A veteran Washington, D.C., developer has raised financing for a speculative office building project near Fords Theater with a $44.5 million construction loan and $9 million obtained through a federal program that allots visas to foreigners who invest in U.S. development projects.

Douglas Development Corp. has already started building the 93,000 square foot tower at 1000 F Street. The building is considered speculative because Douglas is moving ahead with very little preleasing. So far, it has done only one deal, with American Eagle Outfitters for the buildings retail space.

But Douglas, which has extensive experience with projects in that neighborhood, is betting it will have little trouble filling the space with nonprofit agencies, government affairs offices of major corporations and other tenants, says Norman Jamal, a principal with the firm. Many of the tenants are likely to be in the 6,500 square foot to 10,000 square foot range. Those folks dont typically prelease, Mr. Jamal said.

Construction financing for speculative projects remains difficult to obtain these days, even though the commercial real estate market has been steadily recovering. Still, Douglas got a $44.5 million three-year construction loan from United Bank of West Virginia with a rate of 4% and two one-year extension options.

Douglas was able to pull it off partly because the developer has worked with the bank in the past, according to Joe Donato, who led a team from NGKF Capital Markets that arranged the construction financing. Also, he said: Douglas has a tremendous presence in Washington.

Douglas also sold $9 million in preferred equity to foreigners participating in the so-called EB-5 program. Started 24 years ago, the program gives U.S. visas to people who invest at least $500,000 in development projects that create a specified number of jobs.

Mr. Jamal said holders of the preferred equity will be paid an interest rate of below 5%, which he described as extremely inexpensive for the developer. This was the first time that Douglas raised financing through the EB-5 program, but probably not last. Were actually working on another project right now that were planning to use EB-5 on, he said.

Douglas, which currently manages 9 million square feet of space, plans to finish the 11-story building at 1000 F Street in the third quarter of 2016.

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Douglas Taps United Bank, EB-5 To Finance Spec Office Project

Monday, January 12, 2015, 12:09pm

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Office-To-Residential Conversion Proposed In Brighton

Krista Bennett was excited to move into her first home. After years of renting bad apartments, knowing she and her family had a nice place of their own was a relief.

But when she stepped close to the wall in her sons bedroom while moving a bureau a few days after moving in, her foot sank through the floor and her joy sank with it. She suddenly couldnt envision much beyond money flying out of the bank for repairs.

It was pretty discouraging, she said. I was ticked off.

A tub in an adjacent bathroom had been leaking and rotted through the floor in the bathroom, into the wall and into 6-year-old Nicholas bedroom.

All I had to do was push with my hand and it went right through.

Bennett was angry.

I immediately called the lawyer to see what could be done.

But, since the contract was signed and the house closed on, it was out of the lawyers hands.

By the time Bennett had the tub, flooring, Sheetrock and tile replaced, she had spent thousands of dollars.

The popularity of home renovation reality shows makes it seem like budget-breaking disasters are made for TV, but they happen in real life, too.

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If these walls could talk: Homeowners discover houses hidden dirty secrets

CALDWELL (AP) | Long before Idaho wines began earning national recognition and before the Sunnyslope region of Caldwell was dotted with vineyards and tasting rooms, the Symms family got into the wine-making business.

Forty years later, the winery they started, Ste. Chapelle, produces about 130,000 cases of wine each year, which leads Idaho wineries in both production and sales.

Ste. Chapelle is now owned by the Seattle-based Precept Wine, and it's in the process of getting a makeover for its 40th birthday.

The winery's octagonal-shaped tasting room, which is modeled after the 13th century La Sainte-Chapelle in Paris, is undergoing renovations that began last year and are expected to be complete in February, according to Heidi Witherspoon, Precept communications director.

This summer, a new deck was installed that seats up to 150 people and overlooks Lizard Butte and the Snake River. A two-tier boulder rock wall creation was also installed by Blue Ribbon Landscaping.

The 1,800-square-foot upstairs banquet room was updated with wood-textured vinyl flooring, new paint, a new upstairs service bar and a new service kitchen. A clear railing was installed over the windows to let more light in and to open the room to the outdoors.

Work began Monday on the main level tasting room, which will get new restrooms, flooring and a new tasting bar. There will also be in-room seating for up to 40 people with new tables, sofas and cafe-style seating.

Michael Kuhn of K Remodel is the general contractor for the project.

There will be no public retail operations through Jan. 15, and the main level tasting room will be closed until mid-February while construction is taking place. Wine tasting will resume in the upstairs banquet room beginning Jan. 16.

Winemaker Maurine Johnson has been with Ste. Chapelle for 27 years and has been the head winemaker for three years.

Continue reading here:
Ste. Chapelle Tasting Room Gets New Look

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The Board of Education for Tri County Technology Center met Thursday evening and approved several items including a replacement roof for the centers Osage Room and Osage Annex as well as a new marketing plan for the school.

According to Eric Randall, TCTCs director of physical plant services, the roof over the Osage Room and Annex is approximately 30 years old, and in recent years the roof has started to leak.

Were looking at approximately 7,800 square feet of roofing that has outlived its usefulness. We have been planning to have this expense for several years now, and the roof is in a condition now where it is leaking in spots and a patch job would not solve the problem, he said.

Randall said he expects the project to cost between $80,000 to $100,000 to replace. After discussion, the board approved action to re-roof the Osage Room and Annex and to begin negotiations to hire architect Dan Keleher to design and oversee the project.

In other business, TCTC Chief Marketing Officer and Director of Human Resources Tiffany Bruce presented a plan to the Board of Education to change the marketing angle and plan for TCTC.

According to Bruce, the marketing committee held a focus group to discuss how the technology school can better identify itself in the community. Based on the focus group, a new marketing plan and logo was discussed. According to the proposal, the name of the center would be shortened from Tri County Technology Center to simply Tri County Tech.

Bruce said a new logo is in the design phase and would be available for marketing purposes towards the end of February 2015. According to Bruce, the model mirrors those of other CareerTech centers throughout the state, citing names like Tulsa Tech and Moore-Norman Tech.

Following discussion the board voted to approve the new marketing plan. TCTCs Board of Education next meets on Feb. 12.

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TCTC board approves new roof, new name

MediaCityUKs digital enterprise hub has added analogue testing facilities to it's state-of-the-art labs, to check internet usage on retro equipment.

The SPACE Interactive Media Labs, at The Landing, are some of the most sophisticated user-experience facilities in the UK.

But the newest installation allows advanced testing for any type of broadband connectivity - including both analogue and fibre-optic.

Jon Parker, Director of the SPACE labs said: "Every brand or service provider today needs to be offering a seamless, high quality and consistent user experience and despite the increasing roll-out of high speed fibre connections in the UK, millions of homes and businesses are still set to utilise analogue connections for many years to come.

"This means whether a user is streaming VOD content to a Smart TV, running apps on a tablet or enjoying a multi-player game via a console, theres still a very good chance theyll be accessing the content over copper wiring.

"Therefore broadcasters, software developers and other digital content providers need to be able to ensure that their latest technologies can be delivered successfully over any type of connection.

"It is now entirely possible to test a mobile companion app, alongside a live broadcast via set-top box in order to capture authentic user insight. It is this insight which used correctly mitigates the risk of producing a brand damaging, inferior user experience.

"This is where SPACE Labs come in by offering current, future and now retro-fitted old connectivity.

As many users still access their broadband via ADSL there is an increased demand for services to be tested over copper and analogue networks.

In 2013 The Office for National Statistics reported that 45 per cent of UK households still accessed the ASDL and other digital services via DSL infrastructure delivered usually over telephone lines.

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Retro testing facilities installed at The Landing