenant interest in the new MOB (medical office building) exceeded initial expectations as originally submitted to the city, Atwood said in an email. Considering the increased size of the new MOB (3-stories) the decision was made to use the second site location as it would better compliment the scale and aesthetics of the new hospital. Also, the distance between the two buildings provides better convenience for patients utilizing Physical Therapy andRehabilitationservices.

The architect of the building is the Arlington, Texas-based Ascension Group Architects,LLP.

The general contractor for the building will be selected through a competitive bid process and several construction firms will be invited to bid on the project,hesaid.

RegionalCare hopes to break ground on the medical office building by August, with the building scheduled to be completed beforeMay1.

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New medical office building in the works

By opening the "SCG 100th Year Building" at its headquarters in Bang Sue, Siam Cement Group is introducing affordable green practices to other Thai companies that are committed to sustainable growth.

Awarded the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) for building design and construction, the SCG complex comes has two structures - a 37,000-square metre office building that houses some offices for its chemical and paper businesses and a 38,000-sqm multipurpose building that houses an auditorium and parking space. Providing office space for some 1,700 employees, the Bt3.3-billion complex boasts new technology that helps save energy and water consumption, cuts down on commuting time and provides a hygienic environment for all. The final aim is to make the world greener.

"This is in line with our goal to be a leader in sustainability," said Roongrote Rangsiyopash, president of SCG Paper and chairman of SCG Sustainable Development Committee. "We want to set an example for Thai society that our design and construction practices can be carried out in a way that minimises impacts on the environment and the ecosystem."

At a glance, the SCG building is no different from any of the newly completed structures in Bangkok, with glass panels and green space. But to make it a truly sustainable building, SCG planned at the designing stage to incorporate environment-friendly products. Recycled materials have been incorporated along with careful construction planning and waste management.

In a tour led by one of the five SCG Green Solution experts, reporters were shown the toilets that have sanitaryware and fittings that promise to save 70 per cent of water consumption or about 6 million litres per annum compared to other buildings of the same size. Though the glass walls allowed us to look outside and enjoy the large trees around the buildings, we learned that the glass had thermal insulation and the windows were double-glazed, which helped limit incoming heat.

Along the way, there are signboards showing that the buildings had been completed with low VOCs (volatile organic compounds) emitting materials. Also, the building only uses LED light bulbs and the tiles under our feet were produced with 60 per cent recycled materials. Wood fittings contain over 50 per cent of wood certified by Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), to ensure no illegal logging.

Instead of blocking sunlight and breeze with concrete walls, the parking space let in a free flow of are. Special parking is provided for environment-friendly cars as well bicycle-parking ramps.

We also learnt that the water-management scheme in place returns 100 per cent of the used and treated water as well as rainwater for sanitation and gardening. The building is equipped with three teleconferencing rooms for cross-border meetings, without requiring employees stationed overseas to travel to Bangkok.

Making employees happy is also a key focus. A jogging track and an air-conditioned fitness centre has been provided on the roof of the multipurpose building. On an elevated layer, solar panels that can generate 99,000 kilowatts of electricity per hour have been lined up. The entrance is equipped with dust-trapping carpets, to minimise the proliferation of dust and diseases. With few small particles circulating in the air, the company believes that the condition of the air will limit health problems. Phone cubicles have also been installed for employees in case they want to have a private conversation.

"In the designing process, we took into consideration employees' life-styles," Roongrote said. "We want to turn this into a landmark, that can blend well with the ecosystem."

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SCG offers 'green' solutions for others