SALT LAKE CITY, UT--(Marketwire -02/23/12)- Green Endeavors, Inc. (OTCQB: GRNE.PK - News) (Pinksheets: GRNE.PK - News), a majority owned subsidiary of Nexia Holdings, Inc. (Pinksheets: NXHD.PK - News), announced that its newly formed subsidiary Landis Experience Center, LLC (LEC) has made significant progress on its proposed Aveda™ Experience Center (EC).

Richard Surber, CEO of GRNE, stated, "I have received sufficient funding commitments to complete the construction and initial inventory requirements to open our proposed Aveda™ retail store in Salt Lake City's City Creek Development. Additionally, we have retained Atlas Architects which has completed an initial design of the floor plans. Atlas is projecting the completion of a full set of architectural plans in March. I expect the City of Salt Lake to pass off on the drawings by the end of March. We are projecting an opening date for the Aveda™ Experience Center by June 1, 2012; which will be just in time to prepare for back to school and the 2012 holiday season."

Mr. Surber continued, "After nearly 8 months of planning and negotiating, I expect to have a definitive lease signed by the end of next week. I have also conducted several interviews with potential hires that have Aveda™ experience. These prospective new hires will be responsible for managing the new store, as well as fine tuning our front desk and retail sales systems throughout our existing Landis Lifestyle Salons. I am looking to increase products sales system wide by at least $500,000 in the 12 months subsequent to the opening of the EC. Increased product sales will improve our profit margins. The margins on product sales are much higher than on service sales."

About Green Endeavors, Inc.
Green Endeavors, Inc. (OTCQB: GRNE.PK - News) (Pinksheets: GRNE.PK - News), headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, is a holding company with operations in health & beauty. GRNE owns a majority interest in several Aveda™ based businesses. Visit http://www.landissalon.com; Landis Salons operate hair salons built around the world-class AVEDA™ product line. For more information, visit http://www.green-endeavors.com.

GRNE strongly encourages the public to read the above information in conjunction with its filings and disclosures filed in 2010 and 2011. GRNE's disclosures can be viewed at http://www.green-endeavors.com, http://www.otcmarkets.com or http://www.sec.gov.

This press release contains forward looking statements. The opening of the additional location is contingent upon signing a definitive lease agreement and raising sufficient capital to fund the construction and operation of the prospective location. Management believes that it will be able to raise sufficient capital to construct staff and operate the new location. However, there are no assurances that such assumptions will prove correct with regard to this potential additional location. The actual results that GRNE may achieve could differ materially from any forward-looking statements due to such risks and uncertainties. Investors should not invest more than they can afford to lose in penny stocks.

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Green Endeavors Retains Atlas Architects and Receives Funding Commitments for Its Proposed Aveda(TM) Experience Center

Malta's patrimony in stone: Hagar Qim temples are considered among the oldest free-standing stone architecture structures in the world

Karl Stagno-Navarra

A study tour for expert architects and their scholars from all over the US are expected in Malta during March and October 2013, and will focus on options and methodologies for safeguarding irreplaceable built heritage, while still attending and protecting the needs of the modern public that seeks to experience it.

 'Conservation of Architectural Heritage' will use classroom lecture, labs and escorted field trips to introduce a working concept of the marriage of architecture, archaeology and other sciences.

The 10-day on-site course addresses registered US architects and designers who will earn 21 learning units in the essential field of sustainable design.

According to the group, "Malta and Gozo, are home to a most remarkable concentration of intact built heritage, including the highest density of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in any nation-state anywhere in the world."

Malta's patrimony in stone ranges from the oldest free-standing stone architecture in the world, to one of the British Empire's most formidable defensive systems, and includes a rich mix of domestic, religious and military architecture from the ancient, medieval and early modern periods.

By introduction to many successful examples of adaptive reuse over centuries, participants are to gain experience and inspiration for application in their practice.

They can expect to design new public projects with a fuller historic understanding of the evolution of monumental architecture, particularly the world's purest and most original expression of sensitivity to the union of nature and pre-planned enclosed ceremonial space.

The course is being provided by the Florida-based non-profit organisation OTS Foundation and the University of Malta's Faculty for the Built Environment.

OTSF is a registered provider for the American Institute of Architects, has operated for Elderhostel and currently runs a Malta programme for the Road Scholar organization of adventures in lifelong learning.

Educational outreach about Malta's megalithic legacy and new research in the field of archaeoacoustics are currently being prepared by OTSF for a travelling lecture in the USA.

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American architects to study Malta’s megalithic sites

Noor Javed Staff Reporter

The question of who’s to blame for millions of dollars in cost overruns for Vaughan’s new civic centre has the city embroiled in a lawsuit against the architect that designed the glitzy building.

The lawsuit attempts to put the blame squarely on the shoulders of world-renowned Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg Architects (KPMB), which was hired to design the new city hall on Major Mackenzie Dr., and on Stantec Consulting, the engineering consultants who worked with KPMB on the project.

KPMB denies it caused the overruns. The company suggests in its statement of defence, filed earlier this month, that the city failed to follow proper practices on its part, including appointing a “competent and accountable” project manager.

Months before politicians and officials celebrated the official opening of the city hall in September, the city had already filed a $3.25 million suit against KPMB, alleging breach of contract and negligence in their work on the design and construction supervision. The city is suing Stantec for an additional $3.25 million for “deficiencies” in its work.

Filed in May 2011, the lawsuit claims “these problems have caused the city, in aggregate, many millions of dollars in extra cost.” The city hopes recover some of those costs.

Vaughan has already spent more than $122.6 million on the first phase of the civic centre project. The building was found to be $15.6 million over budget, but the final costs have yet to be determined.

“The claim was issued to protect the interest of the city and taxpayers,” said Mayor Maurizio Bevilacqua.

According to the city’s statement of claim, major problems with the building include: mechanical rooms that are too small to store equipment, issues with sprinkler system drainage, pull stations/smoke detectors that were not compliant with the fire code, and design issues in the audio-visual room.

In their statement of defence, the architects deny the allegations and said they fulfilled all contractual obligations. The firm claims the delays were due to the “owner’s failure to adopt and execute proper owner construction practice, including the appointment of a competent and accountable project manager.”

The company is asking that the claim be dismissed and the firm be awarded costs. KPMB did not respond to the Star’s request for comment.

The cost overruns were outlined in detail in a scathing external audit commissioned by Vaughan City Council last June, which found there were insufficient policies and procedures in place for reporting between consultants, contractors and the city, and numerous miscalculations and change requests that pulled up the costs.

The lawsuit was not mentioned in the audit. But Bevilacqua said council was aware it had been filed before the audit was ordered. Regional Councillor Deb Schulte, who has been outspoken about the need for transparency about the costs of the project, says staff sent a memo to council, but the matter wasn’t discussed in detail.

Schulte, an engineer by profession, says she witnessed design issues when the building was under construction. She believes the lawsuit is a “good news story.”

“I am pleased that people are being held accountable to the quality of their work,” she said. “And if it has cost us a lot of money in overruns and taxpayers’ dollars because of that, then those people have to be held accountable. That’s what the lawsuit is trying to do.”

In addition, the city’s general contractor, Maystar, is being sued by one of its subcontractors. The city has been named in the suit because it is the owner of the property, but has not been required to participate in the proceedings.

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KPMB Architects blame City of Vaughan for $15M cost overrun on City Hall

NIAGARA FALLS — An upscale hotel, residential and retail development in downtown Niagara Falls took a big step forward Wednesday.

The City Council greenlighted negotiations between a state development agency and the Hamister Group, following the announcement that the Buffalo-based group was selected from among seven proposals to develop 310 Rainbow Blvd., at Old Falls Street, 300 feet from the entrance to Niagara Falls State Park.

“I was born in 1966, and all I’ve ever seen them do is knock the buildings down, so to see something actually get built in my lifetime is big,” said Council Chairman Sam Fruscione.

He added that he hoped to see prevailing wages and 100 percent local hiring for the estimated 219 construction jobs that would be created to go with 130 permanent positions.

“It’s a great idea, and another sign that the city is moving in the right direction, and good things are beginning to happen,” said Councilman Charles Walker.

The $22.4 million, 109,000- square-foot project on about nine-tenths of an acre — where a balloon launch business closed in 2008—calls, preliminarily, for 104 upscale hotel rooms, 24 residential units and up to 8,000 square feet of ground-level retail space. It would stand five to seven stories tall.

Christopher Schoepflin, president of USA Niagara Development Corp., the state’s economic development agency in the Falls, said the project offered the most private investment and least amount of public dollars among the five leading proposals, all of which incorporated lodging and retail space.

“A truly mixed-use building is something we have been striving for, and now to leverage some public investment with some potential significant private dollars is exactly what we’re trying to accomplish,” Schoepflin said.

Construction could start in 2013, he said, with an opening in 2014.

Mayor Paul A. Dyster heralded the development as another positive sign for the city.

“It’s the first time in a generation that we have had a prime development block in such a key location so unencumbered that we could offer a request for proposals,” Dyster said.

“We felt we’d achieved enough positive momentum with the downtown redevelopment overall that it was an opportune time to test the market, and I think our confidence was rewarded.”

Dyster said his administration, along with Schoepflin, has contacted the other finalists to see if there could be interest in other downtown sites.

msommer@buffnews.comnull

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City Council approves hotel project

February 23, 2012 in Business

Gonzaga University plans to spend $14 million to build a parking garage on campus. Later it plans to replace its aging student union building called the COG.
(Full-size photo)(All photos)

Gonzaga University will break ground this spring on a $14?million, four-level building that will add about 650 parking spaces and ground-level dining options for students and area residents.

The new building, which will replace a surface parking lot, will be bordered by Hamilton and Cincinnati streets and DeSmet and Boone avenues. When finished in January, the 250,000-square-foot Gonzaga Retail and Parking Center will be the new home for GU’s campus bookstore and eventually several retail businesses.

The school has no plan yet to sign retail leases because it expects to need the space for a temporary dining hall in the future.

GU’s student dining hall is currently in the COG Building in the center of campus, which will eventually be demolished to make way for a larger University Center.

The proposed University Center will become the location for a larger student dining hall, along with meeting and event areas.

No dates have been set for starting the University Center project, said Chuck Murphy, vice president of finance. Design and construction for the building will take about three years. Murphy said preliminary plans for the center call for roughly 150,000 square feet. The existing COG is roughly 34,000 square feet.

GU trustees have said they won’t move forward with the University Center project until they’ve raised enough money for it, Murphy said.

“We do not have a cost estimate yet” for the University Center, he added.

The money to build the retail and parking facility comes from private donations, with fees and lease payments expected to maintain it, according to GU.

In addition to a new bookstore, the ground level of the parking building will be initially used for academic conferences and meetings, special events and general uses, Murphy said.

Adding more campus parking has been an ongoing focus of campus officials, in part to alleviate concerns among Logan neighborhood residents who have had to deal with GU parking sprawl.

The retail and parking building is the first major construction project on campus since completion of Coughlin Residence Hall in August 2009.

Spokane-based ALSC Architects designed the new facility. Vandervert Construction will be the general contractor.

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Gonzaga adding building for parking, retail - Thu, 23 Feb 2012 PST

Developer Derwent London has been granted planning permission to redevelop the former Queens Cinema site in west London by Westminster City Council. Derwent plans a residential led scheme on the Westbourne Grove site.23 Feb 2012

The proposals cover 21,400 square feet and will include 16 new residential units and 2,700 square feet of ground floor retail space. Derwent applied for full planning permission for the scheme, located at 96-98 Bishops Bridge Road, last November.

Construction is expected to begin in early 2013 with completion due in late 2014.

The proposed plans for the former Queens Cinema were draw up by architects Stiff and Trevillion. Plans are to retain the art deco facade and build 18,700 square feet of apartments, together with retail space. The developer is targeting art galleries and boutique retailers as potential tenants of the retail units.

The development will build on the success of nearby Notting Hill and Westbourne Grove, the developer said.

The planned apartments will be a mix of one, two or three bedroom units. New public space on the opposite side of Queensway will also be created.

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Derwent to redevelop former Queens Cinema

Rendering of a building at the proposed Bay Meadows Station development in San Mateo.

Rendering of a building at the proposed Bay Meadows Station development in San Mateo.

The owner of Bay Meadows has started courting suitors to lease more than 1 million square feet of Class A office space to be constructed in five buildings on the site of the former horse race track in San Mateo.

Property owner Wilson Meany Sullivan expects construction to be completed by early 2014 for the office space which is the second phase of the Bay Meadows mixed-use development. When completed, Bay Meadows will be the largest transit-oriented development in the state.

Combined, the five buildings on Delaware Street called Bay Meadows Station will have up to 1.5 million rentable square feet of office and retail space. Each building will be certified LEED Gold.

Office space for rent will range from 95,000 square feet to 185,000 square feet, according to Wilson Meany Sullivan. The development sits between the Hillsdale and Hayward Park Caltrain stations.

Phase 1 of the Bay Meadows project was officially completed with the construction of the new Kaiser Medical Center and includes housing, office and retail space.

Phase 2 will also feature townhomes, condos and about 15 acres of park space. The final development will include 1,171 residential units, up to 1.5 million rentable square feet of office space and approximately 90,000 square feet of retail space, according to Wilson Meany Sullivan.

“Companies who find a home here will embrace the vision of Bay Meadows Station and will be an integral part of bringing this community to life,” Christopher Meany, partner at WMS, wrote in a prepared statement. “Built to rigorous environmental standards, this urban office campus is at the forefront of contemporary and creative office space. Bay Meadows is perfect for people who want to work and live in the most sustainable, innovative and comfortable atmosphere possible.”

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Bay Meadows leasing office space

Staff Report
Published Feb. 20, 2012

The commercial real estate market in the Columbia metro area showed steady improvement during 2011 as vacancy rates for office, retail and industrial space dropped, according to NAI Avant’s commercial real estate report.

Citing the latest labor reports, NAI Avant noted there has been six consecutive months of positive growth. In December, 348,500 people were employed in the Columbia area — 21,600 short of its peak in 2007.

“This positive trend was a contributing factor to the performance of Columbia’s commercial real estate market, which ended the fourth quarter with positive net absorption in all market segments,” the report said.

While vacancy rates are going down, the report also noted that neither office nor industrial space were under construction at the end of the quarter. But retail appears to be growing as three new buildings totaling 66,775 square feet were delivered during the quarter and another space totaling 22,711 square feet.

The industrial market ended the fourth quarter with a net absorption of 792,756 square feet. The vacancy rate for the fourth quarter was 10.6%. The average asking rental rate dropped 2 cents to $4.06 per square foot from $4.08 at the end of the third quarter. Flex space went for $8.34 a square foot while warehouse rates averaged $3.79 per square foot.

The office market ended the fourth quarter with an 8.9% vacancy rate, down from 9.3% for the previous quarter. Overall about 134,496 square feet of office space was absorbed during the three-month period.

The vacancy rate for downtown Columbia office space averaged 10% for the quarter. In the suburbs, Forest Acres averaged 18%, followed by St. Andrews, 11.2%; Dutch Fork/Irmo, 8.8%; Lexington, 8.5%; Northeast Columbia, 7.6%; and Cayce/West Columbia, 7.5%.

The average asking rate for all classes of office space was $14.63 per square foot, slightly down from $14.67 for the third quarter. Rent for Class “A” space average $17.13 per square foot, Class “B” was $14.51, and Class “C” was $11.51.

The retail market saw little change from the previous quarter. The vacancy rate rose to 6.5% in the fourth quarter compared to 6.4% for the third quarter. Overall, about 42,000 square feet was absorbed in the fourth quarter. The average asking rate for the Columbia market was $12.10 a square foot. Downtown Columbia had the highest average retail rent at $14.49 per square foot, followed by Forest Acres, $14.08; and Lexington, $13.87.

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NAI Avant reports improvements in commercial real estate market

New construction of a $165-million project near the TD Garden will provide the area with space for a hotel, apartments, restaurants and retail businesses, according to the Boston Redevelopment Authority.

The BRA approved the construction of The Merano, a project in the Bulfinch Triangle that will create 240 construction jobs and 275 permanent jobs, according to a BRA press release.

The project will consist of a 210-room Marriott Courtyard hotel as well as 230 residential apartments, restaurants and retail stores on the ground level, said John Meunier, COO and vice president of project management and development at the Boston Development Group, which is heading the project.

“The approval of The Merano is a sign of the great economic development momentum in the Bulfinch Triangle,” said Boston Mayor Thomas Menino in an email to the BRA. “With the addition of 230 units of housing at The Merano, on top of the more than 800 units already under construction or under review in this area, the Bulfinch Triangle is well on its way to becoming a 24-hour residential neighborhood.”

The Merano complex project is part of a larger ongoing development project to revitalize the economy in the Bulfinch Triangle and North Station area, said Melina Schuler, assistant director of media and public relations at BRA.

“Projects like The Merano are key to improving the city and moving these revitalization efforts forward,” Schuler said.

Meunier said he believes The Merano project will have a positive impact on the Downtown Boston area.

By adding a nationally branded hotel alongside residential apartments, more people will be residing in the area, resulting in more “pedestrian activity” at the street level, he said.

Schuler said the $165 million cost is mainly funded by private investors and developers who view Boston as a valuable city to invest in and expect their projects to do well.

The BDG agreed to contribute $50,000 to a traffic study by the Boston Transportation Department of the Bulfinch Triangle neighborhood, according the press release.

The BDG will also contribute $75,000 to support neighborhood improvements, $300,000 to the Boston Crossroads Initiative, $12,000 to the Bulfinch Triangle Streetscape Improvements Initiative and $500,000 for a future neighborhood park, totaling about $1 million in public improvements, according to the release.

The BRA first approved the plans for The Merano in 2008, which included two hotels, office space, stacked parking and space for retailers and restaurants, according to the release.

But due to the closure in office occupancy after the economic recession, the plans were revised to replace the offices with residential apartments, Meunier said.

Richard Parr, the director of policy at A Better City, a nonprofit organization that aims to improve transportation, land development and more in Boston, said it is a great thing to construct more residential buildings near the Rose Kennedy Greenway.

Vibrancy and economic activity will spill over into the parks, Parr said.

Parr also said building more houses near transportation creates more density in the core of the city, which is good for the environment and causes a much smaller carbon footprint.

The Merano project will begin construction in the spring and is expected to finish in two years, Meunier said.

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The Merano hotel to spark economic momentum downtown

The Greece Town Planning Board approved the site plans for the Stoney Creek Development project for 846 Long Pond Road at their meeting Wednesday night. The development will bring a 33,000 square foot Bryant & Stratton college campus to the area.

The plans for the 17.7-acre site also include a 17,000 square foot retail/service building and an 11,000 square foot retail/office/service building. Site developers 846 LPR, LLC said a child care center may fill the latter space.

The developers made a series of changes since the board postponed its decision on the proposal at its Feb. 8 meeting. These changes include enhanced landscaping along Long Pond Road, modified parking lots to provide room for buses, decreased parking space with green space left for possible future expansion, modified decoration including the addition of two flagpoles, and more.

One major reason the board did not approve the site plans on Feb. 8 was because of concerns over the need for a traffic light at the site's Long Pond exit. Though traffic experts judged the light unnecessary, the developers will install all the underground circutry and equipment it would need should it be built in the future.

"It's gotten better, but I think it has a way to go," said Deborah Janowicz, who lives across the street from the development. Janowicz said she will be able to see the campus from her bedroom window and that its construction -and noise from the site when it opens- will affect her entire neighborhood.

Janowicz said when she moved in, the Stoney Creek site was zoned residential. She hoped more neighborhoods would be built, not a small college campus and strip mall.

"Greece doesn't need more empty retail space," she said.

Stoney Creek property owner Laurence Glazer addressed Janowicz and her neighbors' concerns after the meeting.

"I think their issues have been dealt with very carefully," Glazer said. "They'll be happy with the end result."

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Site plans approved for Bryant & Stratton campus on Long Pond Road