Homebuilders in a rush to beat what could be costly code changes drove a February surge in construction of single-family houses in the Twin Cities.

During the past four weeks, metro-area builders were issued 347 permits to build 357 units, according to a monthly report from the Builders Association of the Twin Cities (BATC). Though that was a decline in total units because of a pause in apartment construction, there was a 47 percent increase in single-family houses compared with last year.

We know that builders across the region have seen a rush to get permits filed before the new expensive codes take effect, said Chris Contreras, an area homebuilder and BATC president. We are concerned that these new regulations will stifle the industry.

BATC estimates that an amended energy code that went into effect in mid-February could increase the cost of a new house by $6,000 to $10,000. That doesnt include an amendment to the building code that went into effect in late January that requires fire sprinklers in houses larger than 4,500 square feet, including the basement.

The changes followed years of debate among building scientists, builders, code officials and fire officials. In mid-January, BATC filed a petition with the Minnesota Court of Appeals challenging the Department of Labor and Industrys amendments, requesting a delay in enforcement of the rules until a decision is made on the main petition.

BATC believes the codes have substantial flaws, that the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry did not properly analyze the impact of the rule and these codes need to be sent back and fixed for Minnesota homeowners, said David Siegel, BATCs executive director.

The group is in the process of preparing briefs, and an oral argument before the Appeals Court is expected in the next two to three months. In the meantime, the updated codes remain in effect.

The codes arent the only head winds that have faced homebuilders. Suburban housing construction growth has lagged the broader economic recovery in the Twin Cities and beyond. Observers think tepid wage growth and a slow return of move-up home buyers have stifled new home sales.

Most of the housing construction in the Twin Cities during the past few years has been luxury rental apartments in Minneapolis, which represented about half of all housing built in the metro area. While apartment construction is expected to be slightly behind last year, more than 3,500 apartment units are expected to be permitted later this year, according to a year-end report from Marquette Advisors.

Sales trends have prompted growing optimism within the industry. Sales of new homes across the United States posted a solid gain during December, and economists at Wells Fargo Securities recently raised their housing forecast, saying that new-home construction should be one of the significant upside surprises for the economy during the next two years.

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Building code changes prompt construction surge

A local developer plans to add a $10.6 million apartment building with office space and a cafe on Badger Street near the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse campus.

The 90,000-square-foot, five-level building at Badger and 13th streets just behind the West Avenue Kwik Trip will have 57 three-bedroom units designed to meet the demand for private-sector quality student housing, along with four one-bedroom apartments for staff, Three Sixty Real Estate Solutions owner Marvin Wanders told the La Crosse Economic Development Board on Thursday.

The development has been dubbed Aguilera Spanish for eagles nest in a nod to the UW-L mascot.

Plans also call for 3,700 square feet of first-floor office space for Three Sixty Real Estate Solutions headquarters. The first floor will have a 2,500-square-foot fitness center and 1,600 square feet of retail space, likely a cafe, Wanders said.

The building also will have an inner courtyard with green space off the third level. Plans call for 39 parking spaces on the first level with another 30 outdoor spaces off La Crosse Street on land now occupied by three residences.

Three existing properties a private home and two rentals will remain in place between the building and the parking lot.

UW-L has been approached about parking as well, Wanders said, and the company actively promotes healthy transportation and the reduction of vehicles, such as biking or use of the nearby mass transit line, to its tenants.

This is a pedestrian and people-focused development, Wanders said.

The building and parking area will replace seven houses and several garage or storage structures with a combined assessed value of $528,800.

Wanders said the Aguilera would raise the current $14,786 a year in property taxes generated to at least $150,000.

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Developer plans $10.6M mixed-use building by UW-L

Published: Thursday, February 26, 2015 at 6:25 p.m. Last Modified: Thursday, February 26, 2015 at 6:25 p.m.

If a New Orleans-based developer can secure necessary tax credits within the next year, 100 affordable housing apartments will become available to senior citizens near downtown Houma.

The Terrebonne Parish Council approved a preliminary lease agreement Wednesday with Renaissance Neighborhood Development Corp, for the old Houma Elementary School buildings and property near Grinage and Point streets.

Working with the Terrebonne Housing and Human Services Department, Renaissance plans to renovate existing buildings and add an additional apartment building to provide affordable housing for parish residents age 62 and up who qualify financially.

The terms following a one year option period include a $5,000 annual lease payment for the first five year and $10,000 per year for the remainder of the 30-year lease.

All were trying to cover is for insurance and things like that. It wasnt designed where we were going to make money off the deal. We just want to get the housing completed in there, Housing and Human Services Director Darrel Waire said at Wednesdays meeting.

Renaissance is seeking low-income and elderly housing tax credits, historical tax credits and loans to cover construction, which will cost $17 million to $20 million.

Even if all of the money comes through following the March 16 application deadline, Parish President Michel Claudet said Renaissance would still need $5.5 million in gap money to reach the estimated project budget.

Theyve approached the Council on Aging and requested some assistance with that gap funding to be able to make this a reality, Claudet said.

Estimates suggest the Council on Aging could build 40 housing units with $5.5 million, Claudet said. But if it works alongside Renaissance, the council could help build over 100 units in a prime location, he said.

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Council OKs lease of Houma Elementary for apartment project

By Phil Gregory, WBGO News February 25, 2015

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The fire that destroyed an Edgewater apartment complex last month and displaced 400 residents is raising concern about construction in New Jersey.

Officials are concerned that the type of frame construction that allowed the fire to spread in the Avalon Bay complex will be used in apartment units the company plans to build in Wayne and Princeton.

Mayor Liz Lempert says AvalonBay has agreed to make improvements that go beyond the fire codes at its Princeton site.

Theyre going to be putting sprinklers not just in the finished spaces but also in the void spaces in between the walls and in the attics. The second major improvement theyre making is to install masonry firewalls within the complex that go from the basement to the roof.

Lempert says shed like those safety improvements to become a statewide requirement.

She says Princeton is considering a law that would require frequent inspections to maintain the integrity of firewalls.

You can have people coming in to lay wire or put in cabling and if they make a hole in the firewall to run those cables or run those wires, it then breaches the firewall and makes it not as effective.

State Assemblyman Scott Rumana has introduced legislation to put a moratorium on using light-frame construction for multiple-unit dwellings until the Commissioner of Community Affairs determines that it's a safe building method.

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Concerns About Building Construction

Buffalo city planners on Tuesday tabled a proposal for a new Jets Pizza takeout shop in North Buffalo, citing the need for the out-of-town architects and developers to work more closely with the local neighborhood and Common Council Member Michael LoCurto to address concerns.

Three franchisees, all based in Michigan, want to open the states first Jets Pizza shop at 2165 Delaware Ave., near Great Arrow Avenue and across from Marshalls Plaza. Their $750,000 project calls for a complete renovation of the 1,600-square-foot masonry building, which was formerly a SuperCuts hair salon and previously a bank branch, with a goal of opening by the end of March or early April.

The majority of Jets business is delivery and some takeout, said Steve Earll, an associate at Chiodini Architects in St. Louis, which is working with the franchisees and Jets. This is not a sit-down pizzeria, Earll said. You just pop in, get your pizza and go.

So they wanted to move the buildings main entrance from Delaware Avenue to the parking lot next to it. Earll said the pizza ovens would be lined up along the Delaware side of the building, and Jets wanted to remove all the storefront windows there and replace them with masonry for a solid wall.

But that didnt sit well with LoCurto, the Delaware Council member, or with members of the Planning Board.

It seems not to pay homage at all to Delaware Avenue, said board member Frank A. Manuele.

The board sent the architects back for more communication with the community and LoCurto, as well as to rework the Delaware entrance and signs.

Separately, the board also tabled two projects by Carl and William Paladinos Ellicott Development. The firm wants to build nine new townhomes at 21-51 Ojibwa Circle, representing the second phase of its Townhomes at Waterfront Place project.

Priced between $500,000 and $650,000, four have been pre-sold, said Tom Fox, Ellicotts director of development.

Ellicott also wants to convert a vacant 56,000-square-foot, four-story building at 960 Busti Ave. near the Peace Bridge overlooking the Niagara River into a $7 million mixed-use project, with commercial office, retail or even restaurant space on the first two floors and 18 apartments on the third and fourth floors.

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Buffalo Planning Board tables pizza shop plan

HARTSVILLE, S.C. -- A developer wants to build an apartment complex for seniors in Hartsville. Peachtree Housing Communities LLC is proposing an $8.2 million, three-story building off South Fifth Street and Pleasant Lane, adjacent to the Piggly Wiggly property.

Hartsville Senior Village would consist of 50 two-bedroom apartment homes for active seniors 55 and older, said Josh Thomason, a principal with Peachtree Housing Communities. Thomason presented the proposal to Hartsville City Council during a special called meeting Tuesday.

Peachtree proposed a 40-unit single-family home complex for a different location in Hartsville in 2014, but that proposed project encountered some environmental obstacles that prevented it from going forward, Thomason said.

Of the total $8.2 million estimated cost of the new proposal, about $6 million of that will be in hard construction, Thomason said.

Peachtree is a real estate development company focused on developing apartment communities in the southeastern United States, especially in South Carolina and Georgia. The company is an asset-based developer and retains ownership in developments long term.

All of the apartments would be in one building, which would be elevator-equipped, Thomason said.

The firm plans to apply to the South Carolina Housing Authority for tax credits to facilitate financing for the proposed project. But to do that, the company must obtain a letter of support from the city, the reason for Thomasons appearance before council.

Council unanimously approved a resolution authorizing such a letter.

It is expected to take several months for the housing authority to make a decision on the tax credits.

In return for accepting the tax credits, the company would agree to rent a majority of the units to seniors with incomes at or below 60 percent of the area median income. The remaining portion of units would be rented to seniors at or below 50 percent of the area median income. Thomason said he expects monthly rental rates would range from $393 to $540.

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Developer proposes $8.2 million apartment building in Hartsville for seniors

Kansas City, Mo.

An empty school building in midtown Kansas City, Mo., has become the subject of a heated debate between its next-door parish and the local bishop.

The building once housed St. Francis Xavier Parish's school, and parishioners had hoped to renovate it for community-enhancing programs. But Kansas City-St. Joseph Bishop Robert Finn has begun working with developers to create a faith-based apartment complex targeting university students.

The developers and community members met Jan. 28 to discuss the final design, which the local City Plan Commission will vote on March 17.

The site could be a prime location for either vision. Located just west of Jesuit-run Rockhurst University and east of the University of Missouri-Kansas City, the building could be demolished and replaced with an apartment building used by college students seeking a Catholic atmosphere. Providing evangelical Catholic missionaries to UMKC students was one of Finn's first initiatives since becoming bishop of the diocese in 2005.

The neighborhood and parish, however, hoped to take advantage of its location, seeing it as an opportunity to unite the east and west sides of Troost Avenue, a street considered a racial and economic dividing line in Kansas City's urban core.

In 2012, Finn and the parish agreed upon four criteria for whichever project is pursued: It must be self-sustaining, provide a parish hall for St. Francis Xavier, include a space for missionaries of the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS), and receive final approval from Finn.

The last condition makes many of the parishioners think their ideas don't have a chance.

"We met several times [to discuss proposals], and the bishop clearly said he was only interested in the Catholic student housing project," said parishioner Ken Spare.

Nearly two years ago, parishioners and a neighborhood group, the 49/63 Neighborhood Coalition, worked with an architectural firm, BNIM, to carry out a needs assessment of the area. The result was a 19-page plan that made several suggestions for the existing building, such as a parochial or charter school, space for adult education, a child development center, community gardens, assisted living housing, an event space, and more.

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Parishioners, bishop split on future of shuttered school building

Update: The victim of the construction site accident has been identified as John P. Stoll, 58, of Fitchburg, the Dane County Medical Examiner's Office said Saturday.

A worker at a construction site off John Nolen Drive died Friday after a wall collapsed and trapped him, authorities said.

The collapse happened at the future site of the Watermark Lofts apartment building, 960 John Nolen Drive on Madisons South Side, around 7:30 a.m. Friday.

The man was taken to UW Hospital, where he died, according to the Dane County Medical Examiners Office.

A representative from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration was at the site Friday morning, along with Madison police and fire units that left around 9 a.m.

Madison Fire Department spokeswoman Lori Wirth said the man had been working near a stairwell at the rear of the building.

When firefighters and medics arrived, workers at the site had freed their co-worker, Wirth said.

Workers at the site declined to talk about the incident.

The Watermark Lofts, on the John Nolen Drive service road near the Beltline and Turville Bay, is scheduled to open this summer with apartments and retail space.

It is being built at the former site of the Causeway Centre apartment building, which was destroyed by a fire in April 2012.

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Update: Worker identified in fatal wall collapse at construction site

A worker at a construction site off John Nolen Drive died Friday after a wall collapsed and trapped him, authorities said.

The collapse happened at the future site of the Watermark Lofts apartment building, 960 John Nolen Drive on Madisons South Side, around 7:30 a.m. Friday.

The man was taken to UW Hospital, where he died, according to the Dane County Medical Examiners Office.

A representative from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration was at the site Friday morning, along with Madison police and fire units that left around 9 a.m.

Madison Fire Department spokeswoman Lori Wirth said the man had been working near a stairwell at the rear of the building.

When firefighters and medics arrived, workers at the site had freed their co-worker, Wirth said.

Workers at the site declined to talk about the incident.

The Watermark Lofts, on the John Nolen Drive service road near the Beltline and Turville Bay, is scheduled to open this summer with apartments and retail space.

It is being built at the former site of the Causeway Centre apartment building, which was destroyed by a fire in April 2012.

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Worker dies after wall collapse at construction site

After 15 years and more than 300 residents, the Emergency Residence Projects four-residence apartment building, which serves as transitional housing for those in need, is in need of some renovations.

The building was constructed in one week back in 1999 as part of the Blitz Build, and it has held up quite well. However, many of the inside necessities for the residents need to be replaced, said Alan Christy, deacon at St. Cecilia Catholic Church and the one who organized and supervised the construction in 1999.

You cant put 300 people through that building there and not have maintenance needs, he said. Its in need of new appliances, cupboards, counter tops, cabinets and floors.

The renovation cost is $13,000 per unit and Christy is trying to get a church to sponsor each one. So far, St. Cecilia and St. Thomas Aquinas have committed to one unit each.

The Emergency Residence Project, which began in 1985 for transient people in Ames but soon became a resource for local people and families in need, can house up to eight individuals and families at any time with its neighboring units and occasionally a couple motel rooms.

Vic Moss, director of the Emergency Residence Project, has taken care of the apartments since they were built, but no major work has been done on them since they were built.

Moss said the apartments are fine to live in, but Christy, whos one of the people leading the charge for the renovations, believes they should be improved.

We should make these places a home worthy of these people, he said. These are a place children will call home.

Moss, who has been with ERP since 1987, said there are about two calls per day from other nearby towns and cities, too of someone asking for housing for themselves or their family.

With an annual budget of about $400,000, the operation serves several families, spending a lot of its time trying to keep families and individuals, about 1,500 per year, in their current homes by helping with rent and utilities.

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Needy renovations: Emergency residence needs facelift