By Carl Rotenberg crotenberg@21st-centurymedia.com @CarlWriter on Twitter

The $480,307 Industrial Sites Reuse Program grant will largely subsidize the $722,956 remediation cost to remove the outside and interior walls, asbestos contamination and old equipment. Borough officials have been converting the closed building from a Class C, non-functioning, out-of-date facility into a Class A office to be used as the new borough complex.

Im very happy we were able to get it, said Councilwoman Anita Barton, representing Ward 4 where the borough office will be located. It is a help for us financially.

Barton said that the remediation costs went up slightly because they had discovered a little more asbestos in the building in the summertime.

You cant just go into a building and assume it is safe, Barton said. We had to be sure the building would be safe.

On Oct. 27, workers at the construction site were installing metal wall studs between the concrete floors and ceilings on the first and second floors of the building. The building is surrounded by an 8-foot chain-link fence faced with green fabric to obscure the construction site from sidewalk observers. The upper floors are visible from Fayette Street and Fourth Avenue.

The grant application for the Conshohocken project was received by state officials in August 2014, said Lyndsay Kensinger, a DCED spokesperson. There have been no other ISRP grant projects awarded in Montgomery County so far this year, she said.

In September, borough council borrowed $10,781,000 from two banks to pay for the construction costs. The annual debt service will start at $312,619 in 2015 and increase to $719,766 per year in the subsequent 24 years of the loans. Borough officials said the $719,766 in annual debt service would be decreased by eliminating the annual $240,000 that the borough currently pays for its office rental at 1 W. First Ave. The borough also expects to receive about $225,000 per year when all of the 20,000 square feet of rental space is occupied in the new borough office building.

Council awarded a $10,497,600 basic bid to TN Ward Co. of Lower Merion on Sept. 3 along with alternate bid items that brought the total cost of construction $10,709,600. The alternate bids include a vegetative tray system on the main roof for $103,500; a screen for the rooftop mechanical systems for $46,500; a six-panel, closed-loop solar hot-water array for a $38,500; an upgrade in the rubber roof thickness from 0.06 inch to 0.09 inch for $13,500; and a ground face cement block rather than split face for $10,000.

Borough Engineer Paul Hughes had recommended eliminating a $713,000 alternate for a second entrance on Fourth Avenue that included site work, structures, stairs, exterior envelope, interior re-configuration and the associated mechanical, electrical, plumbing and fire protection elements. Continued...

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Remediation costs for Verizon building in Conshohocken cut by state grant

Tuesday, November 4, 11:10 AM EST

By Karen Brune Mathis, Managing Editor

That corner, at northwest Kernan and Atlantic boulevards, is anchored by LA Fitness, Academy Sports & Outdoors, Earth Fare and, next spring, Belk. A 7-Eleven also operates on an outparcel.

The 290-unit Sorrel apartments are under construction on the site, just north of the retail area. The address is 11901 Atlantic Blvd.

President Toney Sleiman said Monday he also is studying the option of building a movie theater there, pending results of a competitive review to determine if the area can support one.

The whole area is a great area, Sleiman said.

According to Sleiman.com, demographics show average household income of $70,343 within five miles of the location. It found a population of almost 176,000, among more than 67,700 households.

That indicates an average household size of 2.6, possibly reflecting the number of young professionals and couples who live among the apartments and housing developments in the area.

The five-mile median age is 34.2, while the one-mile median age is a younger 32.4.

Sleiman projects a 2018 population of more than 183,000.

Original post:
Atlantic North could add theater, hotel

Back in the early 1970s, Madison restaurants typically served staunchly Midwestern fare: sausages, steaks, fish fry. There were few other options. But by the end of the decade there was a beachhead for the ethnic cuisine that was to come: Hsn's, a Turkish restaurant, opened at 547 State St. in 1979. In time, Hsn's was joined on the same block by Buraka East African Cuisine and Kabul Restaurant, serving Afghani and Mediterranean food.

That modest building's great run ended last year, when it was demolished to make way for the Hub, a mixed-use development of apartments, retail space and parking. Construction is under way.

Kabul fortunately found new space upstairs in the former Gino's just across the street. The second-floor location is triple the restaurant's original size.

While the menu is not radically different, the new location creates a whole new experience. A bigger kitchen space allows for a more sophisticated menu, a modern and updated version of what Kabul had offered before. Photographs and paintings are set off by red and green light accents. The centerpiece of the new room is a bar that runs perpendicular to the windows overlooking State Street.

There are some terrific plates on the lunch menu, starting with the zucchini, potatoes, mushrooms and green peppers spooned over fluffy vegetarian couscous. Trout with cilantro chutney is only $8. Hummus is also a good deal and spiked with just enough garlic that it never overpowers the chickpea mash.

There's plenty to like before diners even get to the entrees. Dinners come with a side of soup or salad. Afghan soup with garbanzos, chicken, and kidney beans in a tomato base has a mellow, slow burn with mild heat in a delicate collision of flavors. A fresh salad is set off with a sublime yogurt-mint dressing.

Bread is served with a spicy roasted red pepper-garlic sauce. Other appetizers include sabrosas, deep-fried triangular pastries stuffed with potatoes and served with a mint-cucumber sauce. Baba ganoush is creamy, smooth and subtle. Large chunks of cucumbers distinguish the tabouli.

Entrees are mostly chicken- or lamb-based, and some come as curries, or served over couscous or chalow (white rice seasoned with cardamom).

There's also a nice selection of vegetarian dishes: fasuliya (green beans cooked with onions and split peas), bamya (okra with garlic in tandoori masala) and lubya (red beans with tomatoes, cumin, and coriander).

Sweet potato with lamb curry carries delicate undertones. Lamb and chicken kebabs with tomatoes, green peppers and onion fared the worst -- the lamb was dry and too tough, and the dish lacked any punch or finesse.

Continue reading here:
The return of Kabul on State Street

Tanger Outlet Branson announced new stores opening in the recent $3 million mall and parking lot improvements.

Tanger Outlet Branson General Manager Jamie Whiteis said Sunglass Hut opened Oct. 24 and three others are set to open before the holiday shopping season. Pandora was scheduled to open Oct. 31 and Talbots and Helzberg Diamonds are set to open Nov. 7, he said. Pandora is going in on the east side of the mall in existing space.

An Adidas store, Calendar Club & Go Games, and an Express are scheduled to open some time next month, though Whiteis said the exact dates are unknown at this point. Whiteis declined to disclose the final store that will fill in the newly constructed retail space because a lease had not been finalized.

The mall is also getting parking lot and pedestrian improvements. Whiteis said construction is slightly more than halfway complete on the parking lot improvements, though work will be halted as the mall experiences a higher volume of shoppers for the holiday season.

The Bank of Missouri will also be breaking ground on a 7,100-square-foot building Nov. 3 at 1313 Missouri 248 in Branson.

The community is invited to the ground breaking at 9 a.m.

We are very excited to begin this next phase of our presence in Branson, said David Cook, community bank president for The Bank of Missouri in Branson.

We appreciate the support we have had from our customers since we opened in August 2012, and we look forward to serving them from our new state-of-the-art building.

Hollister

The Taco Bell on Gage Drive in Branson opened Oct. 29. The $183,000 project got underway in August.

Original post:
Tanger announces retail shops, Taco Bell open

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NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) Flushing Commons will eventually bring open space, housing and retail to downtown Flushing, but right now, construction is creating a problem for pedestrians and drivers alike.

As CBS2s Vanessa Murdock reported, heavy equipment sits at the intersection of Union Street and 39th Avenue, the future site of Flushing Commons. But some say the setup is an accident waiting to happen.

I feel like someone will come by and hit me or something, Elmhurst, Queens resident Elizabeth Chalini said when asked if she felt safe as she walked by.

Along Union Street, the sidewalk is cut off; instead of adhering to signs, people walk in the traffic lanes anyway.

I have to follow the flow I guess, one pedestrian said.

As Murdock reported, having no sidewalk is just one issuethe traffic is another.

The area is a mass transportation hub with thousands of people and hundreds of cars at any given time. Because of construction, three lanes are now down to two.

We dont like it, but its the way it is. What can we do?driver Kelvin Tin said.

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Flushing Commons Construction Causes Traffic, Pedestrian Pains

View Larger The Bottom Line Other Business Features Local Stories from ThisWeek More Articles By Steve Wartenberg The Columbus Dispatch Friday October 31, 2014 2:04 AM

The pace of retail development Downtown is picking up, as two projects near Columbus Commons revealed plans to add tenants.

Highpoint on Columbus Commons has signed up its first three tenants: a fast casual restaurant; a new cold-press juice company that does not yet have a name; and a mobile-phone store. They are expected to open in the spring.

Todd Schiff, vice president of the Robert Weiler Co., co-developer of Highpoint with Atlanta-based Carter, declined to name the restaurant.

He also said space remains on the first floor of the mixed-use project for two additional and larger restaurants.

In a separate development, the creator of the popular Harvest pizzerias will open a nonpizza restaurant in the 250 High building, a 12-story, $50 million Daimler and Kaufman Development project at 250 S. High St. The mixed-use building is expected to be finished in June.

The Downtown resurgence is being fueled by millennials, empty nesters and others who want to live and work in amenity-filled urban centers.

About 70 percent of Highpoints 302 upscale apartments have been leased.

The interest has grown significantly over the past year (since Highpoint opened), Schiff said. Were having to turn people away and are looking at only the stronger retail tenants.

Meanwhile, the 250 High building includes retail space on the ground floor, topped by five floors of offices and then six residential floors with 120 apartments.

Read more:
Retail returning to Downtown at 2 sites near Columbus Commons

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. After nearly a year of construction, a new $10 million development is near completion at the corner Hall and Madison.

Southtown Square consists of two dozen apartments and 6,000 square feet of retail space.

Linc Community Revitalization, a local non-profit is spearheading the project.

Future tenants are excited, but so are other businesses in the Madison Square neighborhood on Grand Rapids southeast side.

The future housing tenants are moving in on Friday, but the retail space wont be completed for at least a month.

We know that children that have healthier homes and more stable housing do better in school. Theyre parents are more likely to stay at their jobs and just makes family life so much better when you have your housing needs met, said Jeremy Deroo with LINC.

Deroo said that the new development is just the latest investment in the Madison Square neighborhood.

This is a great addition to a neighborhood thats really been in a point of transition for years. The neighborhood has had over $30 million invested in the last four years or so, said Deroo.

Jung Park has owned OJs Enterprises across the street for more than 25 years. Park said that its a neighborhood that is riddled with crime.

Once in a while we hear these gun shots, shootings, things like that. A couple months ago we heard the gun shot outside in the parking lot and police came all over the place, said Park.

More:
$10 million development to open in southeast GR

Updated: Tuesday, October 28 2014, 06:19 PM EDT

Rochester, N.Y. Construction will soon begin on a new train station in Rochester.

The new $30 million Intermodal Transportation Station is slated to open in 2017. It will be larger and have more retail space plus higher level platforms. Also, additional seating and more accessibility for people with disabilities.

The new station is expected to create about 200 jobs. The current temporary station on Central Avenue has been open since 1978.

Congresswoman Louise Slaughter has been pushing for the new station for more than two decades.

Slaughters opponent in the race for the states 25th congressional district, Mark Assini, released a statement saying in part, We must prioritize limited resources to repair our outdated, aging and unsafe roads and bridges. Passenger rail funding is the wrong priority at the wrong time.

The election is November 4.

Originally posted here:
New train station in Rochester

HOUSTON - The River Oaks District is one of the largest real estate developments in Houston's urban core. A number of luxury brands, including Cartier, Dior, Herms and Tom Ford, have signed agreements to operate stores in the 15-acre complex.

Residential developers are staking their claims on the remaining parcels of land behind the former Westcreek apartments on Westcreek Lane.

Their plans include a cluster of tall buildings to house well-to-do Houstonians who can pay the steep prices that come with living next to one of the city's newest and flashiest mixed-use developments.

"People will be able to walk to restaurants, high-end retail and theaters. It's something that hasn't been offered in Houston," said Robert Bland of Pelican Builders, which is planning a 17-story residential tower on Westcreek Lane.

Bland plans to break ground on the 96-unit building on a 1.5-acre site next summer and have it open two years later. Individual condominiums will average 2,000 sf, and prices will range from $800,000 to $2 million.

Nearby, Randall Davis is in the early stages of planning a condo tower on nearly two acres, developers are building the 25-story SkyHouse River Oaks and Gables Residential is planning to break ground on a 15-story apartment.

An office building, a hotel and two additional high-rise apartment buildings are planned on the remaining Westcreek property.

High-density development will increasingly take the place of low-rise buildings in desirable, close-in areas as more people want to live in the city center and land becomes more expensive.

Additional traffic, Bland said, is the price of progress. However, he also points out that the number of new residential units proposed on the old Westcreek site won't be much higher that what was there originally.

Read more at the Houston Chronicle.

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Texas A&M Real Estate Center - NewsTalk Texas

A Tribeca condo board threatened to stop Ground Zero mosque worshipers from renting space in its tony building, sparking charges of discrimination.

Park51, the organization behind the controversial Islamic prayer space and community center proposed for Park Place, leased the condos 49-51 Warren St. storefront in August.

But by Sept. 18, before any prayer services were even conducted there, the condo where apartments sell for $1 million and up and one features a bowling alley posted a legal notice telling Park51 to get out by months end.

Park51 needs the space because its planned mosque near Ground Zero is under construction.

Christophe Cornaire, the owner of the Warren Street retail space and a former Cantor Fitzgerald managing director, has hired a lawyer to make sure the condo board does not evict the mosque.

The unit owner is rattling sabers at us, said Richard Menaker, a lawyer for the condo board. Hes been accusing the board of misbehaving here ... [of being] discriminatory.

Menaker says bigotry has nothing to do with it that the condo is simply holding Cornaire accountable for failing to fully disclose how the space would be used and how many people would use it.

The key thing is, theyre talking about using the basement space which is not allowed to be used by people, Menaker said.

Developer Sharif El-Gamals Ground Zero mosque has been shrouded in controversy since it was unveiled in 2010.Photo: Splash News

In the past, hundreds of Muslim worshipers crowded a makeshift prayer space on Park Place for Friday services, many spilling over into the basement of the building.

Excerpt from:
Condo board trying to evict Ground Zero mosque tenants