ALLENTOWN, Pa. -

A taller Three City Center will rise early next year on the vacant lot once occupied by the Colonial movie theater along Hamilton Street in Allentown.

A seven-story version of the office building, which will cost about $50 million to build, won final approval the Allentown Planning Commission Thursday afternoon.

Three City Center initially was envisioned as being only five stories tall, but representatives of the developer -- City Center Investment Corp. often said more levels might be added.

After the plan was approved by a 3-0 vote, planning commission member Richard Button declared: I think this is really neat! This is gorgeous!

An artists rendering makes it obvious that adding two more floors will create a structure that is more imposing and less squat.

Judy Woosnam, vice president of operations for City Center, explained the building will be taller because of the amount of interest it is generating from potential commercial tenants. She said the company already is in negotiations with tenants.

Voting with Button to approve the project were Anthony Toth and Frank Facchiano.

Planning commission members Oldrich Foucek and Christian Brown abstained because they have business dealings with the developer.

James Gentile, construction manager, predicted construction of Three City Center will begin sometime during the first three months of 2014 and take up to one year to complete.

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Taller Three City Center approved by Allentown Planning Commission

The stately building slated for the former Colonial Theater site in Allentown will now stretch two stories taller and cost $13 million more due to increased demand for downtown office space.

Representatives with City Center Investment Corp. on Thursday presented plans to Allentown's Planning Commission for a seven-story office and retail building that would be the next in a growing list of projects from the company that's building the new arena, hotel and combination retail/luxury apartment complex just blocks away.

The Colonial site plans, which were first presented in July when City Center was awarded the property, call for one floor of retail and six stories of office space on the vacant lot bounded by Hamilton Street and the city's Arts Park.

That's two more floors of office space than the company originally proposed. The expansion has been driven by the high demand for City Center's other properties, said Judy Woosnam, a vice president with City Center. All 500,000 square feet of office space in One City Center and Two City Center has been leased, she said.

"So while we're building, we'll build bigger," Woosnam said, laughing.

The additional office space will bring the cost of the Colonial development to about $50 million for the 166,000-square-foot building. Originally it was proposed at $37 million.

The proposal calls for a limestone facade for the first two stories and a paneled composite product on the upper stories, said James Gentile, president of North Star Construction Management. Because the building also faces the Arts Park, the rear facade will mimic the front and have a balcony for employees to enjoy the view. Balconies with plants will occupy all four corners of the top floor.

The lower level will have room for two to four retail tenants, Gentile said. City Center is negotiating with interested tenants for both the office and retail space, Woosnam said.

City Center developer J.B. Reilly said he believes law firms will be interested in renting at the new building because it's essentially next door to the county and federal courthouses.

City Center was one of two developers that submitted proposals for the Colonial property. It beat out a plan presented by a partnership of Alvin H. Butz Inc. and Think Loud Development LLC, a York developer and fiber optic network builder backed by members of the rock band Live.

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Growing demand makes building pitched for Colonial site taller, pricier

50m office block could be biggest built in Cork

Friday, December 20, 2013

Construction cranes could be back on Cork Citys skyline next year, with plans being lodged today for a 50m eight-storey office block alongside City Hall.

By Tommy Barker Property Editor

Just last month JCD sold two completed Mahon City Gate blocks to Irish Life Assurances for 40m, and has now teamed up with BAM on whats probably the best available office site in the city centre, fronting the Elysian complex on Albert Quay.

Designed by Henry J Lyons Architects, it looks to be the single biggest office block ever built in the city. And, with large open floor areas of 30,000sq ft, it fits the IDAs call for such space in Dublin, Cork, and Galway for the arrivals of foreign companies.

The Albert Quay site currently has two separate office planning grants for large buildings: One is already owned by BAM, and theyve just bought the second Doyle Warehouses site (previously owned by Howard Holdings) from Nama via Savills for about 2m.

If theres a clear run through planning for this new unified proposal, the developers say work could begin as early as April, generating 200 construction jobs.

News of the application was welcomed by Cork Chamber of Commerce CEO Conor Healy, who said the city centre was close to running out of quality available office space for inward investment: Its very welcome news for Cork to have a project of this quality and scale proposed by developers with their reputation, in the heart of the city.

The 50m development will have twice the office space as City Quarter, across the river on Lapps Quay. Figures now being tallied are expected to show 500,000sq ft of Cork offices was accounted for in 2013 a higher take-up than in any year in the boom.

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€50m office block could be biggest built in Cork

The newest designs for CentrePointe, released Oct. 2. CMMIARCHITECTS

An international engineering firm will occupy 21/2 floors of the CentrePointe office building, company and city officials announced Tuesday.

Stantec, which employs 160 people in Lexington, plans to move its offices into the CentrePointe development and add 30 jobs, company officials said.

"Our new downtown office will help fulfill our company purpose: We create communities," Stantec vice president Don Armour said. "We've appreciated the concerted public-private effort that has moved this project to this milestone."

The Webb Companies, CentrePointe's developers, have said a nationally known engineering firm needed to be in the 10-story office building by May 2015. That's why it was so important for construction on the downtown development to begin. The name of the engineering firm was not released until Tuesday.

Crews started initial site work Sunday for the long-delayed project, which is to include an underground parking garage, an office complex, retail space, an apartment building and a hotel. CentrePointe developers have said construction on the 700-space underground parking garage will begin first, followed by the office tower.

Stantec officials said Tuesday that in addition to creating 30 jobs, it will invest more than $2.5 million in its expansion.

Stantec has more than 200 offices across the world, including in Louisville and Cincinnati.

Gov. Steve Beshear praised the firm's expansion in Lexington.

"This expansion will have a positive impact for the community, creating quality jobs in the Lexington area," Beshear said.

Read more:
CentrePointe's big reveal: Engineering firm to be office building's first tenant

The developers of a five-floor residential, office and retail building on Main Street will find out this week if the state will approve its brownfield redevelopment plan.

The Midland City Council added its support Monday for Midland DTH LLCs brownfield plan, which calls for the construction of a $15.3 million building and $5.8 million in environmental cleanup on land at 102, 110, 114, 124 and 128 Main St. and 108 Ashman.

Midland DTH was formed by Saginaw-based SSP Associates to complete the project. It sought approval of a brownfield tax increment financing plan that would pay the company back for the costs of cleaning up heavy metals, petroleum compounds, dry cleaning compounds, asbestos and more at the site. The payback would come by capturing any increase in property taxes paid on the property and redirecting them to the developer for a term of 26 years.

Total costs to be reimbursed are about $8.4 million, which includes about $5.8 million in actual costs and about $2.6 million in interest. The city would reimburse about $5.9 million over 21 years, with the state reimbursing about $2.5 million over 26 years.

Brian Eggers, AKT Peerless principal who represented Midland DTH on Monday, said the project would make the best use of the downtown lots by going vertical and mixing uses. It would eliminate blight, remove contamination, improve city infrastructure, add underground parking for tenants, leverage state investment, invigorate downtown and add a landmark structure on Main Street, Eggers said.

Two properties on the site were previously eyed by Artful Dodger Brewing Co. and later by Better Grounds LLC, but plans stalled for both of those projects.

This project will succeed where other projects have failed, Eggers said.

The first floor would include retail and restaurant space. The upper floors would include 15 condominium units with two or three bedrooms. Eggers said the building would add 46 new full-time equivalent jobs to downtown and support 400 construction jobs.

The brownfield cleanup poses economic challenges for the developer, so assistance would help put the land to use, said Dave Keenan, Midland assistant city manager.

Keenan said the developer expects to start work in first quarter of 2014, with 2015 being the first year of tax capture.

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Council OKs plan for Main Street building

(WJBK) -

An old post office in Detroit has been converted to a place of worship, but the city of Detroit still believes it's an abandoned building and sent a bill to the church for more than three thousand dollars.

VIDEO: Click on the video player above to watch the story in a report from Fox 2's Randy Wimbley, or read the story below __________________

"I was told that somebody came in March and they didn't see anything except construction debris. Well, we're renovating the post office. Then I was told they came again on a Sunday in November and did not see any activity."

And Pastor Mike Hanafee of Restore Church in Detroit says that led to this: a "$3361.99 bill that we received last week."

Talk about sticker shock .

Pastor Hanafee says the tax exempt status for the post office-turned church building was good to go.

"We submitted all the official paperwork with all the requirements," Pastor Hanafee says. Then a field inspector claimed to have stopped by.

"Despite all the evidence, we were told that we actually had not been meeting at this building for the last 60 weeks, which is a great surprise to the 125 of us who gather here every Sunday," the pastor says.

Fox 2 found several pictures of church services dating back to October of 2012 and video is from a worship service this past Sunday. So what gives?

Original post:
Detroit church receives abandoned-building bill for more than $3K

New Brunswick, NJ (PRWEB) December 18, 2013

Gilbane Building Company is pleased to announce the relocation of the New Jersey office to New Brunswick. The continuing growth of Gilbanes New Jersey office motivated the move into a space and location that will facilitate future expansion so as to better serve multiple clients throughout the state.

With a central location for building activity, Gilbanes move underscores its commitment to New Jersey. The new office allows Gilbane to provide better service and support for local clients. The companys New Jersey team moved into its new location in Albany Street Plaza, 120 Albany Street Suite 301, in early December after a thorough fit-out to accommodate the staff as well as the space necessary for growth.

With this move to Albany Street Plaza, Gilbane gains an office identity that reflects our strong New Jersey presence while accommodating for future growth, said John Fumosa, New Jersey district manager. Both geographically and architecturally this new space supports the companys nearly five decades of commitment to being a top builder in New Jersey.

A major player in New Jersey construction since 1967, Gilbane works with a wide variety of public and private sector clients. Gilbane recently completed the William Paterson University Science Hall Addition and is currently building three schools for the New Jersey Schools Development Authority Oliver Street Elementary School, Public School #20 and Elliott Street School. Gilbane also has a contract with the State of New Jersey Management of Reconstruction, Rehabilitation, Elevation and Mitigation (RREM) Program, and the Landlord Rental Repair Program (LRRP), which helps homeowners affected by Superstorm Sandy. In the private sector, Gilbane is providing Construction Management At-Risk services to several clients in multiple market sectors.

About Gilbane Building Company

Gilbane provides a full slate of construction and facilities-related services from sustainable building to the latest in construction technology for clients across various markets. Founded in 1873 and still a privately held, family-run company, Gilbane has more than 50 office locations around the world. For more information, visit http://www.gilbaneco.com.

In New Jersey since 1967, Gilbane has provided construction and project/program management services to a variety of market segments. Prominent clients in the New Jersey area include the Devils Renaissance, LLC; the New Jersey Economic Development Authority; County of Essex; Becton Dickenson & Co.; Rutgers University; and New Jersey Transit.

Read more here:
Gilbane’s New Jersey Office Moves to New Brunswick

The former Jansen Bros. Harness Shop built a century ago on Elm Street will be getting new life as an apartment and office building in downtown Buffalo.

Carl and William Paladino, whose Ellicott Development Co. bought 173 Elm St. and two adjacent parcels for $325,000, are planning to convert the four-story building into five market-rate apartments and about 5,000 square feet of office space. The project will come before the Buffalo Planning Board today, and the developer hopes to start construction work in February and finish in May.

The $1.5 million project at Elm and William streets calls for commercial space on the first floor and about one-third of the second floor. That will be occupied by a nonprofit firm that helps train people for job opportunities.

The nonprofit is not currently located downtown but is consolidating several other locations and bringing about 20 to 30 employees to the central business district.

The other half of the second floor will be a 1,600-square-foot, three-bedroom apartment, while the two upper floors will have two apartments per floor. Each apartment will be 1,200 to 1,400 square feet and will have two or three bedrooms in each.

Built in 1900, the building with a big La Nova Pizzeria billboard was originally owned by the Jansen Bros. Harness Shop, but more recently was owned by Mudpies Childrens Museum. It was acquired in 2008 by Barrett Price for his Bear Metal Works business, with additional plans for a mixture of residential space upstairs.

The 13,824-square-foot brick building sits on 0.11 acres, with two vacant fenced-in lots next to it on Michigan Avenue, which are still open for redevelopment. William Paladino, CEO of Ellicott Development, said the developer could probably construct a 5,000- to 8,000-square-foot building on that part of the overall 1-acre property.

email: jepstein@buffnews.com

See the article here:
Offices, apartments proposed for old Jansen Bros. Harness Shop on Elm Street

Originally published December 16, 2013 at 5:22 PM | Page modified December 16, 2013 at 9:19 PM

Schnitzer West said Monday it plans to break ground late next year on a 360,000-square-foot office building in downtown Bellevue, one of the regions hottest office markets.

On Monday, the Seattle-based developer paid $12million for a site at the northwest corner of 106th Avenue Northeast and Northeast Fourth Street in Bellevue. A stand-alone Bank of America branch is on the corner now.

The developer expects to obtain its permits for the 16-story tower in the latter half of next year, and complete it in 2016, said Pam Hirsch, senior investment director at Schnitzer West. Bank of America will have a branch in the tower, according to the developer.

Schnitzer West is one of several developers teeing up skyscraper construction plans in the hot downtown Bellevue market.

The vacancy rate for Class A buildings in downtown Bellevue was 6.2 percent in the third quarter, compared with 12.4 percent in downtown Seattle, according to commercial real-estate brokerage Jones Lang LaSalle.

The developer has plenty of experience in Bellevue. It completed Civica Office Commons in 2001; Advanta Office Commons near the Interstate 90 corridor in 2007; and The Bravern in 2009.

Sanjay Bhatt: 206-464-3103 or sbhatt@seattletimes.com. On Twitter @sbhatt

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Bellevue corner to get 16-story office tower

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.

More:
Boulder building permits, Dec. 16, 2013