Two of Charleston's office towers:the BB&T building and Huntington Square. Both feature Class A office space, which is in high demand.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- High demand for the most sought-after office space in downtown Charleston means new office buildings are likely to be built, according to an area broker.

The city's five downtown Class A towers -- Chase, BB&T, United Center, Huntington Square and Laidley -- are effectively full and able to lease only portions of their floors, according to a January survey by Howard Swint, an associate broker at West Virginia Commercial.

"We're at what we call effective full occupancy," Swint said. "It means that for all intents and purposes, the five Class-A towers in downtown Charleston are nearing where they can't offer full floors."

The downtown towers have vacancy rates ranging from 8 percent to around 3 percent. That's a good thing, Swint said.

"When you're at effective full occupancy, new construction is more likely and [so is] spillover of demand into Class-B space," he said.

One possibility for the construction of new office space could come along with developers' plans to build a new hotel downtown.

Southern Land and Dickinson Properties, along with Kanawha Land Co. LP and developer Charlie Wendell are planning to build a Marriot Courtyard on Kanawha Boulevard just off Interstate 64 by the Elk River. They also hope to build a 10,000-to-15,000-square-foot office building at the same time as they build the hotel.

How much office space they build will depend on parking, cost and available land, Wendell said.

It also will depend on finding a tenant for the office space. They don't think it will be a problem.

"[The high occupancy rate] is one reason we thought it would work," said Lewis Payne, a shareholder of Southern Land and Dickinson Properties. "We've had people inquire already."

One reason behind the burgeoning demand for Charleston's Class-A office space is the recent sale of the former City Center West building to the state Lottery.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- High demand for the most sought-after office space in downtown Charleston means new office buildings are likely to be built, according to an area broker.

The city's five downtown Class A towers -- Chase, BB&T, United Center, Huntington Square and Laidley -- are effectively full and able to lease only portions of their floors, according to a January survey by Howard Swint, an associate broker at West Virginia Commercial.

"We're at what we call effective full occupancy," Swint said. "It means that for all intents and purposes, the five Class-A towers in downtown Charleston are nearing where they can't offer full floors."

The downtown towers have vacancy rates ranging from 8 percent to around 3 percent. That's a good thing, Swint said.

"When you're at effective full occupancy, new construction is more likely and [so is] spillover of demand into Class-B space," he said.

One possibility for the construction of new office space could come along with developers' plans to build a new hotel downtown.

Southern Land and Dickinson Properties, along with Kanawha Land Co. LP and developer Charlie Wendell are planning to build a Marriot Courtyard on Kanawha Boulevard just off Interstate 64 by the Elk River. They also hope to build a 10,000-to-15,000-square-foot office building at the same time as they build the hotel.

How much office space they build will depend on parking, cost and available land, Wendell said.

It also will depend on finding a tenant for the office space. They don't think it will be a problem.

"[The high occupancy rate] is one reason we thought it would work," said Lewis Payne, a shareholder of Southern Land and Dickinson Properties. "We've had people inquire already."

One reason behind the burgeoning demand for Charleston's Class-A office space is the recent sale of the former City Center West building to the state Lottery.

At the time it was sold, the building had a high vacancy rate, Swint said, meaning that a lot of available Class-A office space was taken off the market.

"We're back to the point where we were before the financial crisis in 2008," he said. "The demand has caught up to the supply, which is limited in Class A. So there's spillover in Class B [office space].

"We anticipate new construction downtown is just a matter of time," Swint said.

Another reason for the high occupancy rate is an increase in energy sector firms locating in downtown Charleston, Swint said.

Audubon Engineering, which recently opened an office at Huntington Square, is a good example, he said.

"I wouldn't be surprised to see more than one building go up in Charleston in the near future," Swint said. "All eyes are on the potential for a 'cracker.' "

While the ethane cracker plant obviously wouldn't be located downtown, the offices related to the plant could be, he said.

"That could be a game changer," he said.

There are downsides to having a high occupancy rate for Class-A office space, Swint said. For instance, lease rates could increase.

"[But it would be] only marginal in a market like ours because of the potential spillover in Class B," he said. "We have a big inventory of Class B in downtown Charleston."

Reach Lori Kersey at lori.ker...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-1240.

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High demand for office space could mean more construction

Grand Haven City Council will be looking at upgrades to retaining walls on Poplar Ridge during its meeting on Monday night.

It will be held at City Hall, 519 Washington Ave., beginning at 7:30 p.m.

City Council will consider accepting the low bid and approving a contractor service agreement with Katerberg-VerHage Inc. of Grand Rapids for $60,956 for replacement of the retaining walls on either side of Poplar Ridge.

Funding for the project is coming from a special assessment, wherein the nearby property owners will be responsible for paying for two-thirds of the cost of the project.

The work will have to be completed by or before May 23, or started after Sept. 5. Reasons behind this are due to constraints related to staging areas, execution and access to the construction site.

Once the contract is awarded by City Council, the contractor will submit a joint permit application to the state and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to perform the work

in the critical dune area. When this permit is received, it will determine when the project can begin.

A separate project, scheduled to begin in the spring, involves extending sanitary sewer into the area of the retaining wall project. The two contractors will be directed to work together on schedules, access and minimizing conflicts that may adversely impact either project.

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Poplar retaining wall on Monday’s council agenda

Hilton Head Island has grown up with First Baptist Church, which celebrates its 50th anniversary today.

The first gathering of the congregation -- six years before it officially became a church-- was held in the home of Lois and Norris Richardson. That Sunday school meeting of 56 people came only a few weeks after the Richardsons opened a grocery store on an island so remote it initially had more wild boar and alligators beating down its door than customers.

Business was so slow at the market that Lois Richardson had time to become Charles Fraser's first employee in Sea Pines.

But their Forest Beach Market would evolve into Coligny Plaza with more than 60 shops and restaurants.

And the church on South Forest Beach Drive would evolve into one known for missions, particularly on the beaches.

Its Easter sunrise service on the beach attracts close to 1,000 people. And in 1991, it was named the national Resorts Missionary Church of the Year by the Southern Baptist Convention for programs involving as many as 15 summer missionaries meeting people on the beach, at ball games and in a coffee house at Coligny Plaza where they performed music and skits.

"It enabled the church to touch a lot of lives outside the four walls of the church," said the Rev. Felix Haynes Jr. of St. Simons Island, Ga., the pastor from 1979 to 1994.

First Baptist calls itself the "visitors' church" because waves of vacationers from all over the world pass through each year.

"We've always been visitor-friendly because we're visitor-located," said the Rev. John F. Keller, pastor for the past 18 years. "We're by the beach with short-term rentals all around us."

But in its first meetings, there were no walls to hold missionaries in or visitors out.

They worshiped on the ground-level cement slab beneath the Richardsons' home on the ocean on Bayberry Lane.

A NEW SONG

It all started about the time Hilton Head Island got its first bridge, in the spring of 1956.

Virgil Woods went to Ridgeland Baptist Church concerning a mission Sunday school on the island.

When the Richardson family of five moved to the island that summer, they offered their new home to be the church's temporary home and put up signs in the store inviting people to come.

Lois Richardson recalls that they borrowed chairs and benches from the Ridgeland church and her son, James N. "J.R." Richardson Jr., then about 11, had to set them up and take them down every week.

She says the collection was never more than $10.

When a man with three young girls came to work for the island's chamber of commerce, the girls attended the new church and played with the Richardson children during the week. One day Lois Richardson overheard them downstairs pretending they were holding church.

"(J.R.) said he'd be the preacher and one of the girls said she'd lead the singing," Lois Richardson said. Another girl asked what they were going to sing. And the song leader said: "You know we're going to sing 'Hound Dog.' "

FULL CIRCLE

The church became a mission of the Baptist Church of Beaufort and built a small sanctuary across from the old William Hilton Inn.

It incorporated on its own on Feb. 18, 1962, with 37 charter members. It has always been on South Forest Beach Drive on land donated by Fraser and his family's Sea Pines Co. The Frasers donated land for several other churches, as well.

The late Rev. Wilford M. Lee was a beloved figure as he led the church from 1968 to 1979, a period of much growth and construction.

Today, Keller sees new challenges for his church as the island changes, as well as the church at-large.

"In the early church of Acts, they were turning the world upside down," Keller said. "Today in many ways the world has turned the church upside down. With the church seeming to be so needy, it's almost as if it feels it has to be like the world to attract the world. It used to hold much stronger to doctrine."

He said his church is "more of a Bible-focused, Christ-centered church."

Haynes said its first half century has been marked by "being alert to ways it could minister way beyond its location, being sensitive to its unique setting, and touching a lot of lives."

And while the island has grown up with First Baptist, things seem to have come full circle. Just like 1962, the island finds itself peering into an uncharted transition, Keller said.

"The island is pretty much built out. What is it going to be in years to come? What should we be doing today to help shape that? We really need to pray for the leaders in our community."

Follow columnist David Lauderdale at twitter.com/ThatsLauderdale.

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First Baptist Church of Hilton Head Island

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Baptist church flows with change for 50 years

This article is the fourth (see the first, second and third articles here) in a miniseries of six articles (yes, I added one) that will be posted over six days about civilization, fungus, and alcohol. The first four articles are already determined, but just how this series finishes up will be chosen by the comments and ideas of readers.

Several years ago my friend Kenji Matsuura discovered termites have balls. It took careful inspection, but they were there. Now, along with his student, he has published a new study revealing more of the story of said balls.

I should explain. What Kenji discovered were tiny, hard, round, egg-shaped fungal structures inside termite nests. The fungi were there, he revealed, to steal rotting food from the termites. They did so by mimicking the eggs of the termites (which involved producing hardened sclerotia composed of fungal hyphae)1. They were the exact width and even firmness of termite eggs, just, in other words, like mother makes. They also produced a chemical the termites use to recognize the eggs, lysozyme. This subterfuge is elegant and, although only recently discovered, it turns out, common. It occurs, for example, in termite species in United States such as Reticulitermes virginicus. Kenji traveled to the U.S. to discover termite balls here, on our behalves, which is to say that we have become a country that cannot find its own, well, I digress

New Discovery–These balls were named by Kenji because of their physical resemblance to, say, soccer balls or basketballs. Kenji has come to see these egg-shaped fungal structures as a great mystery in need of explanation and so has dedicated much of the last ten years to their study. He may well be involved in every study of termite balls ever published. Now, Kenji, in a paper led by his student Toshi Yashiro like Kenji a very clever young scientist (though a terrible driver) reports on new details of the relationship between the termites and these fungal cheats.

eggsballs

[Image 1: Termite eggs (long, translucent shapes) and their mimics, termite balls in a species of Reticulitermes termites. Photo: Current Biology. Volume 19, January 2009, Pages 30-36.]

Yashiro, Matsurra and one of Matsurra s postdocs, Tanaka, studied termite balls all over Japan as well as in the United States. They lifted termites carefully and looked all through their nests. They became, as they searched, experts in this quarry. They then came back to the lab and compared the versions of the genes of the termite balls (all species of the fungus genus Fibularhizoctonia) in different termite nests. What they might have expected to find is different fungus species in each termite species, at least if specific adaptations were required to deal with the unique chemistry of different termites. Instead, what they found, put simply, was different termite species had different termite ball species and individual nests often had more than one species of termite ball dependent upon them.

Termites are Easy–It seems as though many different fungi can trick many different termite species, using lysozyme (Matsuura can paint the lysozyme on glass beads and the termites will care for them too). That, along with a vague resemblance to an egg is enough. The termites are easy. It is a small wonder more species don t trick them. They remind me of humans.

Once in the termite nest, the fungi have it made. The termites take care of them as if they were their own real eggs. They clean them (see movie here). They move them to the best spots. They are other the best hosts in the world or the worst parents. In some nests, more of the eggs being cared for in the nest are termite balls than are actual eggs. Based in part on Yashiro’s new work, these fungi appear to be able to get nest to nest and even reproduce on their own outside nests, but they like the free ride they can get inside a nest. Its cheap and easy living when the world outside is rough.

From a distance, it seems clear, the termites are being had, but measuring who is winning and who is losing is complex. When Matsuura compared the fitness of termite eggs in nests with termite balls to those without, the termite eggs actually do as well when the termite balls are present. But there must be a cost to workers of tending so many extra “eggs.” Maybe there is also a benefit. Maybe this Trojan ball had a silver lining. Perhaps compounds produced by the fungus work as an antibiotic and, in doing so, help the young termites to stay pathogen free. The termites may benefit from being duped, but the benefit seems incidental, not a reason to let the fungus in, but perhaps the reason stronger defenses against the fungus never evolved.

Matsuura has big ideas for what is next. He would like to try to take advantage of the termite s graciousness (or lack of guile) to kill them. As Matsuura put it in a recent paper, “Dummy eggs filled with pesticides could be introduced into the royal centre of a colony, destroying the entire colony with only a small amount of pesticide.” The truth is, Matsuura doesn t really want to kill termites. He really likes them, but other people do and those people like to fund research or build wooden houses.

In and of itself, this story is fascinating, a rich detail of the natural world that would be inconceivable had evolution not already conceived it. But, in the context of the story of humans and alcohol this story seems like something a little more.

If the termites were to tell their own story, much as we tell our own story when we write about alcohol, what would they say? They might describe the day they brought in the termite balls into their nests as a noble and useful one, a day in which they figured out how to harness fungi in order to control pathogens, much in the way in the last article I described the benefits of alcohol. But it seems clear enough the termites are being tricked.

What if yeast, that fungus that makes our beer, wine, bread and more, is tricking us? What if, in looking to the yeast, we are able to convince ourselves of its benefits, but from the yeasts perspective, we are just another dumb termite? After in, don’t we bring it in out the wild, make sure it is safe and fed and help it from one food source to the next, always sure to keep it neither too hot or too cold. What if that is the story of alcohol, fungus and civilization, a story in which we feel good about ourselves but are not really in control?

NasuteImms

[Image 2: Drawing of a termite of a species of Nasutitermes. The soldiers of these termites have long "nose-cannons" out of which they expel turpentine-like compounds in defense. They also have the biggest balls. Image from Imms, A. D. (1931) Social behaviour in insects. Methuen.]

The Other Ball Drops–Recently, Matsuura and Yashiro made one more discovery. In studying a tropical termite of the genus Nasutitermes they found giant termite balls. These giant termite balls were totally unrelated to normal termite balls. They had evolved independently to take advantage of the termites predictable weakness.

nasute_termites

[Image 3: Nasutitermes, photo by Alex Wild]

The giant termite balls are, as their name suggests, larger than the normal termite balls, probably because the eggs of Nasutitermes species are larger than those of Reticulitermes termites and so the fungus must follow suit. These larger balls beg the question. They beg the question of what our predictable weakness is, if we have one. In the context of the beer, wine and wine made by our yeast, the answer that seems most obvious is that our predictable weakness is we like to drink. Maybe yeast first prospered by sneaking into our societies in the guise of a Trojan beer. That we wanted to get drunk and kill pathogens meant we let down our guard and now, for as long as our weakness remains alcohol, they are in.

termite_balls

[Image 4: Termite balls, photo by Alex Wild]

Tomorrow, I will return to this possibility, in light of the kingdoms of the ants, kingdoms whose relationship with fungi seems even more like ours.

~~~

Table of evolutionary contents: Here you can skip ahead or backward to the other chapters in the story of the other species in our daily lives, whether they bethe cow, the chicken, the hamster, bacteria (on Lady Gaga, on feet, in bathrooms,as influenced by antimicrobial wipes, as probiotics, in the appendix), pigeons and urban gardens, house sparrows (to be published next week, stay tuned), predators,diseases, dust mites, basement dwellers, lice, field mice, viruses, yeast, the fungus that produces penicillin, bedbugs, houseflies, or something more.

Or for the big picture of how Rob thinks these stories come together to make us who and who we are, check out The Wild Life of Our Bodies. Rob Dunn is a writer and evolutionary biologist in the Department of Biology at North Carolina State University. Find him on twitter at robrdunn. Find him in person somewhere in Europe with his family while they are all on sabbatical.

1-Matsuura K., Tanaka C. and Nishida T. 2000. Symbiosis of a termite and a sclerotium-forming fungus: sclerotia mimic termite eggs. Ecol. Res. 15: 405-414

Follow Scientific American on Twitter @SciAm and @SciamBlogs. Visit ScientificAmerican.com for the latest in science, health and technology news.
© 2012 ScientificAmerican.com. All rights reserved.

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By looking carefully, Japanese scientist discovers the secrets of termite balls

Statistics are expected to reveal that our salaries are rising more than price increases, in contrast to people's perceptions.

WE SHOULD be feeling wealthier, but economists and retailers predict it still won't be enough to encourage us to start spending again any time soon.

Wage figures on Wednesday are expected to show that salaries rose on average between 3.5 per cent to 4 per cent last year, more than the price increase on the things we buy. The data is likely to reflect continued strong wage growth in the resources, electricity, gas and water services industries, and in areas such as wholesale trade and construction.

The weakest wage growth is tipped to be in the sectors that did it tough last year and are still struggling: retail, accommodation and food services. But even in those industries, wages are expected to have matched the annual rate of price inflation of 3.1 per cent.

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CommSec has calculated that over the past four years, average wages increased 21.5 per cent, while prices rose 12 per cent. That's some serious extra spending power.

Yet we continue to save, we continue to pay down debt, and when we do shop we look for bargains. Consumer sentiment readings indicate we are still feeling relatively down about our lot, despite last week's bounce.

This is strange because, according to CommSec chief economist Craig James, many goods have never been cheaper - mainly because of the strong Australian dollar.

"Cars are at their most affordable in 35 years, while toasters, kettles, dishwashers, fridges and washing machines posted their biggest price drop in 40 years in the December quarter," he says.

So what gives? Macquarie Bank senior economist Brian Redican believes there are two things at play - wealth has been declining for people in the property and equity markets, while for households generally other costs, such as electricity, water, council rates and petrol, have been increasing substantially.

"Many households are seeing big cost rises that are not necessarily reflected in the CPI," he says. "With the continued uncertainty in the labour market, it's going to be a tough slog for retailers in 2012."

Besa Deda, chief economist at St George Bank, says the negative headlines surrounding Europe and the global economy are having an impact.

"Relative to the rest of the world, we are in a reasonably good position, but we just don't feel it," Ms Deda says. "That's why we are showing selective caution - the retail spending numbers are weak, but household consumption is still rising at a moderate pace."

Mr James says expenses such as home internet access, mobile phones and pay TV used to be discretionary but are now considered essential.

"Basically, we have found new uses for our money," he says. "We should be feeling wealthy but unfortunately it's the way people work - when anything is going up, we know about it in a big way but when it's going down, we take less notice.

"We've got bread and milk at $1. Supermarket price wars in meat, fresh fruit and seafood - in terms of food there are some good bargains on offer. But we notice it much more when the electricity bill goes up, when council rates go up and the price of petrol."

That's why Mr Redican says it will need some sort of circuit breaker to turn things around and get people spending again.

"A sharp fall in the Australian dollar will take a lot of the pressure off a lot of companies, and further cuts in interest rates would make everyone feel a lot happier," he says. "But it's hard to see either of those happening soon."

The big retailers are not feeling it yet. Margy Osmond, chief executive of the Australian National Retailers Association, says that the extension of the January sales were a sign that people were still not spending. "Retail is heading into the slowest quarter traditionally for the sector and with the Reserve Bank unlikely to move on the cash rate any time soon, there is little light at the end of the tunnel for the sector in the short term," she says. "Any growth in the sector is likely to be some way off and may not occur until well into the second half of 2012."

Mr James says the latest round of job cuts is only making it worse for consumer sentiment.

"A number of major companies are reassessing their strategy and are cutting jobs - this is not the sort of environment to go out there and spend like no tomorrow."

Read more here:
Getting wealthier, feeling poorer

An architectural firm for a possible new jail facility was selected by the Gillespie County Commissioners’ Court following a week of special meetings.

County officials will now, with the help of Vanir Construction Management Inc., enter into contract negotiations with Wiginton Hooker Jeffry Architects, a Plano-based firm with branch offices in Dallas, Austin and Houston, and a local association with Stehling Klein Thomas Architects of Fredericksburg.

“Now we have to determine how far we want them to go in the process before the bond election (in November),” said Judge Mark Stroeher.

“We don’t want to spend a lot of money if it doesn’t pass the bond election, but, at the same time, we feel like we need to provide the public with enough information to see what we’d be dealing with going into the project,” Stroeher said.

Part of the contract negotiations will probably be to ask Wiginton Hooker Jeffry Architects to give the County of Gillespie prices for possibly proceeding in a couple of different ways, the judge added.

“The court will then take a look at those different proposals and see how much detail we’ll feel like we need and then we’ll decide how much money we’re going to spend on this project before a bond election and before we know if it’s going to pass,” Stroeher said.

No matter what, the architects will have to come up with the interior and room layouts, as well as the jail layouts and plumbing and related items.

“They’ll have to provide quite a bit of detail for us in order to get a good cost estimate, which we can then give to the public so they can be informed when it comes time for an election,” Stroeher said.

For more on this story, read this week’s print and online editions of the Fredericksburg Standard-Radio Post. If you are a print subscriber, your full online subscription is free. All you need to do is call 830-997-2155 to get a password. If you are not a subscriber, call 997-2155 or click on the ?Subscribe’ button on the left side of the home page and sign up today!

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Commissioners okay architects for new jail design

PARALLEL WORDS: The City Gatekeeper's alternative development for the Swan River. Source: PerthNow

PERTH would have its own version of Melbourne's Federation Square on the Swan River under an alternative to the controversial waterfront project.

The plan would also see apartment towers built on a curved wharf along Riverside Drive, a floating stage for theatre productions and floating Olympic-sized swimming pools built in the Swan River.

The City Gatekeepers, a group of urban planners and architects fighting the Barnett Government's "flawed" project, today unveils what it says is a far better concept.

The lobby group, headed by Australian Institute of Urban Studies WA chairman Linley Lutton, sparked fresh debate with an 11th-hour bid for the development to be scrapped last month.

The group is at odds with the Government's plans to dig up the Esplanade to create an inlet and divert Riverside Drive, which it says will cause "traffic chaos".

Instead, Dr Lutton said the waterfront should be developed between Barrack St and the Narrows Bridge, with a focus on "returning civic value" to the city.

"It's a much better site because you can position the buildings to protect the site from wind, we're not touching Riverside Drive, you're getting sun through the whole development and it's right on the natural river, not built around an inlet," he said.

"The Government's project is a commercially driven project, where ours is a community and culturally driven project.

"We're providing civic value, like museums, art galleries and performing arts."

The group's proposal includes plans for a "Perth version" of Melbourne's Federation Square in front of the Esplanade and a new museum.

But Planning Minister John Day has rejected the group's last-minute redesign and said that after more than 20 years of debate work would go ahead in April.

Funding had been committed and the Government had opened expressions of interest for a waterfront hotel development.

"It is too late for a complete re-think of the Perth Waterfront project," Mr Day said.

"Dr Lutton's plan includes no development north of Riverside Drive, which means keeping the Esplanade and four lanes of traffic between the city and the river. This is actually increasing the barrier between the city and the river and would be worse than no development at all."

Details of the long-awaited $440 million waterfront were released last year, with plans to create an inlet on the Esplanade, linking the CBD to the river.

Committee for Perth chief executive Marion Fulkner said she supported debate, but the lobby group's plans had come too late and people were "totally fatigued by the whole discussion".

Dr Lutton said it was irresponsible of the Government to pursue a "second-rate" development.

He expects as many as 6000 people to back the plan when the City Gatekeepers hold a public rally on the Perth foreshore next Sunday.

The group has also gathered thousands of signatures on a petition, which will be presented to parliament on March 6.

 

WHAT THE GOVERNMENT IS DOING

- A 10ha development with a 2.8ha inlet

- A "water square" with access for private boats and public ferries

- A hotel

- Apartments and short-stay accommodation

- Commercial space

- A jetty with boat moorings

- A Stage

- A landscaped island in the centre of the inlet

- A bridge providing access for pedestrians and cyclists to the island

- Cafes, bars and restaurants

 

WHAT THE CITY GATEKEEPERS WANT

- Keep the Esplanade and Riverside Drive intact

- A "land bridge" over Riverside Drive connecting the Esplanade to the river.

- Floating public swimming pools

- Apartment buildings no higher than 10 storeys

- Apartments on a curved finger wharf in the river

- A hotel on the water's edge

- Floating public swimming pools

- A floating performing arts stage

- A museum, modern art gallery and Indigenous cultural centre

- Jetty and boat pens

- Cafes, bars and restaurants

 

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Architects challenge foreshore plan

Cabela’s is coming to Grandville.

Cabela’s Chief Executive Officer Tommy Millner has announced the store featuring hunting, fishing, outdoor gear, and more will open at the east end of the Rivertown Mall retail corridor on 44th Avenue in spring 2013. The 88,000-square-foot store will be a part of a retail center currently under development by CWD Real Estate Investment.

“Because of the many great customers we have in the Grandville/Grand Rapids area, we have been interested in building a store there for years,” Millner said. “Michiganders are dedicated outdoors people who live the Cabela’s lifestyle and so many of them are loyal customers through our catalogs, website and Dundee store, we wanted to reward them with a Cabela’s store of their own.”

Millner said the store will include a Boat Shop, Gun Library, Bargain Cave, and Fudge Shop and employ about 200 full- and part-time employees. Construction on the building will start this summer and will feature Cabela’s trademark style of an exterior log construction and stonework along with metal roofing and a glass storefront. The inside of the store will include conservation-themed wildlife displays, animal mounts, and a built-in aquarium.

Grandville City Manager Ken Krombeen said since the City Council already rezoned the 1.9-acre parcel on 44th Avenue for the 88,000-square-foot building back in December the project “is basically pre-approved.” He said the next step is for Cabela’s officials to apply for a building permit, which the city will review, before starting construction.

The store will be part of a 380,000-square-foot retail complex development planned on the former X-Rite property. Krombeen praised the development, saying the complex is taking shape just the way city leaders and developers had hoped since the project began in 2009. “They wanted something different than a typical retail development,” he said. “There was a lot of effort to give it a unique feel.”

The retail complex includes multiple buildings, green space, sidewalks, and bike trails. Target also plans to open a 135,000-square-foot store in the complex in October.

Krombeen said the economic impact from the new Cabela’s will benefit not only the city but area municipalities as well as the state through jobs, property taxes, and sales tax.

The Grandville store will be Cabela’s second in the state with one located in Dundee. Cabela’s officials previously began plans to bring a store to the city of Walker, including asking for an economic incentive package for about $15 million, but those talks stopped in 2010.

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Cabela's announces plans to open in retail complex on 44th Avenue in Grandville

DAVIE — You get a charming story line like this in sports sometimes, Mike Sherman becoming Dolphins offensive coordinator and coming full-circle with his former English student, Joe Philbin.

Sherman remembers back more than three decades to Philbin as a "very introspective, very cerebral" student at Worcester (Mass.) Academy as they broke down books like Sherwood Anderson's "Winesburg, Ohio." Philbin remembers Sherman as being late for class on occasion.

But even as he was asked about this, Sherman says almost as an aside, "I'm not sure I remember that much about him from then."

Sports are about the moment, Sherman seemed to be saying, as any career coach knows with enough wins to wear a ring, enough losses to be fired and enough moves for his wife to get a nervous tic, "Whenever she sees a moving van," he says.

So this move for him isn't about some "Big Chill" reunion for Sherman and Philbin, as nice as that is. It's about now, about winning. And Sherman related two interesting aspects of his visit with Philbin a few weeks ago that swayed his taking the job.

The first was watching video of the Dolphins' offense. He confirmed what the second half of the season showed a lot of people, what gave hesitation for change by the end.

"I don't think we're that far away," he said. "We'll have some very explosive potential with the talent we have on offense. We have to fill some holes, but overall we have some explosive players and that's exciting.

"If you have explosive players, you should have explosive plays."

The second thing Sherman needed to know was owner Steve Ross' commitment to winning. Philbin convinced him on Ross.

"He was adamant about the fact that Mr. Ross wants to bring a Super Bowl, bring a Lombardi Trophy to Miami," Sherman said. "He's very passionate about that."

Sherman called that, "a very telling statement, a convincing statement that led me to feel we have a chance to do that here with the current level we're able to add to this as well."

Don't all owners say that to new coaches?

"I've met some that haven't said that, to be honest," Sherman said.

Sherman, on top of Philbin, gives the offense the kind of experience that suggests it's in good hands.

The bottom line is Sherman's past with Philbin is a nice story. But winning is the only thing anyone cares about at this level. And the new architect of the offense thinks this team is ready to win with a few offseason additions.

"I don't think anyone would have picked the Giants necessarily to win the Super Bowl this year," he said.

The rest is here:
Dave Hyde: Sherman confident in Dolphins' offense

TEMPE, Ariz. -- There's something about Spring Training that automatically elicits optimism, regardless of circumstance.

"Right now, everybody's undefeated," Angels owner Arte Moreno pointed out. "There should be a lot of optimism from everybody."

The Angels should have a little extra, though.

Because when their pitchers and catchers report here for Spring Training on Sunday, camp will begin on the heels of a monumental offseason, one in which the Angels took the best hitter in all of baseball, coupled him with the ace pitcher of their division rivals and added them to an 86-win team that looks poised for a postseason return after back-to-back absences.

Enter Albert Pujols, the new $240-million first baseman who has three Most Valuable Player awards and two World Series rings sitting in his mantle, boasts 445 homers and 2,073 hits through his first 11 years with St. Louis and should greatly help an offense that ranked 10th in the American League in runs last season.

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Enter C.J. Wilson, signed to a $77.5 million contract, added to a vicious threesome of Jered Weaver, Dan Haren and Ervin Santana, and brought in to ensure the Angels can match up with anybody in the department that's most critical to championship baseball -- starting pitching.

"It's been an exciting offseason," said Jerry Dipoto, the Angels' first-year general manager who was hired in late October, then traded for an offensive upgrade behind the plate in Chris Iannetta, added a veteran bullpen arm in LaTroy Hawkins and helped change the dynamic of the American League by getting Pujols and Wilson to agree to terms on Dec. 8.

"I'm very much looking forward to Spring Training and seeing them on the field, and hopefully we can keep them all healthy and get them out there and playing. ... Spring's an exciting time, no matter how often you've seen it."

The Angels also hope it'll be a productive time, because despite all the excitement and all the newness, questions and concerns linger.

Can Kendrys Morales -- a man Moreno identified as "the missing piece last year" -- bounce back after missing the last 1 1/2 seasons with a broken left ankle to be the extra middle-of-the-order force the Angels need?

Will Mark Trumbo take to third base in a matter that would allow his bat to get in the lineup more frequently?

Does Bobby Abreu still have a role, any role, on this team?

Is Mike Trout poised for the big leagues at age 20?

Can Jordan Walden take the next step in his second year, becoming an elite closer to help a bullpen that was tied for the league lead in blown saves last year?

And, when it's all set and done, will the Angels dethrone a Rangers club that has made it to back-to-back World Series?

In the end, that's what will decide whether this offseason truly was successful.

"We won 86 [games] last year. We had a very good team," Moreno said. "We didn't finish some games off, and we didn't score the runs, so what we tried to do was improve on what we have. But ultimately we're going to tell you what's going on next October. Everybody's trying to figure it out right now, but I think at the end of the day, we're all going to see how our decision-making, our investments, etc., turned out by the end of the year."

Right now, though, the only thing that matters is that the year is about to begin.

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Halos' new additions set to get to work