A 149-room Hyatt Place hotel, 202 luxury apartments and a street-level restaurant will occupy the looming former downtown St. Paul post office and customs house on Kellogg Boulevard when its renovation is complete in spring 2016.

Exeter Group, which bought the art deco building in 2013, sold much of its first five floors last week to Des Moines, Iowa-based Nelson Construction & Development. Nelson will build the hotel, while Exeter handles the rest of the development.

"Our plan is to bring back some of the building's historic charm," said Herb Tousley, chief development manager for Exeter Group.

Named Custom House, the 17-story riverfront building will be restored in the original 1930s style -- a job made easier by the stacks of plans left behind by the U.

Herbert Tousley IV of the Exeter Group walks across a huge room that will eventually be converted into an open air swimming pool, hot tub, community room and other amenities for apartment residents in the former post office building overlooking the Mississippi River in downtown St. Paul on Wednesday, February 25, 2015. Hyatt plans to announce a new hotel in the space, along with apartments and other amenities. (Pioneer Press: Ben Garvin)

St. Paul-based Exeter began work on the lobby and residential floors in November, while Nelson Construction plans to begin gutting its portion of the building in March.

"St. Paul is a great market for us," said Danny Heggen, Nelson's project manager. "There's a lot happening in Lowertown right now that it makes this a prime opportunity for the Hyatt Place brand."

He noted the building's proximity to the recently opened Green Line train, the restored Union Depot and CHS Field, the new home of the St. Paul Saints baseball team, scheduled to open in May. There are no plans to connect the building to St. Paul's downtown skyway system.

The renovation will cost an estimated $125 million and employ nearly 400 people.

The 750,000-square-foot building, mostly built during the Depression and listed last year on the National Register of Historic Places, sits on a downhill sloping block diagonal from the federal courthouse. At one time it housed government offices, including a customs house and mail-sorting facilities. The last postal operations there ceased in 2013.

Originally posted here:
Hyatt hotel planned along with luxury apartments in old St. Paul post office

Howard Hanna could start construction in late March or early April on a roughly $1 million office building in Sewickley.

Sewickley Council members approved the plan earlier this month.

The 4,500-square-foot building at Broad and Thorn streets calls for a flat roof, departing from an original sloped-roof design approved by the borough's planning commission, architect Stephen Casey said. Larger storefront windows along the Broad Street side are part of the revised plan.

The building, with a planned red brick facade, would accommodate up to 39 agents and include work space and conference rooms, architect Stephen Casey said. It would include a mezzanine level.

The Sewickley real estate office caught fire June 13, when a lightning strike hit the Sewickley United Methodist Church clock tower. The fire damaged the structure, displaced residents living above the offices and forced real-estate agents to work in temporary locations.

Staff reports

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Howard Hanna build in Sewickley could begin next month

When the Hines development company unveiled plans for anew office building in the North Loop section of Minneapolislast November, they received the requisite amount of coverage, even a write-up in the Wall Street Journal.

But given the frequency of construction announcements in the midst of downtown's boomlet, the significance of what its builders call T3 got a bit lost. Too bad, because if the seven-story, 210,000 square foot office building is completed, it will not only be one of just a handful of tall buildings in the world made primarily of woodit will be the first such building in the United States.

Pretty bold for a buildingbeing advanced without a tenant.During a presentation on T3 (forTimber, Technology and Transit) before the Minneapolis Heritage Preservation Commission earlier this month, Hines director of development, Robert Pfefferle, said the company is still talking to prospective clients about occupying the building. There wouldn't seem to be a shortage of interest: the site for T3 is surface parking behind the Dock Street Flats at 333 Washington Avenue N., a trapezoidal parcel that abuts the I-94 ramps from 3rd Street N. and the Cedar Lake Trail.There is a suburban-to-urban migration that is happening on a national basis and the North Loop is an attractor for these knowledge workers, tech workers, Pfefferle said.

Beyond the name that tries to connect with younger workers and entrepreneurs, beyond the modern graphics, T3's novel building materials have the potential to make it an it building both regionally and nationally.Perhaps that is why Houston-based Hines is willing to take a chance on what is an intriguing but still uncertain technology.

Pfefferle fended off a request to talk further about the project until spring, and lead architect Michael Green of Vancouver didnt respond to calls and emails. But he has done plenty of talking in the past, especially about his ideas regarding wood, as both a building technology and a response to climate change.

Indeed, the proposed design isnt simply a concrete and steel building with lots of wood trim and accents. It is fundamentally different a building made of wood. And those who are expecting a 21st century version of the structures that remain dominant in the Warehouse District will be disappointed or surprised. Those massive, old-growth timbers used a 100 years ago (think the interior of Butler Square) arent much available anymore. Instead, the material to be used in T3 is modern, what architect Green calls new-technology wood or Mass Timber construction.

This building is very unique, Green told the commission. It is the first large-scale office building built of timber in America. It is part of a revitalization of century old ideas of how to build buildings. At a TED talk in 2013, Green spoke about of the magic of wood: Ive never seen anyone walk into one of my buildings and hug a steel or concrete column. But Ive actually seen that happen in wood buildings.

2013 TED Talk of Michael Green discussing why we should build wooden skyscrapers.

Noteverything in the building will be made of wood; the foundation and first story will be concrete and steel. But both the elevator core and the floor plates are assembled from solid columns and panels of engineered lumber. The panels vary in size but can be made as large as eight feet by 64 feet and as thick as a few inches up to 16 inches. Built elsewhere and trucked to building sites, the panels can be assembled more quickly than traditional steel and concrete buildings. One description of the process is familiar to anyone who has assembled IKEA furniture: Flatpack.

Ultimately these are very large, very dense solid panels of wood, Green wrote in his manifesto, The Case for Tall Wood Buildings. [PDF] Cross Laminated Timber is made from laminated layers of milled lumber set at 90 degree angles, Laminated Strand Lumber is made from a matrix of thin wood chips and Laminated Veneer Lumber is made from thin laminations of wood, similar to plywood but on a much larger scale, Green noted.

Link:
Minneapolis' office building of the future will be made of, uh, wood?

The 1.1-million-square-foot 609 Main spec tower is part of an 18-million-square-foot office pipeline in Houston.

LOS ANGELESThat apartment construction is going through a boom period is not news. And CBRE reported last week that the development pipeline for industrial is quite full at 140 million square feet. Office development, by contrast, has been limited to a handful of markets since the downturn: notably Houston, where more than 18 million square feet are in the works; and Manhattan, which the New York Post reported Tuesday will see at least 9.5 million square feet of new, as-yet unleased space hit the market by 2018and even more if a proposed office tower near Grand Central Terminal comes off the drawing board.

That status quo appears to be changing. In its outlook report for the office sector for 2015, Kroll Bond Rating Agency reported recently that the amount of rentable building area is now the highest since just before the capital markets crisis of 2008. Higher demand and improving fundamentals have contributed to an increase in construction activity, according to KBRA.

In its Annual Strategy Outlook report, Principal Global Investors reports that office is at the beginning of a new construction cycle, but not necessarily one that will result in excessive supply. The dearth of capital during the depths of the last recession coupled with the precipitous declines in both prices and office rents has kept the construction pipeline largely dormant. However, says Des Moines-based Principal, the capital spigot for office construction is beginning to reopen as rents and pricing recover.

There are limits on how far that spigot will open, of course. Principals report notes that non-recourse construction financing remains unavailable, while some banks are unwilling to finance speculative office construction at all, even with recourse provisions and meaningful equity. Even so, several markets have begun to see pipelines come to life, and the firm says this year will see the most significant additions to office stock of this cycle to date. While completions rates nationally remain well below historical trend, a few markets are expected to see supply equal or exceed historical trend in over the next two years.

Exactly how much space is under construction depends in part on the source. KBRA puts the tally at 73.8 million square feet across its KPrime markets at the end of the fourth quarter of 2014. CBRE puts a higher number on it: 88.7 million square feet under construction at years end, up from 83.6 million at the end of Q3, with 20 of the markets CBRE tracks reporting activity at 2% or more of standing inventory.

A particularly notable trend is a revival of multi-tenant construction. CBRE says that in Q4, 8.8 million square feet of such space came on line, nearly 60% more than the 5.5 million square feet of new multi-tenant supply added in Q3 and a 7.8% year-over-year increase. The firm says Q3s total was more evenly split between downtown and suburban markets, with 3.8 million square feet delivered in CBDs and 5.0 million square feet completed in the suburbs.

Although annual multi-tenant completions reached their highest level since 2010 last year, the total of 22.3 million square feet remains less than half the historical average, according to CBRE. However, the concentration of multi-tenant deliveries in only a few markets indicates that the strongest metros have fully recovered to a standard supply cycle. Five marketsHouston, New York City, Dallas/Fort Worth, Washington, DC and San Franciscoeach saw more than one million square feet of multi-tenant office space delivered in 2014. That being said, CBRE notes that Q4s increase in overall office development was driven entirely by single-tenant construction.

Even so, CBRE says, Construction activity has broadened across markets as it has risen, keeping constructions share of existing office market inventory relatively manageable in most markets. As a case in point, DTZs Q4 Office Trends Report puts the tally of space under construction at 103.8 million square feet across the 80 markets it tracks. Of those 80 markets, just 13 had no space in the pipeline as the quarter ended.

Read more from the original source:
Office Pipeline Fills Up Across US

Potter County Judge Nancy Tanner campaigned for office in 2014 with a pledge to implement a new vision for the county.

She's gone big.

Tanner, who took office in January, is considering a three-pronged strategy for repairing and replacing some of the county's criminal justice infrastructure. It's going to take some time, lots of study and a serious dose of patience to see the project to fruition, she cautioned.

The payoff would result in the construction of a new District Courts Building, which currently sits across Fillmore Street from the renovated County Courthouse. It's a building that former County Judge Arthur Ware whom Tanner succeeded refers to derisively as The Grain Elevator.

But to get to that point, Tanner believes some other things have to happen first. She's mapping out a sequence and a strategy for getting there.

We need to get the sheriff a new administration building, Tanner said in an interview at her courthouse office. Sheriff Brian Thomas's department occupies about 24,000 square feet at 608 South Pierce Street. The first thing we need to do is build him an admin building next to the county jail, Tanner said.

Once that's done, the county would tear down the old administration building, leaving a vacant lot already owned by the county.

The next step in the sequence is to build a new mental health office and provide some space for female jail inmates who currently are housed in the jail, according to Tanner, who said she would prefer to have the females housed away from the male inmates. We could use that as an intake center for incoming inmates, she said.

Tanner said she would like to see a mental health court set up to process individuals with mental or emotional disorders. She noted that a large percentage of jail inmates are diagnosed with some form of mental illness. Tanner said she's talked already with 181st District Judge John Boardand 47th District Judge Dan Schaapabout the possibility and that they've expressed interest in such a court.

The property is at Fifth Avenue and Bowie Street, which the county also owns already, she said.

Continue reading here:
Potter County judge ponders big 'vision'

By Chris Mays

cmays@reformer.com @CMaysReformer on Twitter

WILMINGTON >> Construction and other development-related activities have the Hermitage Club in hot water.

According to a lawsuit filed by the Vermont Attorney General's Office, the group allegedly performed construction activities without land use permits; failed to comply with existing permit conditions; performed construction activities without a stormwater permit; discharged into state waters without a permit; constructed a building without a wastewater and potable water supply permit; altered a dam without authorization; and disturbed a significant wetland without approval.

The group owns and operates a private ski resort at Haystack Mountain as well as a nearby golf course and inn.

"Defendants engaged in extensive construction and development activities at the property without necessary state approvals," the document stated.

The state claimed Hermitage Club was told a stormwater construction permit was needed in 2011 when seven single family homes were being constructed and snowmobile paths were being relocated and created. Bridges to cross streams were also constructed while trees were cut and clear.

"Hermitage Inn obtained the Low Risk permits after-the-fact for these," the lawsuit stated. "In the fall of 2012, Hermitage Inn removed additional trees and vegetation. The tree cutting ... took place within a Class 2 forested wetland and buffer zone of an unnamed tributary to Cold Brook."

Between 2011 and 2014, the state claimed portions of construction projects connected with the ski resort were done without state permits which address environmental and other concerns. The state said a permit regarding a wind turbine's construction and electrical work in October 2012 was obtained in September 2013. Other "unauthorized work" involved excavating for a beginner slope, construction of a summit building, construction of a snowmaking line and construction of a ski lift.

During a November 2012 site visit, District Environmental Commission Stormwater Analyst Kevin Burke said he observed unauthorized soil and earth disturbance associated with construction near the beginner slope and ski lifts. He also noted a failure to mark construction limits and set up required fencing.

View original post here:
Hermitage Club charged with permit violations

Abbottstown officials voted Feb. 19 to begin designing a new borough office, potentially ending a months-long debate on how the borough should respond to a rent increase at its current building.

Council approved the decision to start planning a new office on municipal land on High Street in a 3-1 vote. Council members April Trivitt, Mark Heisey and Hugh Wellen voted in favor of the project, and councilman Travus Brown dissented. Councilman Dale Reichert was absent from the meeting.

Borough officials believe grading, construction and utilities at the new building will cost the borough between $200,000 and $250,000. Council had previously earmarked $300,000 under general government for the building's construction in its 2015 budget.

Borough engineers from C.S. Davidson will provide professional engineering and architectural services for the new structure.

The quest to find new space for offices and town meetings began early in 2014 when council received correspondence from its landlord stating that the rent for the borough's current location was going to double in 2015, from its previous $695 per month to about $1,400 per month. The borough also pays all the utilities at its current site.

The landlord ultimately allowed the borough to stay at its current location until November at a rate of $737.50 per month starting in 2015.

Borough council has considered leaving its current office at 4 W. Water St. for years, according to a letter sent to residents in January. Although the office is near the town's square, it has little room for public meetings and limited parking.

Council previously proposed renting space from United Hook and Ladder Fire Co. 33, but the majority of residents at a January town hall meeting on the subject favored building a new office, council members said.

Borough officials will visit the proposed building site Feb. 24 around 4:45 p.m., Trivitt said. Borough solicitor Guy Beneventano said the meeting can legally be attended by all the borough council members as no official action is proposed for the meeting.

See the original post:
Abbottstown plans to build new borough office

By Edward Damon

edamon@berkshireeagle.com @BE_EDamon on Twitter

POWNAL >> The committee exploring options for a new location of town offices is recommending new construction.

Members of the Town Office Committee, who attended Thursday's Select Board meeting, expressed optimism in working with a Wilmington firm on preliminary plans for a new town hall.

Committee members also expressed reservations over a proposal for sharing space within the American Legion Post 90 building on Route 7.

"This is the closest we've ever been to having something," Town Office Committee member Steve Kauppi said.

Chairman Frank Lamb reported that the committee hopes to soon present those plans to the public.

Town officials have long sought to replace the town hall at 467 Center St., which they say the town has outgrown. A study committee was established in 1993, but went through periods of inactivity.

Last year, officials contracted with LineSync Architecture of Wilmington to create drawings of a new building for a cost of $6,500.

The proposed structure would sit on town land at the end of Center Street the site of the former Bartels Lodge, which was demolished in 2012. It is adjacent to the existing office building and the historic Pownal Center Community Church.

Read this article:
Pownal considering new town hall building

Building construction permits over $10,000 in value that were approved in Boulder between Feb. 9, 2015 to Feb. 15, 2015. Listed below are: the case number; address; total project valuation; owner name; contractor (if applicable); and description.

PMT2015-00410; 1517 Seventh St.; Atrium Properties and Stephanie Ridgway; $30,800; Interior remodel to existing single-family dwelling. Scope of work involves renovation of kitchen to create island, removal of non-code complaint staircase, with new stair relocated to dining area; relocated bedroom closet on first floor, remove closet in main level bed to convert to a family room. New egress window in upper level bedroom. Includes associated electrical and plumbing. Please reference attached structural drawings. Change of scope Feb. 11, 2015 addition of new windows and French doors on main level only.

PMT2015-00457; 751 Marine St.; $19,500; David Armstrong; Blue Spruce Design & Construction; Remodel of 241 square feet of existing kitchen and three baths for single-family dwelling. Includes structural changes to remove wall in kitchen, replacement of wood burning stove with new gas fireplace, and associated MEP.

PMT2015-00127; 3595 Eastman Ave.; $218,600; Diane Weller; Addition and remodel to single family dwelling. Scope to include small addition and remodel on main level for kitchen expansion and foyer, and a second story addition for a new master suite. Also includes new front porch and rear deck. Mid-roof inspection required.

PMT2014-05354; 929 Pearl St.; $49,956; West Pearl; Faurot Construction Inc.; Exterior remodel to existing professional office space. Scope of work includes structural reinforcement of existing awning system, small demolition of section of existing awning, as well as small awning addition. Future photovoltaic array to be installed on awnings (under separate permit). Permit approval does not include the enclosure of the upper level outdoor patio, except as shown on the revised sheet S0.1 (dated 2/11/15).

PMT2014-05483; 4801 N. 63rd St.; $3,641,860.33; CEG Boulder; Integrated Interiors; Interior tenant remodel to establish manufacturing (30,229 square feet) and administrative office (24,223 square feet) spaces in existing structure. Scope of work includes all associated MEPs.

PMT2015-00147; 3065 18th St.; $310,000; Jill and Jordan Grano; Two-story addition and remodel to detached single-family dwelling. Scope includes expansion of main level and conversion of two existing bedrooms into living common space and stairs. Second floor addition includes three bedrooms and two baths. Also includes rear deck on main level.

PMT2014-05567; 4138 Clifton Court; $460,437.22; North Boulder; Coast to Coast Residential Development; New three-story single-family residence. Scope to include an attached two car garage and an unfinished basement with rough-ins for one bath. Main level to include kitchen, dining, living, and powder room. Second level to include master suite, two additional baths, and two other bedrooms. Upper level includes a loft area mid-roof inspection required.

PMT2015-00448; 9 Navajo Court; $25,724.16; Lisa Larsen; Owner/contractor flood recovery scope of work includes the installation of a new sump pit, replace water-damaged insulation, repair flood cut drywall, install new 150-amp electrical panel, replacement forced air furnace, and minimal framing.

PMT2014-05519; 3200 28th St.; $115,000; 3200 LLC; Commercial Building Services; Valley Chrysler Dodge addition of an entry element to the west building elevation. Scope of work also includes squaring off the rounded corners of the existing fascia.

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Boulder building permits: Feb. 23, 2015

By Keiko Morris

Jersey City isn't the fashion industry's new Garment District or Midtown South, the hot spot for technology and advertising firms.

But New Jersey's second-largest city has been making the case that it is an up-and-comer in the office-space market, attracting clothiers and publishers as well as building on its base of financial-services companies.

The growing diversification, taking place at Jersey City's waterfront, is being attributed by real-estate experts and landlords to a combination of factors: New York City's rising rents, generous state incentives and the booming residential development in that area.

In just the past several months, apparel company Charles Komar & Sons Inc. signed a lease to move its offices and showroom from three sites in Manhattan after receiving a 10-year, $37.2 million economic-development tax grant from New Jersey. Also receiving 10-year state incentive packages last year were Forbes Media LLC for $27.1 million and VF Sportswear Inc. and its subsidiaries for $13.1 million.

As for leasing more space to the financial sector, Jersey City landed J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and RBC Capital Markets last year as well with the help of $303.6 million in state tax credits over a decade. J.P. Morgan, which already had operations in the city, has promised to create 1,000 jobs and RBC already has begun to move some of about 900 positions.

In 2013, New Jersey merged its economic-incentive programs and has aggressively used tax credits to bring and retain jobs, and spur development.

Since then, the state has announced more than $430 million in tax grants, which will be awarded over time, to attract and keep companies in Jersey City. Those incentives are expected to bring more than 3,000 jobs.

"In 2000, when you had the first big wave of office occupancy coming to Jersey City, a lot of that occupancy was financial services, broadly speaking," said Harrison LeFrak, vice chairman and principal of LeFrak, which developed and owns much of the Jersey City waterfront megadevelopment of residential towers, offices and retail space called Newport. "Today, it is becoming very financial technology-focused and we are starting to see retail and apparel companies."

Attracting different kinds of sectors is making the Hudson waterfront even more of a bright spot in New Jersey's otherwise weak office market. More suburban areas have been weighed down by older office parks that once were home to pharmaceutical and telecommunication companies.

Original post:
Jersey City Vies to Up Its Game in Office Market