TULSA, Oklahoma -

The First Presbyterian Church in downtown Tulsa is taking on another project - the $8 million rehab of an old car dealership and office building.

Donations are covering the hefty price tag, but once the space is leased it could mean even more money for the church's mission work.

After two years of sitting empty, work is underway at 8th and Cincinnati. The scaffolding is up and the top to bottom overhaul is happening on the building that dates back to the 1930s.

"Well, we're leaving it as open as we possibly can. We may be doing some painting and that sort of thing, but everything that we can leave open and original we will, said Steve Caldwell with First Presbyterian Church.

Caldwell said the church already has Cyntergy Engineering signed as a tenant fully taking over the second and third floors, but that leaves four more floors to fill.

He said the goal is to have one tenant per floor to bring in larger companies.

Once the building is complete, the money from the leases will go directly towards supporting the church's mission programs around the city.

Caldwell estimates that to be around $800,000 a year comparing it to investing in the stock market.

"This becomes a mission endowment, only what we've invested in is an office building. That creates a much better return than the other way, Caldwell said.

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Tulsa Church Investing $8M To Rehab Abandoned Downtown Building

Renderings of the new developments. From top left clockwise: 135 Bremen Street, 150 West Broadway, 3521-3529 Washington Street, 319 A

Courtesy of the Boston Redevelopment Authority

By Megan Turchi

Boston.com Staff

November 26, 2014 12:53 PM

If you are looking for housing in Boston, the next few years may be a good time for you. The Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) and Economic Development Industrial Corporation (EDIC) has approved four projects around the city that are set to create 300 new housing units (and about 400 construction jobs) that will cost about $137 million.

The projects include turning an underutilized Jamaica Plain lot into housing and a self-storage facility, creating new housing units near the East Boston Greenway, and demolishing two buildings in South Boston to make a mixed-use building. The other project, in Fort Point, involves a little more rehabilitation.

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The Fort Point building at 319 A Street will be transformed from an office building into 48 residential units with roughly 5,500 square feet of ground floor commercial space.

The building was originally constructed 1914 and Boston Residential Group, LLC wants to preserve the historic brick building instead of tear it down.

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Historic Building in the Remaking

WASHINGTON The Commerce Department reports on U.S. construction spending in October. The report will be issued Tuesday at 10 a.m. Eastern.

SALES REBOUND: Economists expect that construction spending rose 0.6 percent in October, according to a survey by data firm FactSet. That would reverse two consecutive months of declines. Construction spending fell 0.4 percent in September and 0.5 percent in August.

Building activity has been slowly improving for much of 2014, although its contribution to broader economic growth has been relatively modest. Homebuilding has increased very slowly, limited by meager wage gains that have barely outpaced inflation. That has cut into the amount of money that people have to spend on homes or rent.

Total construction spending has risen just 2.9 percent over the past 12 months ended in September. Spending on hospitals and health care facilities slid during that period, with the losses being offset by increased office and commercial construction.

Home construction has ticked up a mere 0.7 percent. New-home sales have risen only 1 percent, according to a separate Commerce Department report. Builders are largely targeting wealthier buyers which can boost profits but often means less construction to fuel economic growth. The median price of a new home has risen 15.4 percent in the past 12 months to $305,000, a pace that's more than double the average annual price increase for sales of existing homes tracked by the National Association of Realtors.

Still, builders are hiring at a slightly faster clip than last year. Construction companies are adding an average of 14,000 workers a month so far this year, compared with a monthly average of 11,083 in 2013. The challenge is that stronger hiring and economic growth during 2014 has yet to translate into the wage growth that could further propel construction spending and hiring.

Architectural firms are reporting greater demand for their services, however, a sign that construction spending should improve in the months ahead.

The American Institute of Architects said that its October billings index was 53.7. Any score above 50 indicates that billings increased. A breakdown of the index suggests that municipal governments and non-profits are spending more on architectural designs, after having kept their spending in check during the more than five-year recovery from the Great Recession.

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US construction spending likely rose in October

A computer-generated image of the proposed Bolands Mill redevelopment. Photograph: Paul Tierney

Plans for a 150 million redevelopment of the historic Bolands Mill site in Dublins Docklands, including the construction of a 14-storey office block, will be lodged with Dublin City Council tomorrow.

The application, which proposes the restoration of the five original, but now derelict, mill buildings, and the construction of three new office and residential blocks, is the first significant plan to be made under the fast-track planning scheme for the Docklands.

The Docklands Strategic Development Zone (SDZ) scheme, approved by An Bord Pleanla last May, allows property owners to secure construction permission from Dublin city planners which cannot be appealed to An Bord Pleanla.

The application is being submitted to the council by Mark Reynolds and Glen Crann of Savills, acting on behalf of Nama. Bolands Mill was previously owned by developer Sen Kellys Benton Properties and a Treasury Holdings company.

The development is one of the largest proposed for Dublin since the crash and would provide almost 30,000sq m of office space for about 2,300 workers, 42 apartments, shops, cafes, restaurants and an exhibition building.

The tallest building proposed would be 14 storeys and 53m in height. A 15-storey apartment block is proposed, but it would be lower in height at 47.8m. The third new building, also an office block, would be 13 storeys and up to 49m.

Under the SDZ scheme a building of 15 storeys is permissible at the Bolands site. Dublins current tallest commercial building, the Google-owned Montevetro building on nearby Barrow Street, is 15 storeys tall, but buildings of up to 22 storeys or 88m could be permitted at two locations in the Docklands development zone at the Point Square on the north side and Britain Quay on the south side.

The principal historic buildings on the site are two six-storey stone warehouse buildings dating from the 1830s, as well as a number of buildings on Barrow Street dating from the 1870s. The mill, which was used during the 1916 Rising, was built for Bolands Bakery and was in use until 2001.

Plans to build three 12- to 16-storey office buildings and a boutique hotel on the site were rejected in 2006 on the grounds they would be out of scale with the area.

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150 million development planned for Bolands Mill in Dublins Docklands

CHARLESTON, W.Va. After six years of delays, plans to renovate Capitol Complex Building 3 are gearing up again.

The Capitol Building Commission, which by law must approve any substantive changes to buildings or grounds on the campus, has scheduled a Dec. 10 meeting to review the latest plans for renovating the eight-story office building.

Department of Administration spokeswoman Diane Holley-Brown said she could not discuss the proposal in detail until the commission signs off on the plans.

Until we get Capitol Building Commission approval, were a little leery about providing much information, she said.

She said plans have also been submitted to the Historic Preservation Office, given the historic nature of the building, which opened in 1951 and was designed by Cass Gilbert Jr., namesake son of the famed architect who designed the Capitol.

Plans to renovate the building, commonly known as the DMV building for the agency that was long housed on the buildings first floor, have been in the works since 2008. However, it took longer than expected to relocate agencies housed in Building 3, which was finally vacated in December 2010.

Another setback came with the 2011 bid opening, with the low bidder coming in more than $6 million above the $27 million budgeted for the project.

In September, then-Administration Secretary Ross Taylor told legislators that a scaled-back redesign for Building 3 was 90 percent complete.

He said some features proposed in the 2011 plans had been eliminated to cut costs, including telepresence conference rooms with floor-to-ceiling video conference screens, and a full kitchen for hosting dinners and receptions in a proposed first-floor conference center.

Taylor said the planned tenant mix has also changed. Original plans called for moving staff offices for the state auditor and the state treasurer out of the Capitol.

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Meeting scheduled over Building 3 renovations

Susanne Klatten, Germanys richest woman, bought the Winx office building thats planned in Frankfurts MainTor waterfront development from DIC Asset AG.

Construction on the 29-story tower, which will cost about 350 million euros ($435 million) to build, will begin in early 2015, Frankfurt-based DIC said in a statement yesterday. Union Asset Management Holding AG has agreed to rent more than half of the 42,000 square meter (452,000 square feet) total space, DIC said in a separate statement last week.

This is Ms. Klattens first big real estate investment, Joerg Appelhans, her spokesman, said by phone. Were doing it for portfolio diversification and because Frankfurt has terrific prospects as a center of finance.

Klatten, a member of the Quandt family, owns about 12 percent of Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, the worlds largest maker of luxury vehicles. Through investment firm Skion, she controls chemical company Altana AG and owns stakes in carbon producer SGL Carbon AG, where she holds the post of supervisory board chairman. Her net worth is about $16.2 billion, making her the worlds 50th richest person, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Office acquisitions in Frankfurt are soaring as investors take advantage of declining vacancies. Buyers are turning to real estate in the hunt for yield as interest rates hover near record lows. Office property values rose 4 percent in the third quarter compared to a year earlier, to 9,032 euros per square meter, according to Jones Lang LaSalle.

There are hardly any other investing options, said Sven Carstensen, a Frankfurt office analyst at Bulwiengesa AG. Yields here, even if theyre not very high, are still more attractive than leaving your money in the bank.

Demand in Frankfurt is coming from a wide range of buyers, said Carstensen. We dont just have Ms. Klatten whos buying but also Korean pension funds. Frankfurt is the only market where you can spend three or four hundred million euros in one swoop.

Construction is also booming. Developers will build about 303,000 square meters of offices in Frankfurt this year, 49 percent more than in 2013 and the most since 2003, according to Jones Lang.

The Winx building is part of DICs 108,000 square-meter MainTor development zone, which is marketed as Frankfurts new Riverside Financial District, with 11 office, apartment and retail buildings that will cost 750 million euros to build over six years.

To contact the reporter on this story: Dalia Fahmy in Berlin at dfahmy1@bloomberg.net

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Germanys Richest Woman Buys Frankfurt Office Tower Development

Skanska Property Hungary has started construction work on its seventh office building in Budapest, dubbed Nordic Light, on inner Vci t, the main office corridor of Budapest. Phase I is scheduled for completion in the first quarter of 2016.

The complex will consist of approximately 26,200 sqm of leasable area and be built in two phases. The project has already been LEED pre-certified with a Gold rating thanks to its innovative solutions minimizing the buildings impact on the natural environment, Skanska says. During the design process, green and sustainable solutions received special attention, which not only minimizes the buildings environmental impact, but also reduces operating costs, which translate into lower bills for water and electricity, the company says.

Nordic Light is situated in a most vibrant office location, on the Vci corridor and offers great visibility to our tenants, said Zoltn Linczmayer Managing Director of Skanska Property Hungary. The state-of-art technologies of our building represent our commitment to the energy-efficient, environmentally friendly and healthy office spaces Skanska is famous for. With the design of the building, our aim was to create a workplace where people will love to spend their time.

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Skanska launches Nordic Light office project in Budapest

Photo from Chard Gonzales

MANILA, Philippines Fire investigators are still probing the cause of fire that struck the unfinished One World Place building in the upscale Bonifacio Global City business district in Taguig City on Thursday morning.

Chief Inspector Junito Maslang, Taguig City Fire marshal, said in a phone interview with INQUIRER.net that they cordoned off the 31-storey establishment as arson investigators look into what caused the fire.

The area has been cordoned off. Fire officers are still collecting debris. Construction work has been suspended, Maslang said.

According to Maslang, the Megawide Construction Corporation said there were 520 construction workers inside the building when the fire broke out.

At least 14 construction workers were rescued by Bureau of Fire Protection officers and other responding units as they were trapped inside the burning building.

They had difficulty breathing so most of them were brought to St. Lukes Medical Center in BGC, Maslang said.

The fire started at basement 3 at around 9:30 a.m. Smoke reached up to the 24th floor.

As of 11:30 a.m., authorities placed the fire on third alarm. At least 20 fire trucks responded to the area.

More than an hour later, firefighters completely put out the fire.

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BGC building catches fire, construction workers rescued

In Singapore, civil-servant bonuses rise and fall with the economys performance, and the latest payout shows the islands growth is cooling.

The government declared a year-end bonus this week equal to 0.8 of a months salary for civil servants, bringing the full-year package to 2.3 months. That compares with 1.1 months at the end of 2013 and 2.5 months for all of last year.

Singapore is bracing for slower global growth with the government predicting Nov. 25 that the islands expansion will slow to about 3 percent this year from 3.9 percent in 2013 and the recovery beyond will be uneven. The nation, which has some of the highest-paid ministers in the world, links civil servants bonuses to how well the $298 billion economy does.

This is in line with the slower pace of growth this year, said Irvin Seah, an economist at DBS Group Holdings Ltd. in Singapore who used to work for the citys trade ministry. Business activity this year is also slow. I would not be surprised that even private-sector bonuses may be trimmed.

Civil servants are typically paid a variable incentive twice a year, on top of a fixed one-month bonus. The mid-year payment was skipped in 2009, when the economy contracted during the global recession.

Singapore may be one of the few countries that explicitly pegs bonuses to growth, said Vishnu Varathan, an economist in Singapore at Mizuho Bank Ltd. That means its got less scope for bouts of populist adjustments, which tend to happen with electoral cycles.

The government said this week the nations 2015 growth outlook remains modest, with a tight labor market domestically restraining construction, retail and food services. It also cited the risk that the euro zone economy will fall into a deflationary spiral, the possibility of an unexpected tightening of U.S. monetary conditions and the threat from geopolitical tensions.

With price pressures easing, scope is growing for the central bank to ease monetary policy at its next decision in April. Core inflation eased to 1.7 percent in October, falling below 2 percent for a second straight month, and the odds of a shift in stance will rise if the gauge slips to 1.5 percent or below, said Chua Hak Bin, an economist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in Singapore.

The smaller government bonuses this year could also mirror a weakening of pay increases among Singapore companies, said Wai Ho Leong, a Singapore-based economist at Barclays Plc. The property cycle is slower, tourist arrivals are also slower, so that could be why many firms in the services industries may see slower levels of activity and slow wage growth this year, he said.

Fewer than half of the 1,030 financial services professionals surveyed by eFinancialCareers in September and October in Singapore and Hong Kong expect a higher bonus this year, according to the Dice Holdings Inc. companys website.

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Singapore Civil Servants Win or Lose Bonuses on State of Economy

By Gord Bowes, News staff

Construction on a $2-million office and apartment building on Upper Ottawa Street is expected to begin in the spring. The first occupant will be Dr. Julius Losonci, who is moving his Eastmount Family Dentistry office from its current location at 1221 Limeridge Rd. East. The 10,000-square-foot building, located at 788 Upper Ottawa is being developed by Losoncis wife, Zahra Arabkaramy. Its going to be a very high-end building, Arabkaramy said, noting there will be eight luxury residential apartment units. Everything is going to be beautiful. The dental office will be about 3,000 sq. ft. Arabkaramy said she is in talks with another healthcare provider to occupy the other ground floor unit. Construction should begin in March and be completed in the fall. Arabkaramy bought the property in 2011 and received the required zoning change in 2012. A building permit was issued last month. Ward 6 councillor Tom Jackson said while he doesnt always see infill developments as a panacea to housing needs in the city because it doesnt always fit in with character of the neighbourhood, this development seems like a good fit. He said hes been assured there will be an adequate buffer between the development and the homes behind it on Winchester Boulevard behind it. Plus, the owners are occupying the building. I think thats incredibly important, Jackson said.

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$2M office, apartment building planned for Upper Ottawa