Upgraded facilities at Morrison Bay Park in Putney have been officially opened with a special three on -three community basketball event held on the weekend.

WNBL star player Brittany Smart was on hand for the official opening along with members of theSydney Thunder cricket team and Inner West Bulls bas ketball team.

The extensive upgrades include a number of new and improved outdoor recreation facilities, such as.

A new two -thirds basketball courtAdditional cricket netsOutdoor fitness equipmentNew pedestrian footpathsNew p edestrian lightingNew access ramps to and from the existing footbridge

The upgrades were undertaken by the City of Ryde, with funding assistance from the StateGovernments Stronger Communities Fund.

City of Ryde Mayor, Clr Jerome Laxale, said the new and improved facilities were part of the City ofRydes commitment to provide more outdoor recreational opportunities for the entire community.

The upgrades mean Morrison Bay Park now has first -class outdoor equipment and sportinginfrastructure that is supported by a 1.3 kilometre fitness trail. In addition, the new pedestrian lightingalong the existing foreshore and eastern footpaths will encourage more people to use the park duringthe evening, Clr Laxale said.

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New facilities officially opened at Morrison Bay Park - Mirage News

A woman must have, Virginia Woolf famously wrote, money and a room of her own. But when youve got a house full of kids, you work from home or you share a flat, itcan be hard to carve out your ownspace. Which is why women areincreasingly colonising what has, traditionally, been an exclusively male domain: the garden shed.

There are a range of monikers, fromthe fairly awful-sounding she shed, which has nearly 110,000 posts on Instagram (a number which has grown20per cent in the past six months), to the no better fem-den. But whatever you call it, a shed that has been transformed with the feminine touch, rather than being just a space to store tools or shelter a chap listening to his wireless and avoiding chores, is growing in popularity.

The rise in the number of women wanting to transform their sheds is certainly gaining interest and popularity, with platforms such as Pinterest and Instagram providing inspiration, says Marcus Eyles, horticultural director atDobbies Garden Centres.

More and more, we are seeing that the garden is being considered a fifth room and an extension of our living space, and so more thought and planning is going into designs, styling and accessories.

Kirsty Wark, the broadcaster and author, is among those who retire to hershed (although she describes it as a summerhouse, really). She has posted a picture on Instagram of her shed at her Glasgow home, styled with a striped deck chair and a table lamp made from an upcycled Harris Gin bottle, calling it a luxury.

Its a quite separate space from the house, but beside it, she says. It affords a quite different view of the garden, which is endlessly fascinating. I read and write in there, and sit in the evening with a drink. Its the combination of a work and meditative and conversation place.

Similarly, Farrah Storr, the glamorous editor of Elle magazine, put a picture of her beautiful sky-blue painted shed at the bottom of her garden in Kent on social media, with its pair of matching bay trees flanking the door. It is, she says, a place she goes to write in peace.

Storr and Wark are not the only oneslooking for a touch of luxury atthe bottom of the garden. We are finding that more and more of our female clients are asking us to design cosy covered seating areas, summerhouses and she sheds that enable theirgarden to be used all year, says landscape gardener Victoria Wade.

If youre looking for an instant fix,there are a number of ready-made options on the market. Inspired by the idea of a space to read in peace, I spent a morning putting up a snug Dobbies shed with a lean-to for the logs for my non-existent wood burner.

But there are fancier options with more significant price tags. Take the National Trusts Crane Blickling sheds, inspired by outbuildings on Trust land in East Anglia and made by craftspeople in Norfolk, which start from 2,699, or the Gardener modular shed from The Posh Shed Company, from 970.

For something really spectacular, and when the budget is limitless, lookto Lady Anne Fields specially commissioned artists studio at her Grade II listed country home in southDevon. The wooden structure was designed by architects Mark Hoare and Charles Morris to blend into the estates landscape.

How you incorporate your shed into the garden matters, as you might be looking at it every day from the kitchen window. Some buildings are best recessive and tucked away, background buildings, whereas others might want to be focal and centre of attention, Hoare explains.

Its important to think about how it will be used, and where a new structure should sit in terms ofahierarchy of other buildings inthegarden landscape. Materialswhich weather and mellow over time will naturally settle into a garden setting and so are usually safe bets.

Almost any structure can be made tolook more polished with a lick of paint. You can be a little more creative in colours and styles than you may be in the main house, Eyles advises.

In an attempt to make my shedlookmore like Derek Jarmans Prospect Cottage in Dungeness, Kent, Ive painted it black (I recommend Sandtex 10-year exterior paint, which only needs one coat).

One easy hack that designers use as a flourish is to paint the window frames and doors a contrasting colour to the body of the shed in tonal shades. Try shades such as Acorn and Windmill Lane exterior paints from Little Greene, two muted and complementary shades of green.

Hoare adds that encouraging plants to climb over buildings also helps to soften their impact and blur the lines between hard and soft. Wark strung up outdoor lights around her roof edge, and they are intertwined with clematis.

Slapping some paint on inside, too, helps a shed feel like a retreat rather than just a storage space; Wark painted the walls and ceiling of hers with some leftover white paint from an interiors project, so I followed suit.

Depending on the sheds intended function, youll need furniture: either a big table or work bench for creative endeavours or comfy chairs for relaxing and reading.

Wark says she added in two striped steamer chairs I brought home from our place in Mallorca, and installed an oil radiator that looks quite vintage (although its actually from B&Q). To cover the floor, Wark fitted a piece of artificial turf. Alternatively, you can try an outdoor rug; look for ones made from recycled plastic bottles, such as from Weaver Green.

Running electricity from your house to your shed can be quite easy, Ive found, but armoured cabling is key. This means you can play around with lighting: a table lamp will set a cosy tone. If you can fit a log-burning stove in your shed, youll barely need to leave. The British company Vesta Stoves has a wood burner called the Log Cabin Stove designed for just such a small space, for 1,100.

Once the feminine atmosphere is set, it might be time to let the men back in to show them what theyre missing out on. Wark says that her husband, Alan is welcome to join her for conversations, as well as to smoke the odd cigar. But I think I might keep mine to myself.

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Forget the 'man cave', this is the year women are taking over garden sheds - Telegraph.co.uk

Check out this gorgeous, LUXURY MODEL HOME in the North Gate Development of The Gates of Saint John, brought to you by TG Development! The beauty is in the DETAILS. This model home features 4 beds, 2.5 baths, and 2400 square feet with a full unfinished basement. The grand entry offers tall ceilings, custom wood beams, beautiful wainscoting, and a high-end lighting fixture which leads into the grand, OPEN CONCEPT Kitchen/Living/Dining area. The kitchen offers a MASSIVE island, floor-to-ceiling white cabinetry, SS appliances, stainless farm style sink, oiled rubbed bronze hardware, LUXURY granite counters, and much more. There is also an in-eat in dining area. The great room features a gorgeous fireplace, amazing BUILT-INS, and double trey ceiling. The MASTER SUITE offers double walk-ins, and a HIGH END PRIVATE BATH. The bath has a double vanity, white marble finishes, FREE STANDING TUB, and glass shower. There are too many features of this home to mention. It is a MUST SEE.

View Listing

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19 of the Most Expensive Homes for Sale in Northwest Indiana - nwitimes.com

A trio of Kamloops companies are finalists in the Canadian Home Builders Association National Awards of Excellence.

WD Wedgewood Developments Inc., along with Custom Spaces by Cristalee and Motivo Design Group Inc., are finalists for the project Devils in the Detail in the category of Detached Homes, Custom, 2,500 to 3,500 square feet.

The Kamloops trio is up against Alloy Homes Incorporated of Calgary, Archia Development Ltd. of West Vancouver, Artista Homes of Oak Bluff, Man. and Vancouver Development of Vancouver.

The Canadian Home Builders Association National Awards of Excellence recognize the best in Canadian new homes, home renovations, community development and marketing. More than 700 entries were received from coast to coast, from small towns and large urban areas. Nearly 200 judges reviewed images, floor plans and project description before narrowing down the field.

Winners in 42 categories will be announced at the April 3 gala in Banff, Alta.

When you look at these finalists, its amazing to see the variety of architectural styles being incorporated into residential housing in Canada today, CHBA CEO Kevin Lee said. Whether a home is built by a developer in a thriving new community or is a custom renovation done by a small family-run business, these projects showcase the pride we have in our industry.

Categories represent the full spectrum of Canadian homes: low-rise houses, high-rise apartments and homes built for ownership or rental purposes.

This year, a new category was added: the Entry-Level Home Affordability Award.

More information is online at chba.ca.

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Three Kamloops firms eye national award - Kamloops This Week

GREAT VALLEY As plans for a potential sewer district project in Kill Buck continue coming together, the Great Valley Town Board recently held a second public hearing explaining more of the projects development and what is to come.

The potential $3.37 million project would see a sewer system built on the north side of Route 417 from the Great Valley Creek east to Hardscrabble Road that would take the sewage, grind it up and pump it to a nearby Salamanca pump station.

Weve been working for almost two years to get as much information as we can to go after as much grant money as we can to make this system feasible, Town Supervisor Dan Brown said.

At the boards Feb. 10 meeting, Caleb Henning of MDA Engineers said they have spent several months preparing a report based on a study in the Kill Buck area for the project.

We identified an area to study because of the failing septic systems and the need for a solution to address those problems, he said. The projects area includes about 100 homes and several businesses on Route 417 and portions of Kill Buck, Hardscrabble and Halsaver roads.

Funding for the study only covered the portion of Kill Buck not located on Seneca Nation Territory primarily south of Route 417, Henning explained. He said a future project could include properties on Nation territory, but the report is only based on land off territory.

The pipe could stay on the north side and one or two connections could be made to service everybody, he said. The study showed that much of the soil is not ideal for septic systems, which is why many are failing and would be difficult to replace, Henning said.

The project would include laying pipe and hooking into the houses and businesses and installing a grinder pump at each property to process and move the sewage towards Salamanca to the pump station.

The capital cost would be funded through a zero percent, 30-year loan, Henning said. Breaking that down, that comes up to an estimated first-year cost of $1,012 per year per user. Thats a very high cost, and thats not going to be feasible with only a zero percent loan. You still have to add operation and maintenance onto that.

Once built, the project would cost about $61,200 a year to operate and maintain, Henning said, which would be divided among the property owners, in addition to the initial capital cost.

It really ends up being $1,500 to $1,600 per year per user, which is some of the highest costs Ive ever seen in my experience, he said. Henning said a target charge would be about $950.

The other two project alternatives MDA Engineers developed cost $3.5 million for a gravity collection system and $4.4 million for a septic tank collection system, Henning said.

TO HELP OFFSET costs, the town board is pursuing some grants that could cover a large portion and lower the residents bills as much as possible.

This report does identify a project that doesnt seem feasible, but it also gives a document to use to apply for funding to make it more cost-effective, he added.

For the planning process, Catherine Rees, a water resources specialist with RCAP Solutions, said the town held meetings with Salamanca and Seneca Nation officials, communicated with the state Department of Housing, submitted the applications for preliminary planning and held a public hearing for the study.

Last year there was a hearing that said youre looking to get money and the decision was made that you would spend it on the study, she said. This is the required second public hearing that says what is the result of that money you spent.

During the preliminary design phase, Rees said the town selected MDA as its engineering firm, which developed the district boundary map for the project. She said those designs and the results of the study were sent to various entities including the Department of Agriculture, SHPO, SEQR and DEC as well as the Seneca Nation.

Because youre so close to the Seneca Nation, my concern is if theres going to be tribal concerns, she said. You are staying off the reservation, but youre only across the road, so we dont know historically if there are any artifacts or anything theyd be concerned about.

Now that the projects preliminary design process is nearly complete, Rees said the town will begin looking and applying for various funding sources. A major aspect of getting the funding will be an income survey, which had begun last year but with little feedback from households in the sewer district.

There is one funding agency in particular if you want to even be eligible to apply, and it would be up to a million-dollar grant, we have to get a good response on this survey, she said.

Rees said some additional funding applications are due in a few months, but without enough residents submitting the survey to RCAP Solutions, the town wont get the grants and the project costs wont be funded. A second mailing was sent out earlier this month, she said.

This second round, we need more, Brown said. This is really dependent on the more income surveys (RCAP Solutions) gets back.

Were looking to keep trying with all the funding sources until you can get to that level, and it might take a couple of years, she said. Until you get the funding, youre not going to go to final design.

Henning said other options to offset cost include negotiating with the city of Salamanca to come up with a mutually agreeable treatment cost and bringing more homes and businesses into the district, particularly along Route 417.

If the system is there, the potential for growth is much greater than what were seeing right now, Brown said.

Henning said if the south side of Route 417 were to hook into the system in the future, the pipes would have enough capacity to handle the extra amount of sewer, and more property owners in the system would help pay for the costs.

(Contact Salamanca Press editor Kellen Quigley at kquigleysp@gmail.com)

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$3.37 million Kill Buck sewer project in need of grant funding - Olean Times Herald

Sib Ir, the sleeping land, as the Tatar people called it, holds in the taiga a rolling blanket of pine, spruce and fir and on a scale only matched on these birds flights by the stretches of Australian deserts. Each expanse is nearly desolate of towns and highways. They are natural landscapes, but hostile to shorebirds. Replenished on the rim of the industrialised world, the plover leave that imprint behind and fly into the wild. As they travel, daylight grows longer. Through whatever darkness they encounter, Polaris, the North Star, stands ever higher above them, as do the Earths magnetic field lines. Each is a navigation tool they recognise.

CYA turns north-east over the taiga near the Sea of Okhotsk. Flying on for several days, she crosses CYBs path as their flocks thread the 3000-metre Verkhoyansk and Chersky mountain ranges, ramparts of the Russian Far East. The birds of a hot Australian summer coast now overfly unmelted snow cover on these mountains for hundreds of kilometres. They traverse deciduous larch forests, greening with the spring as the altitude lowers, and then fading away further north before the polar winds onslaught into treeless tundra. Dicing now with the thaw, the two birds halt near the coast of the Arctic Sea. Their flight lines, begun in far distant southern Australia, now sing of home.

At Thompson Beach, SA, a shorebird-marking team member holds the Grey Plover leg-flagged CYB. Credit:Eric Miller

CYA alights on a mosaic of spongy sphagnum bogs and pools divided by low ridges, inland and south of the Arctic Seas New Siberian Islands. The closest human habitation is the small village of Yukagir, 100 kilometres to the north-east on the frozen shore of the Laptev Sea.

The Yukaghir people, ancient Indigenous hunters and reindeer herders of the Kolyma River region, are animists. In their world, "persons" can take a variety of different animal forms, of which a human being is only one.

Now much reduced, the Yukaghir once lived across lowland tundra and into the forests across thousands of kilometres from the Lena River to the Pacific coast. Those still living traditionally hunt birds like the hen-sized ptarmigan, ducks, geese and swans. Probably the greater danger to the shorebirds lies in Yukaghir reindeer herds. Browsing the tundra moss, these may step on nests and will relish a snack of an egg or unfledged chick.

CYB, having taken a more easterly bearing after crossing the mountains, first comes to ground inland and south of CYA. After a pause, CYB flies off to low-shrub moss tundra near the mouth of the Kolyma River, which drains most of eastern Siberia.

Across Kolyma Gulf at Ambarchik stands a ghostly relic of the 20th century. In the aeons of migratory bird history it is a mere wing flick, a transient curiosity. Its the decaying remains of a Soviet Gulag-era forced labour transit camp, a coastal port for prisoners before they were transported inland up the Kolyma. Today theres an automatic meteorological station at Ambarchik and its records show that a day or two after CYB lands, warm air from the south brings a sunny 22 degrees Celsius day, doubling the temperatures of the previous week.

The two Greys, depleted though they must be, do not stay to nest on this coast. A westerly wind blows up and as the enthralled Australian researchers watch the satellite tracks, first CYA and then, about a day later, CYB take flight again. They head out over hundreds of kilometres of Arctic Ocean ice to the unpeopled last home of the extinct Woolly Mammoth. Wrangel Island is their final destination.

So these two Grey Plover are birds of extreme shores. Their paths have been parallel, and each stretches from exactly the same place in the far south of Australia to its counterpart far north in the Arctic. Just as there is the Southern Ocean below South Australia, there is no land between Wrangel and the North Pole. In this way does the web of ultra-marathon shorebird travel bind us.

For CYA, the long jump from the Yellow Sea across Russia has been a sapping 6140 kilometres. CYB hints that she is more efficient, with a more conservative 4835-kilometre flight. Satellite fixes of these dates are inexact, but probably each landed around June 5 to 6. After flying separately all that way from the weedy shores of Thompson Beach, which they left months before, the two birds likely fold their wings at Wrangel within a day of each other.

Flocks of shorebirds take wing in the early morning on the Yellow Sea, China.Credit:Andrew Darby

To my greater amazement, only a few days earlier the island is released from the grip of snow. NASA Worldview satellite records show the land turning brown. What knowledge can these birds have that their unseen breeding ground, still surrounded by sea ice, will be ready for them?

Perhaps the summer air signal back on the Siberian shore was decisive. Maybe the birds have the confidence of evolution, of countless failures before success, implying an ingrained genetic judgement. Or are they programmed to dice with survival? In any case, this tracked journey is the first direct evidence of any bird from Australia ever flying to Wrangel, and powerfully shows the breakthrough that satellite telemetry gives to migratory bird science.

"This was one of the most memorable days in 40 years of wader migration studies in Australia," said Clive Minton, the inspiring leader of the Victorian Wader Studies Group for decades before his death late last year.

"Those Grey Plovers in South Australia, they were almost an accident," Minton reflected. "It was a second-choice bird. But science is like that. You ask a question, you get an answer to it. So you ask another question. If you are flexible and pragmatic, you can read the signs, you know which way to follow.

"And they gave us a wonderful ride. They kept going and stopping, going and stopping, and finally at the northern Siberian coast you think, Right, this is just where many others went. Then two or three days later, they tootle off to Wrangel Island! That, of course, is what lit this whole thing up."

It also lit me up. A journey to a place as distant and as hard to reach as Wrangel spoke for itself. I resolved to try to see it.

I found a small tour company that runs a few voyages to Wrangel late each summer in an icebreaker out of the Chukotkan port of Anadyr. The tour company agreed to give me a berth in return for newspaper travel stories if I could reach Anadyr. I booked to fly via Moscow, where the Russian shorebird science patriarch, Pavel Tomkovich, would see me. The reading of runes from satellite plots and weather data might be overtaken: this way I could have a ground truth at the nest.

About the same time of year that the Grey Plover began their flight from the Yellow Sea to Wrangel, just after I came back from China, I went to my city hospitals emergency department. The back pain I had put down to travelling on uncomfortable bus seats had intensified to take hold of my chest on the left side. I was cleared of heart attack and began taking antibiotics. Perhaps I might have a respiratory disease picked up in China.

A Black-bellied Plover nest at Woolley Lagoon, Alaska.Credit:Andrew Darby

A series of follow-up tests ruled out respiratory problems, and a blood clot, but led to the discovery of a small primary cancer at the top of my right lung. Then a truly terrifying positron emission tomography (PET) scan showed many secondaries. The largest was eating its way into my spine, sending nerve pain around my chest. They collectively shone inside my torso from groin to collarbone like baubles on a spectral Christmas tree. I was at stage four of lung cancer.

"Andrew, you have an incurable disease," the respiratory physician told me, as he showed the scan to me and my wife, Sally. "Statistically, you have 12 to 18 months," he said. "But no one is a statistic. Andrew, can you hear me? Can you hear me?"

I descended into a dark winter, falling for months into a haze of mortal pain and painkillers. If there was any time that I needed science to work for me, for hard-won life-giving data to be joined together, this was it.

I kept my sanity, thanks to Sallys love and the close kindness of many, while science began to answer my call. I thanked my luck to be living in a country of freely available first-class health care; near a city just big enough to have the best, but not so big as to have lost the collegial eye of personal medical networks. I was encouraged by medical friends to break a taboo and went straight to palliative care. Here my pain was managed with scientific diligence, finely balancing my needs with drugs. I anxiously waited for treatment against the cancer.

"Think about your birds," Sally said. And so for solace I sought them out. Through wakeful, fearful nights, I lay remembering the mesmerising flocks in the Yellow Sea. I reconstructed the flights I had seen; their living freedom. I rewound the ritual of their excited departures from Australia, calling to each other to gain shared strength, as they took off on 7000-kilometre flights north. Further back I went, to recall details of the catches at Thompson Beach, to the stillness in the human hand of the Grey Plover, those most wild, faraway birds.

Flight Lines by Andrew Darby.Credit:Allen & Unwin

I held onto my first sight of a Grey Plover, of a Peter Pan bird standing off from others in water near a sand bar at Thompson Beach, South Australia. There was always something in that moment of J.M. Barries story that resonated for me. Peter is a careless, mischievous boy. His power of flight is lost to injury and he stands on Marooners Rock as it submerges on a rising tide. With the water lapping around him, he is defiant, ambivalent; but decides: "To die will be an awfully big adventure." Then he is rescued by the Never Bird.

I looked to the profound migratory power of my bird, the Grey Plover, to inspire my survival.

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How a little bird's big flight gave me a new reason for living - The Sydney Morning Herald

Construction is set to begin this spring on an apartment building in downtown Rosemount that city officials say will drive more commercial growth in the area.

Ron Clark Construction and Design was given approval this month to redevelop Shenanigans Pub and the nearby Rosemount Plaza Shopping Center along Highway 3 into market-rate apartments. A second phase of the project will add about 4,000-square feet of retail space on the northeast part of the nearly three-acre site.

The project will cost between $25 million and $28 million to build and have an estimated taxable market of around $21 million, said Kim Lindquist, community development director.

The city has been told we need more rooftops to continue attracting commercial downtown, Lindquist said this week. The apartments bring more residents downtown and increases activity and vibrancy. This will benefit existing businesses and entice new businesses into our downtown.

The L-shaped, four-story apartment building will be among several new housing projects in downtown constructed in recent years, following the creation of a redevelopment plan. Others include Waterford Commons, Cambrian Commons senior housing, and the Steeple Center and adjoining senior living apartments.

To make the latest project work, the city council approved a $3.4 million tax-increment financing plan for the developer that will stretch over 25 years. With TIF, the developer will pay the incremental difference in taxes paid between the old site development and the new one.

A rendering of the four-story, 124-unit apartment project approved for Highway 3 in downtown Rosemount. (Courtesy of City of Rosemount)

A rendering of the four-story, 124-unit apartment project approved for Highway 3 in downtown Rosemount. (Courtesy of City of Rosemount)

A rendering of the four-story, 124-unit apartment project approved for Highway 3 in downtown Rosemount. (Courtesy of City of Rosemount)

A rendering of the four-story, 124-unit apartment project approved for Highway 3 in downtown Rosemount. (Courtesy of City of Rosemount)

They will use money for land write-down, demolition and utility improvements as redevelopment is more costly than greenfield development, Lindquist said.

The developer is required to have the retail project built by 2025.

Most of the project site was developed as a shopping center in 1962, which gave the community a retail boost and was robust for the next three decades or so. But as the retail landscape changed toward mega-malls and big-box retailers, small local shopping malls like Rosemount Plaza suffered.

Moreover, the center has seen minimal economic investment in recent years, leaving it in rough shape and making it difficult nearly impossible to bring it up to modern construction standards, according to Lindquist. Nowadays, the center includes Medic-Car Auto Repair, Chill Salon, The Guitar Shop and Divas & Denim Boutique.

Link:
Redevelopment plan to bring 124 apartments to downtown Rosemount - St. Paul Pioneer Press

KENNETT SQUARESo many people want to live in Kennett Square, developers are running out of space to build homes, businesses and restaurants.

"We are constantly getting building requests from developers," Kennett Square Matt Fetick told members of the Longwood Rotary Club this week. "Our borough codes department is staffed by three people and they have dozens upon dozens of applications sitting in front of them for rehabs and new construction and development. Our planning commission constantly hears from developers who want to build."

A real estate development company based in West Chester is building the Lofts, which will include nearly 100 high-end luxury apartments in the western section in the 600 block of West State Street, within easy distance of the downtown historic district. Work is also underway for a four-story, 175-unit luxury apartment complex on a 14.4-acre tract on Millers Hill Road, very close to the Kennett Area YMCA which includes underground parking. And construction will finish soon on Kennett Crossing, located at 753-754 West Cypress Street that includes 7,500 square feet of retail and office space.

In the past few years, Kennett Square has become known throughout the region as a destination town, with events like the Mushroom Festival, the Mushroom Drop, the Kennett Run, Brewfest, and many more. In fact, in the past five years, five brewpubs have popped up, and council even handcrafted an ordinance encouraging them.

According to official census figures, Kennett Square, which encompasses 1.1 square miles, is home to nearly 7,000 residents, but Fetick says it's closer to 12,000 due to undocumented citizens. The borough is entering its fifth year without a tax increase, boosted largely through income received by new construction.

Fetick said officials are at a point they have to balance whether they encourage more construction, which keeps tax hikes at bay and increases the tax base, or to turn it away and let residential homeowners pay more in taxes."

The Lofts, the latest development, will bring in significant tax revenue, Fetick said.

"The tax revenue alone from that development from the school district and the borough is more than twice per year what the last two tax increases were across the entire borough," Fetick said. "That's huge."

And there is still one huge chunk of land that, if developed, could necessitate the construction of a new school in the Kennett Consolidated School District. It's NVF.

The 27-acre NVF property off Mulberry Street has had environmental issues. At one time, the Nozesky junkyard was located next to NVF, or National Vulcanized Fibre. More than 20 years ago, more than 2,000 drums at the junkyard were dug up by the Environmental Protection Agency.

But remediation of the site should be finished sometime this year. Owner George Beer, the founder and president of the Delaware Valley Development Company, could sell it off to a developer.

"That single parcel makes up 18 percent of the entire borough mass," Fetick said. "One developer will control 18 percent of this town. That's a really big deal."

But it can't happen without borough council's approval. The land is zoned industrial, and would need to be rezoned.

"I expect to see mostly housing there," Fetick said. "I don't want to take traffic away from the center of town. The worst thing we can do is create another retail district in another part of town that may have perceived better parking, and downtown Main Street deteriorates."

At one time there was talk of a developer's interest to build 60 units of affordable senior housing to the site if concessions were granted by borough officials.

"I am passionate about senior housing and allowing seniors to age in place," Fetick said.

Developers are choosing to build high-end luxury apartments in Kennett Square because demand is high.

A recent marketing survey of 466 employees of Genesis, Chatham financial, Exelon and Kennett Consolidated School District, among others, found that living close to work is very important. And a majority said they would consider downsizing to a luxury, maintenance-free apartment.

"Everybody wants to build here," Fetick said.

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Kennett Square mayor: 'Everybody wants to build here' - Daily Local News

A gas station that has sat unused and derelict on the corner of 19th and South Van Ness for some 16 years has been razed. Next, a seven-story, 75-unit building will rise up in its place under the guidance of developer Joe Toboni.

Were just getting the site ready, said Toboni, who initially proposed the project some five years ago. Were doing demolition and going to assess the site.

He said construction will likely begin in earnest in the next 60 days.

Its great, Toboni said about getting started. In all these things you start out very energetic and ready to build right away, and as time goes on, we have a lot of different things happen and the market changes.

He said he expects the building to be completed within 18 to 20 months after construction begins. But on the phone, Toboni seemed more excited to talk about his affordable housing plan. The project includes a slim 11 below-market-rate units (14.7 percent). But the developer said hes hoping to get those units filled quickly and use the money on more below-market-rate units.

We hope to raise $10 million by selling all BMRs and build in the neighborhood of 50 to 100 units with that money, he said, noting that he has 11 to 15 more units approved or in the pipeline, which he also expects to generate revenue.

This will be done through the nonprofit development business hes creating with his son, Joey, aimed at affordable housing construction. Developers usually build on- or off-site affordable units by city mandate or pay a so-called in-lieu fee to a city fund. But, to the best of Tobonis knowledge, developers have not used revenue from affordable units to fund more affordable units.

A preliminary rendering of 799 South Van Ness Avenue, a project proposed for 19th Street and South Van Ness Avenue, by Ian Birchall + Associates.

Were forming the board as we speak, Toboni said. He, his son and wife Mary will head the board along with a few developers, community and civic leaders, Toboni said.

Toboni said hes hoping to get that $10 million matched, and his son has already met with some tech companies to do that (he would only say they were among some of the largest in the area). The prospect of tech companies getting involved is not just a wish, Toboni emphasized. Theyre all excited about it and wanting to do something.

He said hes currently eyeing five sites, which he could not specify because they were still in play.

Toboni said he hopes other developers will begin to join the cause and sign onto his model for private affordable housing construction. That way, he said, it could be 1,000 units and then 2,000 units, and then it really is giving back.

As Mission Local has previously reported, Toboni, a city native, once lived in the Mission and began his development career building a 42-unit section 8 project in the Excelsior at 4770 Mission St.

His development company, the Toboni Group, which he runs with his son, completed a 27-unit market-rate project at 600 South Van Ness in 2017. The project under construction at 19th and South Van Ness was approved by the Planning Commission in December 2017. In addition to housing, it will also include around 4,500 square feet of retail space and 41 parking spaces.

The site of the former gas station at the corner of 19th and South Van Ness. Photo: Joe Rivano Barros / Mission Local.

Read more here:
Developer Joe Toboni breaks ground on 75-unit project on South Van Ness and a new affordable housing model - Mission Local

The shuttered Sears department store on Rice Street north of downtown St. Paul, photographed on Feb. 19, 2020, is next to the Minnesota State Capitol complex. A coalition of economic development organizations has met monthly to discuss key opportunities for the property. (Scott Takushi / Pioneer Press)

The future of the shuttered Sears department store on Rice Street north of downtown St. Paul remains uncertain.

Business advocates from the St. Paul Downtown Alliance generally feel that while the 17-acre Sears site has its merits, it isnt the right fit for business.

We should see a residential development there, said Joe Spencer, president of the Downtown Alliance. A lot of the people at the Capitol want more retail amenities, but you need the residential base to support the retail amenities.

But doesnt St. Paul need more jobs to expand its tax base?

If were going to concentrate jobs, Spencer said, lets put them downtown.

That sentiment, echoed to varying degrees by members of the 18-month-old East Team business coalition, could put some of the most visible economic-development gurus in the city on a collision course with an unlikely competitor former St. Paul Mayor Randy Kelly. Kelly knocked on doors at the state Capitol to pitch an alternative proposal during Sears final days.

Kelly, now a business consultant with St. Paul-based Synergetic Endeavors working closely with Minneapolis-based Kraus-Anderson Construction, has spoken to Minnesota Department of Administration officials about converting the Sears site into a mixed-use office, retail and residential destination.

At least for now, however, the state is more focused on the locations plentiful parking stalls. The state already owns vacant property it could develop at Rice Street and University Avenue, including the empty Ford Motor Co. building, which dates to 1913.

The Department of Administrations more immediate interest is that the state leases approximately 500 parking spaces in the sites surface lot, said Curt Yoakum, legislative and communications director for the department, which oversees state government property. About two years ago, Randy Kelly and Kraus-Anderson did share early development concepts for the site. Since then, we have not received any further details or proposals about what the owner, Seritage, plans for that site.

Given changing demands for office space, not even the state quite knows what its needs are.

In his capital budget, Gov. Tim Walz recommended an 18-month, $1.5 million real estate strategic plan, which would guide the department as it locates, builds or leases new state facilities.

The last 20-year plan was published in 1993 and became obsolete as of 2013, according to the governors office.

Neither Kelly and nor officials with Kraus-Anderson returned calls for comment. But they arent the only groups pitching concept plans.

Planning for the 60-block area around the state Capitol falls in large part to the Capitol Area Architectural and Planning Board, which maintains certain zoning, planning, design and development controls.

Paul Mandell, the 12-member boards executive secretary, said Seritage Growth Properties, the Sears sites property owner, presents mixed-use concept plans to his board annually but never leaves anything concrete for the board to review.

Kraus-Anderson has been exploring a relationship with Seritage, Mandell said. I dont know that its official at this point, or that theyve signed any papers. Its hypothetical. At this point, we dont have any designs in hand.

Mandell said multiple studies and concept plans in past years have called for a restored street grid hosting multiple uses, including five- to seven-story residential, mixed-income buildings, with restaurants and retail mixed in.

He assumes privately owned office buildings might lease a few floors to state government, though Mandell said state ownership was not in his boards vision.

Mandell, who said he sees the Sears site as an extension of downtown, said hes eager to break away from the binary bind of buildings that are only occupied 9 to 5, or only in use from 5 to 9. A broader mix of uses would inject more life into the location.

We continue to be looking at Sears redevelopment, as we have for the past decade, as mixed-use not strictly housing, not solely one purpose, Mandell said.

B Kyle, president of the St. Paul Area Chamber of Commerce, said she, too, envisions a mixed-use site, heavy on residences, with private-sector tenancies both office and retail that might serve housing, as well as the Capitol operations and employees in the nearby area.

Kyle acknowledged, however, that the private sector may come to the table with a different vision.

When Seritage/Kraus-Anderson are ready to share their plans publicly, we very much look forward to advancing their development for maximum positive community impact, she said. Big things are brewing in St. Paul, and we very much welcome a project on this site, as well.

Officials with Greater MSP and the St. Paul Port Authority two other St. Paul-based economic-development groups active in the East Team said their agencies are not generally focused on housing projects and have not been heavily involved in the Sears site.

Spencer said office jobs at the Sears site would do little to support new retailers. If that were a successful strategy in the area, it would have worked by now.

Having a mix is fine, Spencer said. But if the state were to be willing to pay lease rates, they should do that downtown. Thats my opinion. Right now, around the Capitol area, you have a lot of jobs. By adding more jobs, basically doubling down on the same mix of uses you already have, youre not going to get any different result than they currently have.

Spencer highlighted a 46-page report from the Brookings Institution, which recently charted the degree to which job growth in America has become concentrated in areas that are already robust with jobs.

In other words, businesses are increasingly clustering, which is good news for New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Seattle but a tougher hurdle for cities with a smaller retail, financial and innovation footprint, such as St. Paul.

The Where Jobs are Concentrating report, which echoed similar findings from Smart Growth America, found more job growth in highly urban counties than in less-dense suburban ones, and that growing numbers of business leaders are starting, expanding, or moving their firms to downtown locations in order to attract and retain educated workers, to be closer to their customers, and to collaborate with other firms and institutions.

Sears opened at the Rice Street location in the summer of 1963, riding a wave of national enthusiasm for department stores that brought large discount appliances into the homes of middle-class workers alongside clothes, tools and everyday goods.

The Sears model, ill-suited for the internet age, may have officially run its course when the national retailer declared bankruptcy in October 2018.

The Rice Street complex closed in January 2019.

Between them, Sears and Kmart have closed more than 3,500 stores nationally in the past 15 years, according to USA Today.

The Rice Street site spans 187,000 square feet on 17 acres of land, and when the location shut down, so did the department store era in and around downtown St. Paul. A Macys department store formerly Daytons closed downtown in 2013.

As far back as 2012, officials with Sears Holdings Corp. had seen the writing on the wall and courted the possibility of restructuring the strip mall-like layout and its parking spaces for a mixed-use retail, office and residential makeover.

Sears Holdings identified 10 locations across the country for potential redevelopment, including the Rice Street location.

Concept plans shared with the city at the time called for more than 100 new apartments, 18 townhomes, an office building, a parking ramp and more than 100,000 square feet of new retail buildings, in addition to updates to the Sears store itself.

Proximity to the Metro Transit Green Lines Capitol/Rice Street light-rail station and the Minnesota state Capitol complex offered a selling point.

With no visible movement on those plans, Sears later transferred ownership of the property to Seritage, a publicly traded real estate investment trust that leases stores back to Sears.

Seritage lists the complex including a Sears auto center and the surrounding parking on its website for lease.

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St. Paul business advocates: We need housing at Sears site more than business - St. Paul Pioneer Press