Put Grandma in the garage? Yes. But a garage transformed into a well-appointed studio apartment with skylights and a patio for morning coffee.

Home remodeling for those who can afford it is one answer to a growing issue: How do you take care of family members in their late-retirement and twilight years? And then, a tougher question: When a home solution won't work, what assisted-living or nursing home options are available?

[See The Best Places to Retire in 2012.]

Growth of multigenerational households (mostly grandparents, parents, and minor children, but also other extended-family relationships) accelerated during the economic downturn. Some families shared quarters because the unemployment rate (a 30-year high) forced some out-of-work adult children to move back home. Sometimes it was the senior generation that needed a housing solution because they were no longer able to physically or financially go it alone.

The rate of this change is worth noting. In 2008, 6.2 million intergenerational households resided in the United States. That's 5.3 percent of all households. That number jumped to 7.1 million households, or 6.1 percent, by 2010. The two-year increase marked a faster rate of growth than the previous eight years combined, according to AARP's Public Policy Institute.

Even if the economy improves, it's a trend that looks to stick as families address graying baby boomers who may be facing an underfunded retirement, according to aging and financial professionals.

In the best and worst of times, the benefit of companionship and shared household duties, such as childcare, can't be dismissed. For some families, living together is not a solution to a problem but an exercise in bonding. There are also different cultural interpretations of the social value of multigenerational households. But for many families, finances are certainly a factor in their decision to merge under one roof.

Kevin Young, a certified financial planner with Young Wealth Management in Davis, Calif., sees an increasing number of "sandwich generation" clients in his tax practice. "They're taking care of aging parents and children at the same time, sometimes working multiple jobs to accomplish that," he says.

[See How to Avoid Being a Financial Burden on Your Children.]

Young says some boomers and their parents are still playing retirement savings catch-up as corporate America (and the public sector too, in some cases) shifts from defined benefits such as pensions to market-reliant 401(k)s and other individual retirement accounts (IRAs). Others just dropped the ball and didn't save enough.

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Should Seniors Live Alone or With Family?

AURORA, Ill., March 20, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --DIY enthusiasts now have a new online tool to support the successful installation of tile and stone. The TEC product selector, a new web-based and mobile app, allows homeowners to quickly receive product suggestions for TEC tile setting materials to get their project off to the right start. This one-of-a kind tool allows the homeowner to input details about their tile project, and the app generates a customized shopping list containing the TEC tile setting products needed for the unique project, helpful installation tips and a listing of other tools that may be needed to complete the installation. Compatible with most mobile devices or PC's, the TEC product selector starts by asking the user basic questions about their tile project. The DIYer simply enters the requested information about the job, such as what they plan to tile, what surface material they are working with, the dimensions of the space, the type of tile they are using and the desired grout width.

Based on that information, the TEC product selector immediately provides a detailed shopping list with suggested TEC brand tile setting materials required for the job, as well as a list of helpful tools and tips to support a quality tile installation. The user can then take that list to their local Lowe's home improvement store, and dive right into their DIY tile installation.

"We developed the TEC product selector to take the intimidation factor out of tile setting and help homeowners approach their DIY projects with more confidence and ease," said Lauren Fontela, Senior Market Manager for the retail channel. "Many people are unsure where to start when it comes to tiling, but having a tailored list of suggested products and quantities required, as well as recommended tools, for their specific job helps pave the way to completing their installation."

To download the new TEC product selector app, visit http://www.tecskillset.com/product-selector. For more information about the TEC line of tile setting products, including new TEC Skill Set product line and ready-to-use TEC Invision flooring products as well as how-to guides with step-by-step instructions for laying tile, check out http://www.tecskillset.com and http://www.tecinvision.com.

About H.B. Fuller Construction Products Inc.H.B. Fuller Construction Products (a subsidiary of H.B. Fuller Company) is a leading provider of technologically advanced solutions to the commercial, industrial and residential construction industry. Headquartered in Aurora, Illinois, the company's recognized and trusted brands - TEC, CHAPCO, Grout Boost, Foster, AIM, TEC Skill Set, Invision and others are available through an extensive network of distributors and dealers, as well as home improvement retailers. For more information, visit http://www.hbfuller-cp.com.

CONTACT: Emily Towey 312-946-6143

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New DIY App Instills Confidence in Tile Installations

March 20, 2012

Witt Flooring is currently in the process of purchasing Franks Floor Covering, which is located at 806 North Main in Borger. PHOTO BY DON RICE

An Amarillo company is in the process of purchasing Franks Floor Covering. Witt Flooring is planning to move into the location within the next month, according to the companys general manager, Patt Calahan. Callahan said it will be about a 30-day span until Witt Flooring officially takes over the building. Witt Flooring Center will provide Borger with a wide choice of carpet, hardwood, laminate flooring, ceramic tile and natural stone products. The center will have more in-stock items as well as tools and materials for self installation, but they also offer full service installation. Scotty C. Witt became involved in the construction business with his dad when he graduated from Amarillo High School in 1948. Scotty then served two years in the Army after graduating from Abilene Christian University in 1952. Upon his return from service, Scotty assumed more duties as the family owned business became a full service residential and commercial floor covering establishment. For over 60 years, Witt Flooring Center and Abbey Carpet & Floor of Amarillo continues to serve friends, customers and contractors with quality products and installation services. We are really excited about the opportunity. Even though the economy is having a tough time, we can still expand and grow and that says a lot, said Callahan. He also states that there will be few changes to the current building, but details are still up in the air. According to Susan Combs, Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, Franks Floor Covering, LLC, 806 N. Main Street, started February 17, 2005. Franks Floor Covering, LLC also began a partnership with Mohawk as an exclusive Mohawk ColorCenter Elite Dealer. Owners of Franks Floor Covering include Frank and Amy Fernandez. Franks Floor Covering is also joined together with Tan Palace. According to Hutchinson County Appraisal District, Franks market value is worth a total of $205,080. Tan Palaces market value is $27,370.

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Frank’s Floor Covering to be purchased by Witt Flooring

DriTac Flooring Products, LLC 60 Webro Road Clifton, NJ, 07012, USA

For immediate release: DriTac Flooring Products introduces DriTac Eco-5500 Premium "Green" Pressure Sensitive Flooring Adhesive, which is ideal for installing Luxury Vinyl Tile, Luxury Vinyl Plank, VCT, Fiberglass Back Sheet Vinyl, Carpet Tile, Vinyl Stair Treads, Cork Tile and Cork Underlayment. DriTac Eco-5500 is a "green" adhesive that is VOC free with zero solvents.

Manufactured in the USA, DriTac Eco-5500 is extremely easy to spread and clean up, offers a very low odor and is nonflammable. DriTac Eco-5500 is an eco-friendly adhesive that provides excellent working time and superior coverage. It is available in 1 and 4-gallon plastic pails.

DriTac Eco-5500 is acceptable for use with on, above, or below-grade concrete substrate applications, in the absence of excessive moisture and alkalinity. Below-grade concrete substrate applications must be recommended by the flooring manufacturer. Additionally, the adhesive may be used over plywood, terrazzo, particleboard, hardboard, OSB, existing vinyl tile flooring, existing fully adhered non-cushioned sheet vinyl and properly prepared lightweight concrete.

DriTac Flooring Products, LLC is celebrating over 55 years as one of the oldest and most experienced manufacturers of environmentally friendly flooring adhesives in the market today. DriTac adhesives are available from coast to coast through more than 100 distributors and in warehouses including: Clifton, N.J., Dalton, Ga., City of Commerce, Calif. and Dallas, Texas. For more information, or to receive a complete products guide for all of DriTac's adhesives and installation products for flooring, contact: John Lio, 60 Webro Road Clifton, N.J. 07012; Ph: 800-394-9310 ext. 243; e-mail: jlio@DriTac.com; or Web: http://www.DriTac.com.

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Pressure Sensitive Flooring Adhesive has eco-friendly formula.

PEACHTREE CITY, Ga., March 20, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --Cooper Lighting, an industry leader committed to delivering innovative products and driving transformational technology in the lighting industry, announced that its Halo brand of recessed, track and surface lighting products has once again been named the Brand Leader in lighting by Builder magazine. Awarded for the fourteenth consecutive year, Halo was given top honors in the lighting categories of Brand Familiarity, Brand Used in Past Two Years and Brand Used Most. The company will be featured in Builder's April issue.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120320/DA73560LOGO)

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110513/DA01852LOGO-b)

"We are once again proud and honored that the builder community has chosen Halo as their number one choice for lighting products," says Mark Eubanks, President, Cooper Lighting. "We are constantly working to understand our customers' business goals and to develop innovative products that meet and satisfy their needs. Cooper Lighting has and will continue to adopt and adapt to the latest advancements in lighting technology to provide the most innovative, high-quality, high-performing lighting products available."

Cooper Lighting, which developed the first ENERGY STAR-qualified LED recessed downlight, offers a comprehensive selection of LED products to meet the challenging needs of builders in today's marketplace. The company opened a world-class 60,000 square-foot LED Innovation Center in 2009 to design, test and manufacture reliable LED products. As legislation requires lighting products to advance beyond the incandescent options used today, Cooper aims to help builders adhere to the changing energy landscape with industry-leading technology, variety and service.

The 2012 Brand Use Study, sponsored by Hanley Wood, LLC, publisher of Builder, and conducted by the independent research company Readex Research, provides an in-depth look at the product brands builders recognize and use most and how they rate quality. The report highlights respondents' opinions about brands in 80 product categories. The 2012 Brand Use Study can be viewed on the Builder website at http://www.builderonline.com in April.

Cooper Lighting has made a significant investment in people, resources and technology to ensure the company provides first-class solutions to its customers' lighting challenges. The company offers a range of indoor and outdoor LED lighting products and controls, all of which are specifically designed to maximize energy and cost savings. For additional information on Cooper's LED product offering, click here.

About Cooper Lighting

Cooper Lighting, a subsidiary of Cooper Industries plc (NYSE: CBE - News), is the leading provider of innovative, high quality interior and exterior lighting fixtures and related products to worldwide commercial, industrial, retail, institutional, residential and utility markets. As lighting technologies have advanced over the years, Cooper Lighting has been at the forefront of the industry in helping businesses and communities leverage the latest technologies to improve efficiency, reduce costs and enrich the quality of the environment. For more information, visit http://www.cooperlighting.com.

About Cooper Industries

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Cooper Lighting's Halo Brand Named the Leader by Builders for the Fourteenth Consecutive Year

Jim Christianson | 3/20/2012 From restaurants to multi-million dollar sports arenas, one architectural firm is in the midst of designing several new projects. And JLG Architects are hoping to bring in some more help to handle the workload.

Sitting in his Main Avenue conference room with a wall full of mockups and architectural renderings, Jeff Hysjulien and his staff are in the midst of some exciting building plans, including a new downtown night spot.

"And it`s kind of starting to get some new energy, and some new growth. Part of that is kind of creating an after five o`clock environment," Hysjulien said.

Since 1989, JLG Architects has been designing hundreds of projects of all shapes and sizes, including both residential and commercial buildings throughout the upper Midwest. And they have to stay on top of the technological changes in both the construction and the design business.

"With the pace of the construction industry, everything happens, the design and planning side is a very boiled down and consolidated process."

The firm is working on a number of local projects for the summer, including expanding the Bismarck Community Bowl and designing a new JL Beers location on 3rd street in downtown Bismarck. All of the projects are challenging, but also rewarding.

"The adaptive reuse, taking an old building and giving it new purpose, and the JL Beers project is an example of that, from an architectural perspective, they`re a lot of fun."

To accomplish the workload, JLG is doubling the size of its Bismarck office. They recently expanded into Minot and will soon be opening a seventh branch in Williston.

"We really strive for the fact that the site of the building and stuff really work well together, it`s a very integrated process."

An integrated process indeed. And a high-tech process that incorporates environmentally friendly building materials into eye-catching designs that are built to last.

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Inside Business: JLG Architects | Video

Mackey Mitchell Architects said today it will leave its long-time home near Union Station and move late this year to a renovated Cupples Station building a block west of Busch Stadium.

The firm, founded in 1968 by Gene Mackey, plans to lease 11,000 square feet of fifth-floor space at Cupples 9, which is under renovation by an affiliate of the Koman Group. For 24 years, Mackey Mitchell has been at the Power House, a building it designed. The company said it hopes to relocate by Dec. 1.

TKG Acquisitions LLC, a Koman affiliate, bought the vacant Cupples 9 building out of foreclosure on May 26. Koman says its$30 million rehab of the 117-year-old building should be completed in early 2013. The building is next to the Westin Hotel at Cupples Station, made up of old warehouses in six blocks west of Busch Stadium. Other buildings in the century-old complex have been redone as offices, restaurants, condos and apartments.

In addition to Mackey Mitchell, a tenant of Cupples 9 is to be Osborn & Barr, a communications company thatwill occupy 45 percent of building. Osborn & Barr plans to move from another Cupples Station building on Spruce Street.

The two relocations will fill most of what is now an empty downtown building. But the moves do little to boost overall occupancy downtown.

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Mackey Mitchell Architects to relocate to Cupples Station

Epping House N Home, a bulky goods centre with a difference will be a feature of Northpoint Enterprise Park.

Legislative changes are helping bulky goods outlets, writes Philip Hopkins.

A BULKY goods centre to be built at Epping in Melbourne's north has been given a fillip by recent Baillieu government planning changes.

Private developer, the McMullin Group, will build the centre, dubbed Epping House N Home, in the Northpoint Enterprise Park, a 120-hectare estate in the commercial and industrial heart of the City of Whittlesea.

McMullin's development director John Purdey said the centre would tap into Whittlesea's forecast population growth of 10,000 new residents per year for the next six years. Epping's catchment is now estimated at 209,000.

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The centre will be located on the corner of Edgars Road and Cooper Street, about 1.5 kilometres from High Street and Epping Plaza.

The establishment of the bulky goods centre was given a shot in the arm by amendments to retailing legislation by Minister for Planning Matthew Guy.

The policy changes revised the bulky goods definition, broadening the scope of retail activities that could be included in such centres. Further, the previously restrictive minimum floor space requirement of 1000 square metres was dissolved.

Jones Lang LaSalle's director of retail leasing Jaycen Willox said the move brought flexibility and clarity to both current and prospective tenants. ''Restrictive minimum floor space requirements under the previous scheme were thwarting the capacity of growth within the bulky goods sector,'' he said.

Original post:
Retail lift for Epping centre

wwltv.com

Posted on March 20, 2012 at 6:20 PM

Updated today at 6:37 PM

Katie Moore / Eyewitness News Email: kmoore@wwltv.com | Twitter: @katiecmoore

NEW ORLEANS -- After sitting vacant for years, crews began construction Tuesday on a big, new development in the heart of Mid-City.

So far, the developer has leased the space to a mix of retail and restaurants, and it borders plans for the Lafitte Greenway.

The property at the intersection of North Carrollton Ave. and Bienville Street is one of the hottest pieces of commercial real estate in New Orleans, and a $38 million new development is breathing life back into the once-sleepy site.

I think it's gonna be a big opportunity to really anchor this commercial area on Carrollton Avenue for Mid-City. It's gonna be a hub of activity, said Townsend Underhill, vice president of Stirling Properties.

It's the site of an old Ford dealership, and thats one of the reasons it's taken years to get it re-developed. The land had more than 10 gas tanks underground.

This was an environmentally contaminated site. So, before we could do anything we had to clean up the environmental contamination. So, that was a risk, Underhill said.

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Developer breaks ground on Mid-City Market

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved plans Tuesday to convert parking lots into apartments and senior housingat the Marina del Rey harbor.

The plan calls for changing the zoning of two parking lots into housing - a 526-unit apartment complex and a 114-unit senior citizens facility, which will include 3,500 square feet of retail space, said Michael Tripp, planning specialist for the county Department of Beaches and Harbors.

The plans also will reduce docking spaces in the harbor for boats to accommodate the construction of space for larger boats and to comply with standards on wider docks to meet the requirements of the Americans With Disabilities Act, Tripp said.

There will be about 9% fewer wet boating slips, from 4,761 to 4,349. But the number of dry slips will rise from 817 to 1,114. Overall, the total number of boat slips will decrease by about 2%.

The countys strategy of redeveloping Marina del Rey, led by Supervisor Don Knabe, has drawnstrong criticism from a group of residents, who argue the county is moving the marina away from being dedicated to public recreation.

Bruce Russell, a consistent critic of the countys marina plans, told the supervisors Tuesday that the marina was not built for the several thousand well-heeled apartment dwellers the county wants to shove in there. It was built for the 10 million residents of the county, and they need and deserve their public park and public access parking."

County officials, however, assert that the marina is aging and needs to be revitalized. The marina is also a valuable piece of property whose lease revenues help fund the county budget.

In addition to adding these housing units, were also adding 10 acres of open space, Tripp said. The marina was built in the 1960s, and many of these buildings are getting old. Theyre past their prime." He added: Housing in West Los Angeles is in short supply.

Tripp said the plans approved Tuesday also permit the construction of a 1.46-acre wetland park on Via Marina, will expand Burton Chace Park, and convert a parking lot and trailer lot that houses county workers into a dry-dock warehouse where boats can be stored.

Continued here:
L.A. County supervisors OK new apartments in Marina del Rey