Roxburys Charles Street AME Church has won a key legal round against a bank that plans to foreclose on the historic house of worship this month.

The 194-year-old congregation has convinced an appeals court to reinstate the churchs counter-lawsuit against Boston-based OneUnited Bank.

State Appeals Judge Peter Agnes Jr. reversed a lower courts move to dismiss the churchs claims against OneUnited, which plans to seize Charles Streets property on March 22.

OneUnited has scheduled a foreclosure auction because the congregation failed to pay off a $1.1 million balloon mortgage that came due recently.

The two sides have been feuding since 2009, when OneUnited froze a second $3.6 million construction loan the church got to build a community center.

OneUnited sued Charles Street over that debt a move the church maintains made it impossible to refinance the loan on the church proper.

The congregation originally counter sued, but a lower court dismissed Charles Streets claims for lack of evidence.

However, Agnes found that the church might be able to prove the building loans terms violated state consumer-protection laws.

The judge cited the state Supreme Judicial Courts landmark 2008 Fremont decision, which found that state law prohibits mortgages that banks know from the beginning will likely end in foreclosure.

Considered in its totality, the (churchs) allegations are certainly as egregious as those involved in Fremont, Agnes wrote.

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Church's suit against OneUnited reinstated

Michael Woods Staff Reporter

Toronto FC is covering new ground Wednesday night: their match against the Los Angeles Galaxy is their first at the Rogers Centre.

The actual ground theyre covering not the stadiums usual baseball turf is also newly-installed: this time last week, the pitch was mere concrete.

It took 25 workers about 36 hours to lay down the soccer playing surface late last week. The temporary lines demarcating the field were painted on Sunday, just in time for Toronto FCs first practice there on Monday.

The whirlwind installation seems like a daunting task. But for Frank Grespan, whos been the director of conversions at the dome since before the stadium was built, its all part of the job.

It takes months and months of planning, actually, he said. The average fan out there doesnt understand the work that goes in.

Rogers Centre has nine full-time workers who operate the hydraulically-powered equipment needed to convert the stadium between sports.

Especially for this match, 16 more temporary workers were brought in to first tape down granulated rubber to the concrete, to soften the playing surface.

(Toronto FCs) coaching staff probably felt that the turf itself was a little bit too hard on the concrete, so they wanted to soften it up a little bit, Grespan said. The surface also features silica sand, which gives the rubber its weight.

Stadium staff then put a stiff layer of plastic on top of the rubber so that they could slide turf rolls on top together perfectly, without any seams between them. The turf surface is made up of 50 separate rolls, which weigh between 8,000 and 11,000 pounds depending on the length.

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Rogers Centre rolls out green carpet for Toronto FC

CORPUS CHRISTI More trees, a boardwalk and a central place for food and retail vendors along the waterfront in downtown are part of a design that could be an economic catalyst for Corpus Christi.

About 250 people had a first look Tuesday night at two design concepts for a 27-acre public site. San Francisco-based firm Hargreaves Associates is leading a team to come up with a master plan for Destination Bayfront a group of local business leaders spearheading an effort to redevelop the city-owned space.

"This is a game-changer for the future of this city," Mayor Joe Adame said at the start of the meeting. "We have to be committed as a community that we are going to get this done."

One option divides the public space into five "rooms" with parking in between and along Shoreline Boulevard for better access. The rooms include a children's play area near McGee Beach, a family area for lawn games, picnics and birthday parties, an open lawn area to host festivals, Sherrill Park and an art plaza near the Corpus Christi Art Center at Coopers Alley.

A second option incorporates the same five areas for public use, but blends them into a continuous space without interruptions for parking areas. Parking for this concept would extend along Shoreline Boulevard on the edge of the park.

Tuesday night was the first of four public meetings during the eight-month planning process, which began in January. It's a chance for the design team to gauge what the public likes and dislikes about the concepts.

"We are still very much in a listening mode," Hargreaves Associates Senior Principal Mary Margaret Jones said.

Hargreaves is working with a team of architects, engineers, economic development analysts, real estate brokers and a public relations firm to write a plan for a public-private partnership of the park space. Their work will include costs for design, building, operating and maintaining the park, and how it could work as an economic spark plug for the city.

Jones has compared Corpus Christi's bayfront to the firm's Discovery Green park, which before it was redeveloped, was an empty 12-acre space in downtown Houston. Discovery Green, which includes water features and retail buildings, cost about $31 million to build.

The first year Discovery Green was open, it attracted more than 1 million visitors, and it has generated about $1 billion in private investment in that area, she said. Local chambers of commerce are planning a visit to the site April 21.

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About 250 residents have first look Tuesday night at two design concepts for Destination Bayfront

Allentown's downtown hockey arena complex is designed to include an eight-story hotel with a restaurant and one floor of meeting rooms, a six-story office building with a penthouse level and a 125-space underground parking garage that will be accessible from Eighth Street.

The historic Dime Bank building on Seventh Street will house the hotel lobby, and include a "party deck" at the same level as the arena's lower suites. Guests sipping cocktails before events at the hotel will be able to congregate on a catwalk that will line up with the fourth floor of the office building.

All of it is expected to be completed using domestic steel, priced out using union labor, and ready for occupancy by Sept. 13, 2013.

The authority, which is overseeing construction of the 8,500-seat arena at Seventh and Hamilton streets, has not announced a construction company or who will run the hotel or occupy the office building.

City officials, Allentown Commercial and Industrial Development Authority Executive Director Scott Unger and Hammes Company Sports Development Inc., which is overseeing arena construction, did not return calls seeking comment Monday.

The arena, estimated to cost $158 million, will host the Phantoms, the Philadelphia Flyers' American Hockey League affiliate, as well as concerts and other cultural and sports events. City officials have said they are negotiating with a private developer on the offices and hotel.

Interest in the project is high. The Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce sold all 300 seats to its forward-looking annual business breakfast featuring Mayor Ed Pawlowski on Wednesday. That's never happened before, said Miriam Huertas, the Chamber's Allentown representative.

Here are a few new details about the project, according to the ACIDA request for proposals:

The authority has a goal of using 15 percent minority and 5 percent women construction workers and contractors on the arena project.

The hotel and Hamilton Street retail and restaurant spaces should be ready for interior finishes by May 2013, offices by June 2013.

Link:
More details of Phantoms' Allentown arena, hotel, offices emerge

Frank McGee (second from left) assisted team members as they drilled in reinforcements

The smell and sound of sawdust and power tools greets those visiting a Fishers of Men worksite.

For the last four years, the Sunday school class from P.G. Baptist Church has made it their mission to help those in need by constructing wheelchair ramps and porches for the disabled and elderly.

Since January of this year, the group has completed eight different projects.

Weve built six ramps and two porches, said group leader Tommy Hendley. We work at least one day a week on projects.

The Fishers of Men Sunday school class has an ever-growing list of projects, so, because of this, schedules are made out in advance.

We usually have lists made up three weeks out, Hendley stated. We try to do these projects on a need basis. If someone is really sick or having a hard time getting in and out, we try to help them first.

Building a handicap ramp has become a usual thing for the group of men.

We can build a ramp in a day, said Hendley. Sometimes people have the money to buy the materials, sometimes the housing coalition helps and then some of the projects we pay for ourselves.

Just last week, the group used their own funds to build a $700 handicap ramp for an individual in McDowell.

The rest is here:
Fishers of Men taking on projects to benefit community

By Beth Healy, Globe Staff

Boston City Councilor Felix Arroyo wrote a letter this week to OneUnited Bank chairman Kevin Cohee, urging him not to foreclose on a $1.1 million loan to the historic Charles Street African Methodist Episcopal Church.

Arroyo, in a letter dated March 5 and obtained by the Globe, said he was writing on behalf of his constituents and as a member of the Roxbury church. He said he urged OneUnited to take the same care and compassion that was afforded to you by the federal government when the bank received a $12 million bailout in the financial crisis.

He said the bank should meet with church officials to negotiate a mutually beneficial agreement and end these foreclosure proceedings that, if acted upon, would be an atrocity of immeasurable harm.

OneUnited has advertised plans to auction off the church property as soon as March 22.

The bank sued the church in 2010 for failing to repay $3 million on a construction loan for a nearby community center. The foreclosure threat is on the church property itself, related to a separate loan that came due in November. The bank has said its given the church ample time to meet its financial obligations.

Harvard Law Professor Charles Ogletree has offered to mediate the dispute; the banks top executives by Tuesday evening had not yet agreed to a meeting.

Read more here:
Boston City Councilor Felix Arroyo urges OneUnited not to foreclose on Charles Street AME church

Australian construction activity has declined for the past 21 months, a report shows.

The Australian Industry Group-Housing Industry Association's performance of construction index (PCI) fell 4.2 points to 35.6 in February.

A reading below 50 indicates a contraction in activity.

The index has now shown a contraction for 21 consecutive months.

All four construction industry sub-sectors experienced falls in activity, with commercial and apartment building sectors posting the largest decline.

The new orders sub-index also declined 1.7 points to 34.2.

Australian Industry Group (Ai Group) director of public policy Dr Peter Burn said the February data showed the rate of decline increased after slowing in January.

"The tentative signs of recovery that had emerged in the closing months of 2011 as interest rates were lowered, appear to have dissipated since the start of this year," he said.

"With new orders also weak in February and with market interest rates now somewhat higher, the outlook for the next few months remains flat, particularly for commercial and residential construction."

Housing Industry Association (HIA) senior economist Andrew Harvey said the index showed the Reserve Bank of Australia's decision to cut the official interest rate by 25 basis points in November and again, by the same amount, in December had not been enough to halt the decline in the sector.

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Construction's 21st month of decline

IQALUIT, Nunavut - Nunavut's former fire marshal says the territorial government should have known an apartment block that was the scene of a fatal blaze didn't meet modern building codes.

Tony Noakes, who lost his job in May 2010 after he voiced related concerns, says similar problems exist throughout the territory.

"I'm concerned government hasn't implemented any recommendations I put forward in my report in 2009," Noakes, who now lives in Lyndhurst, Ont., said Tuesday. "Maybe something could have been done to save these people.

"It's not a far stretch to say there's gross negligence here."

At least two people died when a 22-unit block in the White Row apartments went up in flames on the frigid night of Feb. 27. The building was being used as a residence for Nunavut Arctic College and all the tenants but one were students or their families.

Some 83 people were forced outside in -50 C temperatures and lost everything in the fire.

Reports have said the two who died were adult children of an Arctic College student. Remains of one person were found Friday and police reported Monday that a second set of remains had been found.

An RCMP forensic team was on the site.

White Row was built about 35 years ago well before Nunavut was created and Iqaluit named as its capital. Noakes pointed to a fire inspection dated Jan. 23, 2000, that outlined a series of structural problems with White Row's 200 block.

The biggest problem was that individual units didn't have adequate fire-resistant separation walls between them, said the report. It also noted that existing drainage, waste and ventilation pipes should have been sealed off with fire-resistant drywall.

See original here:
Government knew building in fatal Iqaluit fire a trap: former fire marshal

The Portland Housing Bureau has broken ground on a Northwest Portland housing project that will bring 80 affordable apartments to an area near Union Station.

During a ceremony on Monday, the bureau announced the beginning of the latest phase of The Yards project, a multiphase residential and retail redevelopment project that will transform a seven-acre brownfield behind Union Station.

The first three phases are complete and have brought 535 new, mixed-income housing units to Portland. The first phase began about 15 years ago. The latest phase will add 80 residential units to the project, and its construction is expected to cost $15 million.

The Housing Bureau invested more than $4 million in River District Tax Increment Funds for the latest phase, and also offered a 10-year tax exemption. The project is also expected to create more than 200 construction jobs, and will result in a LEED silver-certified building.

Specifically, the new building will create six studios, 48 one-bedroom apartments and 26 two-bedroom units with 48 parking spaces. A community room, lounge area and fitness center will be built on the ground floor, and free bicycle and other storage spaces will be available.

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Ground broken for 80-unit affordable apartment building in Northwest Portland

PITTSBURGH--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG - News) announced that its Architectural Glass Binder, a fixture in architects libraries and offices for generations, is now available in a digital, downloadable format at http://www.ppgglassbinder.com.

Glenn T. Miner, PPG director of construction, flat glass, said the decision to digitize the binder, which encompasses all the printed material needed to specify or design with PPG glass, reflects the companys long-standing commitment to green building and design.

For decades, PPG has devoted a significant portion of its research and development capability to engineering products that support green building and design, Miner explained. By launching this digital glass specification binder, we are putting those principles into practice by foregoing all the energy, ink and paper use associated with printing, and by providing architects with an online tool that is always up-to-date and is available anywhere they can access the Internet through a computer or mobile device.

In addition to data sheets, product catalogs and performance data for popular PPG products such as SOLARBAN(R), STARPHIRE(R) and SUNGATE(R) glasses, the online binder contains technical documents, details for thermal stress and wind load analyses and complete product specifications.

The binder is a gateway to PPGs expanding array of electronic specification tools such as the Architectural Glass Configurator, Architectural Glass Performance Calculator and a searchable project library tool containing hundreds of product application photos. Sourcing information for PPG CFP CERTIFIED FABRICATOR PROGRAM(TM) participants, downloadable white papers and dozens of building profiles also are featured. Additionally, architects can use the binder to learn about PPG architectural coatings such as DURANAR(R), CORAFLON(R) and PPG PITTSBURGH PAINTS(R) brand products.

Visit http://www.ppgglassbinder.com to bookmark the online PPG Architectural Glass Binder.

PPG: BRINGING INNOVATION TO THE SURFACE.(TM)

PPG Industries' vision is to continue to be the worlds leading coatings and specialty products company. Through leadership in innovation, sustainability and color, PPG helps customers in industrial, transportation, consumer products, and construction markets and aftermarkets to enhance more surfaces in more ways than does any other company. Founded in 1883, PPG has global headquarters in Pittsburgh and operates in more than 60 countries around the world. Sales in 2011 were $14.9 billion. PPG shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange (symbol:PPG - News). For more information, visit http://www.ppg.com.

Bringing innovation to the surface and PPG CFP Certified Fabricator Program are trademarks and Coraflon, Duranar, Solarban, Starphire and Sungate are registered trademarks of PPG Industries Ohio, Inc.

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PPG Introduces Online Design and Specification Binder for Architectural Glass