The Shawnee County delegation has scheduled a Jan. 9 meeting with Department of Administration Secretary Jim Clark at which Clark will outline proposals to raze the Docking State Office Building and sell two other downtown edifices owned by the state.

The 10 representatives and three senators who represent the county have been notified of the meeting, which is scheduled for noon in Room 281N of the Statehouse.

Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley, D-Topeka, said he has spoken to the secretary about the proposed demolition of Docking and, more recently, about the sale of the Dwight D. Eisenhower State Office Building and the Landon State Office Building.

Clark confirmed he will brief the delegation on those proposals in advance of a Joint Committee on State Building Construction meeting scheduled for Jan. 16.

"We're looking at our options as well," Clark said. "Hopefully we'll have some options we'll put before the committee on the 16th."

Hensley said Clark wants to sell the latter two buildings to private entities, then lease space for state offices there.

"The impression I got is that Clark wants to get the state out of the business of owning buildings," Hensley said.

Clark said the state holding the office buildings affects Topeka's real estate market, and the state owes it to the locals to form a plan and move forward.

"Having no answer or no plan hurts the market," Clark said.

Hensley said he urged the secretary to host a meeting with the delegation for the sake of transparency.

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Secretary to propose Capitol Plaza revamp

By JENNIFER NESBITT

ThisWeek Community News Monday December 23, 2013 9:44 PM

The Westerville Planning Commission gave the green light to a new building at 164 Weatherby Lane, the last vacant parcel in the office complex northwest of Schrock Road and Charring Cross Drive.

The commission voted on the plans Dec. 18.

The 8,000-square-foot building, to be constructed by Romanelli & Hughes Building Co., is for an undisclosed insurance company looking to expand its operations.

The project would be smaller than the 15,000-square-foot building shown on site plans approved by the city in 1999, said Westerville Planner Lisa LaMantia.

The smaller building would allow for more green space and outside areas, including patios and decks, for employees, LaMantia said.

The facility also would have a different look than the offices surrounding it.

While other buildings in the area are brick with traditional design elements, Romanelli & Hughes presented a more modern look, with different roof lines, stone and stucco details, and earth-tone hues.

"We find it refreshing; it's a nice change," LaMantia said of the architecture.

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Office building brings 'breath of fresh air'

Intercoastal Medical Group is making plans to move into its new facility north of State Road 70 at Lakewood Ranch.JAMES A. JONES JR./Bradenton Herald

LAKEWOOD RANCH -- Intercoastal Medical Group officials plan to soon begin moving into a new $6.5 million medical office building at Lakewood Ranch Boulevard and Rangeland Parkway.

"We're moving after Christmas and will start seeing patients by Dec. 30," spokesperson Ricki Lindsay said.

The medical practice will initially move into the second floor of the 25,400-square-foot facility, with construction and equipping of the first floor being completed about six months later, she said.

Intercoastal Medical Group was founded in 1993, and has more than 60 physicians at seven locations in Manatee and Sarasota counties, according to the practice's website.

The practice has been working out of leased space on the campus of Lakewood Ranch Medical Center, several miles south.

The new location "is a very prominent piece of real estate," said Brian Kennelly, chief operating officer for the Starling Group, Intercoastal's agent for the project.

The nearly three-acre parcel "opens the door to Lakewood Centre," Kennelly said.

Developer Schroeder-Manatee Ranch Inc. is planning Lakewood Centre on 697-acres, bringing thousands of new homes and apartments to Lakewood Ranch, along with more than 1 million square feet of commercial and office space, and a 300-room hotel, potentially as tall as 12 stories,

Kennelly knows the property well. He was president of LWR Commercial Realty, which sold the property to Intercoastal less than 12 months ago. He is now employed by the company executing the project.

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Intercoastal Medical Group plans Lakewood Ranch move

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Amancio Ortega, the billionaire owner of clothing retailer Inditex SA, bought an office building in Londons West End for 410 million pounds ($670 million), a person with knowledge of the matter said.

Ortegas Ponte Gadea SL bought Devonshire House, a 1920s property opposite the Ritz hotel, from the estate of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., said the person, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. Joelle Halperin, a spokeswoman for Lehman Brothers, declined to comment. Ponte Gadea didnt respond to calls and an e-mail requesting comment.

Regulations protecting older buildings and preventing high-rise construction has created a shortage of office space in the West End, fueling rent increases. The area, which is popular with hedge funds and includes the luxury shopping locations Bond Street and Regent Street, replaced central Hong Kong as the worlds most expensive property market, CBRE Group Inc. said on Dec. 18.

Green Oak Real Estate Advisors LLP, an adviser to the Lehman estate, sought at least 390 million pounds for the building, the person said.

Devonshire Houses tenants include Bain Capital LLC and Noble Corp., according to the companies websites.

Estates Gazette reported the news earlier today.

Ortega is the worlds third-wealthiest person with a net worth of $64 billion, according to the latest Bloomberg Billionaires Index ranking.

To contact the reporters on this story: Patrick Gower in London at pgower@bloomberg.net; David M. Levitt in New York at dlevitt@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Andrew Blackman at ablackman@bloomberg.net; Kara Wetzel at kwetzel@bloomberg.net

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Billionaire Ortega Said to Pay $670 Million for London Building

BUILDING PERMITS

PMT2013-01860 1800 Commerce St. 3; $50,000.00; Randy Armijo; Hendricks Fine Homes LLC; tenant remodel to expand F-1 occupancy into Unit I. Scope of work includes connection through existing dimising wall, infill of additional door, fire rate existing walls, electrical and mechanical work. No plumbing associated with this permit.

PMT2013-03266 4733 Pearl St.; $375,960.00; Sky Blue; Sl Murphy Construction LLC; interior tenant finish to an existing warehouse space. No additonal floor area. Scope of work includes new partition walls, modification to existing electrical and heating system to accomodate changes to floor plan and uses. Some exterior lighting included. Includes all associated MEPs.

PMT2013-04098 770 28th St.; $250,000.00; Enterprise Neda; Coburn Development Inc; addition of 1,059 square feet., two-level elevator addition at southeast wing of building, south of pool, containing new elevator shaft, elevator lobby, mechanical room, exit stair and associated electrical, plumbing and mechanical work. Also included is temporary exit stair on southeast corner of building.

PMT2013-04468 320 15th St.; $50,000.00; Jennifer Dice; Fuentes Design; new detached two-car garage with storage loft and associated electrical. Scope of work limited to new garage. A separate permit will be required if work is done to the existing garage.

PMT2013-04758 1352 College Ave. 115; $220,000.00; and College LLC; tenant remodel of restaurant space for Starbucks Coffee shop. Scope of work includes associated electrical, mechanical and plumbing.

PMT2013-05131 5555 Airport Bldg.; $79,279.00; Tree Yew; CRB Builders, LLC; Installation of new "Cold Storage Unit" in existing pharmaceutical building (Agilent Technologies). Includes associated MEPs.

PMT2013-05932 2750 Broadway; $150,232.50; Med Boulder; Calcon Constructors Inc; interior, non-structural remodel to existing "endoscopy suite' in Boulder Medical Center. Scope of work includes addition of a toilet room and storage room in an existing surgery suite. Also includes new casework in surgery rooms, and all associated MEPs. Total of 1,100 square feet of affected area.

PMT2013-06130 270 Kiowa Place; $66,000.00; William Norris and andrea Norris; Hamilton Builders, Inc; interior remodel of existing single family dwelling (345SF). Scope of work includes basement remodel (new bath, demo of existing walls) and main level remodel (new bath, new closet in bedroom, and expansion of exisitng window on east wall).

PMT2013-06233 2600 30th St. 103; $100,000.00; and 30Th; Mountain States Construction; interior tenant improvement for general dermatology clinic to include creation of exam rooms with sinks, doctor's office, waiting areas, offices, and new half bathroom.

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Boulder building permits: Dec. 23, 2013

Regional News of Sunday, 22 December 2013

Source: GNA

Wulugu Naba Pugansoa, Naa Professor John S. Nabila, President of the National House of Chiefs, has appealed to the government, individuals and corporate institutions and organizations, to support the House to rehabilitate its old office building in Kumasi.

He said the office has not seen any rehabilitation since it was constructed in the early 1970s, and the state of the building is such that if action is not taken, it can collapse at any time.

There are several structural defects in the walls, and the roof is leaking seriously, and paintings on the walls have stripped off, he stressed.

Naa Prof Nabila was speaking at the end-of- year general meeting of the House in Kumasi.

The meeting was to take stock and examine performances during the year, reflect on them and plan the way forward.

The President said the Houses new office complex at Asennua in the Kwabre East District, whose construction started some years back, remained uncompleted, and it has been in its present stage since 2011.

He announced that, during the year, the House was able to convert 15 Reports of Research into Draft of Declaration of Customary Law, adding that they have been forwarded to the Ministry of Justice and Attorney General for further action.

Naa Prof. Nabila commended government, particularly President John Manama for the improvement of the financial and other logistics situation of the House.

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Help NHC to rehabilitate old office building

London is on top.

The citys West End had the most expensive office space in the world in the third quarter of 2013, according to a report released Wednesday by CBRE Group Inc. Rents and other costs totaled $259.36 per square foot for the year for top-quality space.

Total occupancy costs in Hong Kong, which previously held the crown, were $234.30 per square foot in the third quarter. Hong Kongs costs fell 4.9% over the prior year partly because of new buildings that recently opened, according to Raymond Torto, who heads CBREs global research arm.

Either way, both markets should expect growth in the future, Mr. Torto said.

Everybody wants to be in the same place in the two cities, he said. There hasnt been enough development to meet that demand.

Across the world, rents in top-quality prime office space increased 2.2% from a year earlier.

On the wane was Spain, which had the two markets with the largest declines in occupancy costs.

- Eliot Brown

On Spec Brings a Check

In 2010, Tishman Speyer Properties LP started construction on its first of three planned office towers in central Brasilia, beginning a long hunt for tenants to fill the tower.

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Plots & Ploys: a Tale of Two Cities

Boulder Valley Ice and Indoor Sports at Superior will be open nearly 21 hours a day

An artist s rendition of the medical building that will be part of the new Boulder Valley Ice and Indoor Sports at Superior complex approved by the town s Board of Trustees on Friday night.

SUPERIOR -- The Board of Trustees gave unanimous approval Friday evening to a massive sports and medical complex, dubbed Boulder Valley Ice and Indoor Sports at Superior, to be built as one of the centerpiece structures of Superior Town Center.

The 160,000-square-foot sports complex, with an attached 60,000-square-foot medical building, will be one of the larger buildings in this town of 13,000 and will have a prominent location at the southeast corner of U.S. 36 and McCaslin Boulevard.

Developer Luke Taylor, who is heading up the $36 million project, said he hopes construction can start by late January or early February and that hockey players and recreational skaters can be sailing across the ice by fall.

"With our customer base, at least one of our sheets has to be open by September," he said, shortly after the Board of Trustees cast its 6-0 vote. "They need a place to skate."

Boulder Valley Ice and Indoor Sports at Superior is the first building approved for Superior Town Center, a 157-acre, 1,400-home mixed-use development that was hotly debated by the trustees this past summer. The board approved the town center in August.

"This is going to be a great facility," Taylor said. "There won't be another one like it in the area."

Nearly round-the-clock

The complex, with 21/2 sheets of ice, an indoor soccer field, a restaurant and a coffee shop, is expected to draw up to 1.6 million people a year. It will be open from 5:30 a.m. to 2 a.m., 360 days a year. The Rocky Mountain Roughriders, the Broomfield Soccer Club, Boulder Valley Lacrosse and the Rocky Mountain Hockey League have all booked playing time at the new complex starting this fall.

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Superior Town Center to get first building after trustees approve sports, medical complex

Rock Island County's chief judge chastised the county board today for failing to seek voter approval for a new courthouse and renovation of the County Office Building.

"It seems that they have intentionally relegated the courthouse to the dustbin of political inconvenience," Judge Jeffrey O'Connor said in a letter to several news outlets and journalists this morning. "There ultimately will be political accountability, and the 14th Judicial Circuit continues to weigh alternatives in the spirit of comity."

O'Connor titled his letter "A matter of political courage."

On Tuesday, the county board voted 16-8 against placing a referendum on the March primary ballot, asking voters to approve the courthouse project. The construction program is estimated to be $72 million.

O'Connor threatened a lawsuit last year to force work on the courthouse but put the court action on hold while county officials debated how to bring the building up to code and state standards.

Since the county board action on Tuesday, O'Connor has been unavailable for comment. His letter was his first public statement since the vote.

"It is undisputed as proven by the architect's report that the present courthouse in Rock Island does not conform to building, electrical, plumbing, and ventilation codes and falls desperately short of Supreme Court minimum standards requirements," O'Connor wrote.

He noted that the board has chosen to seek voter approval for a tax increase to operate the county-owned Hope Creek Care Center in East Moline, which O'Connor called an optional project for the county.

"In fact, the board has articulated no meaningful plan, yet the courthouse remains obsolete and in violation of the law," he said. "The courthouse is not an optional project. It is a fundamental duty of the county board."

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Rock Island judge critical of action on courthouse