Apartment developer Archstone is building a 157-unit townhome rental complex in the Santa Clarita Valley, giving a jobs jolt to the beleaguered construction industry, officials said Friday.

About 750 workers will be needed to build the complex, the Denver-based company said.

Grading has already started on the 12.5 acre site at the southeast corner of Lost Canyon Road and Via Princessa in an unincorporated portion of Los Angeles County.

A groundbreaking will be next Thursday.

The project is a joint venture between Archstone and Resmark Apartment Living, a division of The Resmark Cos., a real estate investment adviser based in Los Angeles.

The complex is a welcome addition to the Valley, said Stacie House, marketing and business retention manager at the Santa Clarita Valley Economic Development Corp.

"In terms of jobs created, we are excited about the project. It's a great indicator things are picking up in the economy," she said.

"Economic development in the Santa Clarita Valley is thriving."

There is good demand for rental units, too, she said.

In the 2011 fourth quarter, Santa Clarita's rental vacancy rate dipped to 5.5 percent from 7.5 percent in the year ago period.

Originally posted here:
First of Archstone Santa Clarita's 157 townhome units to rent next spring

The story of Jesus Christ's final days is one of betrayal, sacrifice and blood.

But amid the mourning, many Christians see the week leading up to Easter as a time to focus on the magnitude of Christ's sacrifice and his promise of eternal life. The darkness of his final days helps underscore the power of his resurrection and make the celebration of Easter that much more joyous, they say.

Starting today, congregations in the Boulder area mark Holy Week with special contemplative prayers, dedicated hymns and re-enactments of milestones outlined in the Bible. Major events can include detailed Palm Sunday rituals, dramatic re-creations of Christ's teachings or silent prayer in darkened sanctuaries.

"Holy Week is the summation of Jesus' ministry that ends in a tragic outcome. Nearly everyone abandons him, and he ends up dying the death of a criminal -- a very disgraceful death," said Father Ted Howard, of St. John's Episcopal Church. "But he gives his life on behalf of what he stands for in terms of his teachings. He gives his love for all of us."

For a group of five churches near Pine Street, Holy Week traditions are a community affair.

To evoke the feeling of what it might have been like to live during the time of Christ, the churches stage an annual Palm Sunday re-enactment of Christ's journey into Jerusalem. Several hundred congregants line Pine Street, ready to lay down palm branches as church members lead a live donkey down the street.

Palm Sunday is the first day of Holy Week, which marks the day Christ rode a donkey into Jerusalem before his trial and execution. The scriptures tell the story of his arrival, where people celebrated his presence by laying down cloaks and palm branches in his path as a sign of respect.

Members of First Baptist Church, First Congregational Church, First United Methodist Church, Trinity Lutheran Church and St. John's Episcopal Church usually participate in the event before making their way back to their own churches for individual worship. An interdenominational choir leads the event with songs such as "All Glory, Laud and Honor," a processional hymn that describes the events of Palm Sunday.

Bob Ballance, a senior pastor at First Baptist Church, said Holy Week and Easter have a special meaning for him because of the element of redemption.

"Through Jesus' suffering, we learn how to make the world and society better," he said at a previous year's procession.

Read the rest here:
Holy Week inspires local Christians

COSTA MESA Wheels churning, a Gradall crane hoists a prefabricated wall into the air and positions it in place at the corner of a concrete slab.

Framers Sergio Torres and Chris Wagstaff level the wall, secure it with nail guns, then move on to the next panel.

Numbers scrawled across the slab show the position for each corresponding wall panel, stacked to the side of what will soon be a 2,016-square-foot house on the corner of a residential Costa Mesa street. Each comes with windows, plumbing and wiring in place, waiting to be unfurled and connected.

Watch a video of a house being built the new way.

The workers follow a choreographed plan, erecting a new wall every seven minutes. Each panel fits over pipes protruding from the concrete, snapping into place like jigsaw puzzle pieces.

In just over 11/2 hours, they have set up nearly half the walls and positioned the first roof section into place.

"It's like Lego kits," said a beaming Eric VanDerHeyden, executive vice president for the builder, RSI Development of Newport Beach. "What's cool about this is, at the end of the day, the whole first floor will be framed out, including the interior walls.

"What we do in a day would normally take seven to 10 days."

The Costa Mesa house one of two RSI is building at Santa Ana Avenue and 22nd Street is the latest home to be built by the successful cabinet maker-turned-homebuilder.

As producer of kitchen and bath cabinets sold by Home Depot, Lowes and homebuilders throughout the West, company founder Ron Simon wanted to find a way to make homes affordable for working people like those on his assembly lines.

See the rest here:
From ground to roof, home raised in 3 days

During the Industrial Revolution, humans moved out of rural areas and into the cities, where it was easier to access factory jobs.

This influx of people caused rapid and drastic changes in the way cities were designed. As ground space was eaten up, residential and commercial skyscrapers emerged as a way for builders to maximize their real estate.

What would happen if, instead of building thousands of feet up into the sky, we developed a smarter design that allowed us to retain our connection to the natural world?

Well, that's just the question a team of French designers hoped to answer with their "Flat Tower" design, a second place winner in the 2011 eVolo skyscraper competition.

Although the construction of skyscrapers has been an architectural solution for high-density urban areas for almost a century, it has also produced some rather negative side-effects: green spaces, trees, and in some cases, sunlight have become hard to find in big cities. Skyscrapers destroy the skyline, block out the sun, and disrupt the infrastructure of a specific location.

The Flat Tower design is based on a medium-height dome structure that covers a large area while preserving its beauty and previous function. The dome is perforated with cell-like skylights that provide direct sunlight to the agricultural fields and recreational spaces located inside.

"The dome's large surface area is perfect to harvest solar energy and rainwater collection. Community recreational facilities are located at ground level while the residential and office units are in the upper cells," writes the design team.

"An automated transportation system connects all the units, which are different shapes according to their program. It is also possible to combine clusters of cells to create larger areas for different activities."

* Beth Buczynski, EarthTechling

Excerpt from:
Architects design the anti-skyscraper

BUILDING PERMITS

Boulder

Building construction permits over $10,000 in value that were approved in Boulder between March 19 and March 25, 2012. Listed below are: the case number; address; total project valuation; owner name; contractor (if applicable); and description.

PMT2012-00751; 401 Pine St.; $436,718.94; Robert and Elana Katz; Significant remodel of all four levels of existing single-family residence. Remodel of the existing 1985 addition and reconfiguration of existing internal stairways, which results in an increase of approximately 39 square feet to the existing non-compliant FAR. Addition of new (non-FAR) square footage in the basement under the proposed exterior deck for an additional 588 square feet below grade. Proposal also reflects a reduction in building coverage of 254 square feet. See HIS2011-00273 and ADR2012-00042.

PMT2012-00834; 4680 Ludlow St.; $122,874.54; Sarah Sager; Remodel of existing finished basement and the main floor of a one-story single-family dwelling, which includes the conversion of the existing attached one-car garage to living space on the main level. No new floor area of building coverage proposed.

PMT2011-04449; 3293 Ouray St.; $475,000; North Boulder; Coast To Coast Residential Development; Construction of a duplex -- addresses of 3293 Ouray St. and 3775 Ridgeway St. Lot 27, Northfield Commons -- 4,024 square feet finished, 1,518 square feet in unfinished basements, 908 square feet in attached garages and 551 square feet in decks and porches. Each unit to have two full bathrooms, one powder room. 3375 Ridgeway to have one rough-in.

PMT2012-01205; 4720 Walnut St.; $120,000; Tierra Buildings; Rincon Development Inc.; Tenant remodel for technical office space, no new light or plumbing fixtures.

PMT2012-00735; 5010 Ingersoll Place; $15,127.77; Dawn Brandt and Douglas Peterman; Addition and remodel to existing single-family dwelling. Remodel of 132-square-foot kitchen, addition of 81-square-foot entryway. Relocation of plumbing fixtures.

PMT2012-00743; 1050 Walnut St., Suite 202; $86,659.44; Alecta Real Estate; Sand Construction; Tenant remodel for professional office for TechStars business incubator. Includes electrical and mechanical.

Excerpt from:
Boulder building permits: April 2, 2012

JACKSON TWP. - Residents of the Bulford Farms development in Jackson Township may soon get what they've been asking for since 2009: a public sewer connection to replace their septic systems.

An engineering study by the Quad 3 Group is complete, township supervisors and the Dallas Area Municipal Authority gave their stamp of approval, and the project was bid out.

But a new sewer system serving only 19 properties in the upscale development isn't cheap - it comes with a price tag of $527,135, from low bidder Doli Construction Corp. The project's high bidder came in at $718,200. Property owners will have to pay at least $22,765 for their share of the installation costs and at least another $3,000 for a lateral line to their homes. Some need to add $4,000 more to install a grinder pump.

At the request of residents, Jackson Township officials and the Dallas Area Municipal Authority have agreed to extend a public sewer system from neighboring Sutton Hills into the Bulford Farms development.

Most of the 19 residents are in favor of the project, due to one failing septic system and the belief that connecting to the sewer will increase property values.

Tom Nardone, who owns two two-acre properties in Bulford Farms, agrees the price tag is steep - and he has to pay it twice.

"I kind of won the lottery on that," he joked.

But he's willing to pay it. Noting that he's not a real estate agent, he said, "Putting in a sewer system I think adds value, as opposed to putting in a septic."

On the other hand, two residents, John Magagna and Mary Dockeray, each of whom has a property on Oldfield Road, aren't on board.

Dockeray said she doesn't oppose the project: "Who wouldn't want sewers?" she said.

Read the original:
Jackson Twp. sewer project questioned

Do you have a great front porch?

Remember when life was simpler and people sat out on their front porches in the evening?

They visited with neighbors, maybe shared a cold drink, listened to the radio, or played a game.

Do you have a great front porch where you hang out in the summer?

We'd like to hear your front porch tales.

Contact Sharon Roznik at the Reporter at 907-7936 or sroznik@fdlreporter.com.

Fond du Lac City Council has voted unanimously to allow digital billboards to be erected at three sites in Fond du Lac, including two locations on South Main Street and one on West Scott Street.

To install digital billboards, NextMedia Outdoor Inc., based in De Pere, must remove others that are located in residential neighborhoods or other inappropriate areas.

Ten existing billboards will come down as part of the agreement.

Installation of the new billboards would occur in six to eight weeks.

Read this article:
Local Briefs

In the past few years, dozens of property/casualty insurers have announced innovative protections for risks involving new technologies, current economic concerns, personal and family relationships, home-based small businesses, and more.

This is a new era in property/casualty insurance. Innovation is breaking out all over, said Roger Hurtvig, president of the Insurance Innovation Institute (III) in Warwick, Rhode Island.

The P/C industry has a reputation of being slow to embrace new ideas but the IIIs own measure of innovation the P/C New Products Index has been rising steadily for the past year and hit a record high of 75 out of a possible 100 points last month.

It seems that with every day comes a new idea, Hurtvig said. The new products are anchored in traditional insurance principles but they speak to a new generation of risks. Its very exciting.

So what are some of these new ideas that have put the industrys unhip reputation at risk? Insurance Journal searched the database at http://www.MyNewMarkets.com to find the Top 10 Most Innovative P/C Insurance Products:

1. Pay-As-You-Park: Private passenger auto policy from Progresso. Rates are based on how long the vehicle is not driven. Policyholders are sent a small white box that attaches to the front drivers side wheel. The box contains a meter that is loaded with an initial estimated premium. The box calculates premium discounts for every 15 minutes the vehicle is parked but adds surcharges for every 15 minutes the vehicle is in motion. Pay-As-You-Dock boat policy also available.

2. GreenMaker: R.W. Barkley is selling a product liability policy for home or garage-based businesses that manufacture cosmetics, clothing, jewelry, toys, computers or other products using primarily recycled, upcycled, natural or organic materials.

3. Commercial Specific Liability (CSL): A low-cost option to the Commercial General Liability (CGL), the CSL lets business owners specify the exposures they want covered. The final ISO form is not expected until December but some examples of actions expected to be covered include: nailing into a water pipe, electrical wiring or cable; causing a fall due to the failure to warn of water, change in elevation (a step), or intoxication; and releasing a pollutant that the insured did not bring to the job site.

4. Vanishing Coverage: A multi-year package policy from Hubb Insurance available only to owners of high-end coastal properties and antique autos. The premium is lowered by the same amount the deductible is raised each year until the deductible reaches the policy limit or the premium hits zero, whichever happens first.

5. Home Business Interruption Protection (HBIP): Revelers Insurance has a business interruption policy for any service business conducted from the home, from hackers and day traders to massage therapists and insurance agents. Covers loss of Internet connection, telephone service, daycare, HVAC as well as refrigerator breaks.

Link:
Special Report: Top 10 Innovative P/C Insurance Products

All of the telltale features of a classic midcentury house were there: the clean, geometric lines; extensive use of clerestory windows and walls of glass; and tongue-and-groove wood ceilings, the planking of which extends seamlessly from interior to exterior.

Somewhat shrouded by years of neglect, those features and many more were nonetheless apparent to the pros at Bee Renovated, the firm that rehabbed the residence at 315 Vassar Ave. in Kensington. On the market for $1.185 million, the five-bedroom home just received a complete facelift from the company, which is known for its detailed renovations of vintage properties.

On the market for the first time, the home was built in 1953 for University of California Berkeley Professor Bernard Etcheverry. A civil engineer, Etcheverry was involved with the design of the Greek Theatre, and those familiar with the Berkeley campus will recognize his namesake building, Etcheverry Hall.

The Kensington property has remained in the hands of one Etcheverry family member or another since its completion. And why not? The large, comfortable residence is located on an expansive double lot, situated to allow Golden Gate and bay views through its banks of windows. Those windows, combined with multiple sliding glass doors, help create the indoor-outdoor aesthetic so key to midcentury home design.

In fact, along with the home's history, it was such details that initially attracted Bee Renovated to the project, the company's most recent. Bee Renovated is the innovation of interior designer Sean Gaston Steer and contractor Jim Jewell, who are partners in both business and life.

"The thing that really attracted us was the fact that the house had been built for Bernard Etcheverry, him being an engineer and his connection to Cal Berkeley," Gaston Steer said. "We knew it had to be an architecturally great home.

"Over the years it had gone into disrepair and was neglected. All of the original features were there, though, which is what we love to find. We were able to honor the original architecture and update it for modern lifestyles of today."

For example, Gaston Steer explained, kitchens back then were really functional as opposed to being part of the entertainment aspect of the house. In this case, the kitchen was closed off and located at the back of the home, completely isolated.

"That poor kitchen was hidden back there all by itself, and now it's just open and grand and bright," Gaston Steer said. "It's now part of the party."

Starting with great architecture makes their job easier, according to Gaston Steer. From there, a project's focus is preservation, restoration and updating while maintaining the historical integrity of the original design. To that end, Gaston Steer spent a lot of time finding vintage fixtures and trim pieces to stay true to the period.

Originally posted here:
Classic midcentury modern home receives an extensive makeover

Posted: Apr. 1, 2012 | 2:04 a.m.

Here is a listing of events designed for book lovers. Information is subject to change or cancellation without notice. Additions or changes to this listing must be submitted at least 10 days in advance of Sunday publication to Bookmark, Las Vegas Review-Journal, P.O. Box 70, Las Vegas, NV 89125. For more information, call 383-0306.

SIGNINGS

John A. Andres will sign "Rude Buay ... the Untouchable, Vol. II" at 1 p.m. Thursday and 11 a.m. Friday at Barnes & Noble, 2191 N. Rainbow Blvd.

Kelle Groom will do a short reading and sign copies of "I Wore the Ocean in the Shape of a Girl" at 2 p.m. Saturday at Barnes & Noble, 2191 N. Rainbow Blvd.

EVENTS

Clark County Library, 1401 E. Flamingo Road, will host the Spring Fling Book Fair featuring local and regional authors, lectures and workshops 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday. Autograph sessions will be 11 a.m.-1 p.m. and 2-4 p.m. Admission is free (507-3458).

The Amazing Reads Book Club meets at 5:30 p.m. the fourth Tuesday of each month at West Charleston Library, 6301 W. Charleston Blvd.

Book Lovers' Bistro meets at 5:30 p.m. the second Tuesday of each month at Whitney Library, 5175 E. Tropicana Ave.

The Brown Bag Book Club meets at 11a.m. the second Thursday of the month at the Laughlin Library, 2840 S. Needles Highway.

Here is the original post:
Bookmark: Signings And Events