The Idaho Supreme Court has ruled in favor of a Boise building owner and against the city of Boise in a legal battle surrounding the currently under-construction River Edge Apartment complex on West Royal Boulevard near Boise State University.

It was March 2012 when 917 Lusk LLC, which owns a building next to the proposed five-story apartment complex, argued that the city had improperly granted a conditional use permit to the apartment building's developers.

Lusk said the area had been zoned for residential/office developments but required a special permit for a building taller than 35 feet. Lusk owners also argued that the proposed apartment building would have an adverse impact on needed parking spaces.

Lusk took the city of Boise and Royal Boulevard Associatesthe developer of the apartment buildingto district court, which agreed with the City Council decision to give developers the conditional use permit.

But in a ruling handed down today, the Idaho Supreme court reversed the lower court's decision, thus upending the permit for the project. The high court ruled that the Boise City Council "erred by affirming the Planning and Zoning decision" and that the commission "abused its discretion."

"We conclude that there is sufficient evidence that Lusk is in jeopardy of economic hardship from the project," wrote the justices.

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Idaho Supreme Court Rules Against City of Boise, Developer of River Edge Apartments

Tuesday, March 3, 2015, by Spencer Peterson

The Moinian Group's colossal rental tower at 605 West 42nd Street will likely never be considered an iconic building, but it can be considered historic; when it's completed later this year, it will hold 1,175 apartments, more units than any other building in New York City. It will eventually lose the title to TF Cornerstone's project to the north at 606 West 57th Street, but nevermind that. For now, the development team is savoring the superlative while they can, and they hired fashion photographer Scott Furkay to shoot a collection of construction photos "in the same vein of those taken during the making of other NYC landmarks." And it's safe to say that they accomplished their goal. Furkay's black and white photos are very reminiscent of Lewis Hine's iconic shots of the Empire State Buildingminus the danger.

Pics and more pics, on Curbed NY. >>

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Construction Watch: In Photos: The Rise of New York's Largest Apartment Building

After two weeks off, new development projects are back in the District of North Vancouver.

A five-storey, 35-unit apartment at Draycott Road received the nod from council Monday to head to public hearing March 3.

The unanimous verdict came less than an hour after the expiration of councils short-lived moratorium on development, which resulted in a two-week deferral of the Draycott Road project.

The rezoning of four commercial lots on the east side of Mountain Highway can only go ahead if council is assured a robust construction management plan is in place, according to a staff report.

There are two developments under construction in fairly close proximity on Mountain Highways west side, meaning excavation and concrete deliveries might have to be co-ordinated to ensure the roadways arent overwhelmed, according to the staff report.

While he supported sending the project to public hearing, Coun. Doug MacKay-Dunn said he needed more details about traffic management.

Id really like to know how were going to handle this, especially with the construction going on, he said.

Coun. Jim Hanson also supported sending the project to the public, citing its relatively small impact on district traffic.

The disparity between the apartment buildings abundant parking and a comparatively few spots for bicycles rankled Coun. Mathew Bond, who suggested the project wasnt in line with district priorities.

The apartment includes 60 underground parking spots, approximately 1.7 stalls per unit, but only 0.54 cycling stalls per unit, he pointed out.

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Apartment block heads to public hearing

AvalonBays Falls Churchlocation, on the edge of Falls Church City, is one of several developments under construction that uses engineered wood and lightweight construction materials. Another of AvalonBays developments in Edgewater, N.J., which also uses engineered wood, was destroyed in a January fire. (Photos: Drew Costley/News-Press)

One of the trends in real estate construction over the last 30 years has been the use of engineered wood and other lightweight construction materials in the building of the structures that house residences, including apartments, and businesses. The advantages to using these materials engineered wood trusses and I-joists used to build a houses roof and floors are that they are environmentally-friendly and cheaper because less wood is needed to constitute these building supplies.

But while this form of construction is completely legal, a tradeoff highlighted by a January fire in Edgewater, N.J. that, according to The New York Times, displaced more than a 1,000 residents of an apartment complex built using engineered wood and other buildings surrounding the complex is that fires in structures built using engineered wood spread faster. And the structures themselves are more prone to structural collapse.

Out of the two major developments in Falls Church City Rushmarks Harris Teeter building going up on West Broad Street and Lincoln Properties The Reserve at Tinner Hill only The Reserve at Tinner Hill is using engineered wood, according to the Citys building inspector Doug Fraser. The Harris Teeter building is a concrete structure.

Another development on the edge of the City, Avalon Falls Church on S. Spring Street, also uses engineered wood, according to construction workers on the site. The property is owned and being developed by AvalonBay, the same company that owned the Avalon at Edgewater complex that was torched in the aforementioned January fire. That complex was also built with engineered wood, according to The Times account of the fire.

Fraser noted in an interview with the News-Press that structures built with engineered wood can be more easily compromised in a fire. If you take an I-joist and burn two inches off the I-joist youve lost most of the structural capacity of that I-joist, Fraser said.

So that worries fire guys. If you get a real big house with I-joists and you have a fire in there it doesnt take as much fire to compromise some of the structure of a houses floor system or a roof system.

Falls Church Citys fire marshal Tom Polera said that most fire folks hate the use of engineered wood, and it has changed how firefighters train and prepare for their job, in addition to changing how they fight actual fires.

Its whats being used in most construction nowadays. It became very popular in the 1980s and 1990s, Polera said. The problem with it is it reduces the time capability of the structure being able to withstand a fire when exposed to heat and fire and more of a potential for collapse.

He went on to explain more about the difference of fighting fires in structures made with engineered wood versus dimensional lumber, a material used in older homes.

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Use of Engineered Wood Poses Benefits, Dangers

4Marq apartment building construction, Minneapolis, MN
All of these pictures were taken by me on either my phone or Nikon D3000. They last from 8/23/14 to 3/1/15. It currently stands structurally at 22 stories. When completed, it will top out at...

By: Grant Simons

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4Marq apartment building construction, Minneapolis, MN - Video

Discovery Village at Sarasota Bay is being built on 11 acres at 1414 69th Ave. W. in Manatee County

MANATEE COUNTY - A "topping out" occurred this week on a new, 130,000-square-foot senior-living community that only a few years ago would have been a rarity in Florida.

The final pieces of the roof's structure were hoisted into place this week on Discovery Village at Sarasota Bay, an 11-acre complex at 1414 69th Ave. W. in Manatee County.

The $30 million senior-living community -- expected to open in the fall -- will have a "Grande Clubhouse" building with a three-story wing of 30 apartment homes for supervised independent living.

There also will be a three-story wing of 66 apartment homes for assisted living and a one-story wing of 30 suites for memory care.

The new community will offer tableside meal service; complimentary scheduled transportation; health and wellness visits; an on-site medical director; on-site therapies; an on-site, Medicare-certified, home-health care agency; concierge services and housekeeping, Discovery Senior Living said.

The clubhouse will have two dining rooms, social areas, a game room, a bistro and an ice-cream parlor. The center also will have a bar and lounge, movie theater, a wellness center, a senior-equipped fitness center, an indoor, heated pool, a beauty salon and spa with a barber shop, a media center offering brain-fitness services and a multifunctional art, hobby and craft center and activity room.

"Seeing a community come up out of the ground in so short a time period is exciting and everything is on track as planned," Discovery Senior Living CEO Thomas J. Harrison said in a statement.

Largo's Architectural Concepts Inc. designed the project. Wegman Design Group did interior design and The Douglas Co. was the general building construction management firm.

Bonita Springs-based Discovery Senior Living has developed "apartment homes" in Bradenton, Fort Myers, Naples, Tampa, Palm Beach Gardens and Palm Coast. It also has an ownership interest in Venice's Aston Gardens.

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Milestone for construction of Manatee senior living center

Published: Wednesday, 3/4/2015 - Updated: 44 seconds ago

BY MARK REITER BLADE STAFF WRITER

Despite objections from residents of an apartment building that will be bulldozed, the Lucas County commissioners on Tuesday approved plans to realign Brandyway Lane and build a road to provide access to the planned new headquarters of The Andersons Inc.

The improvements to extend Briarfield Boulevard north of Salisbury Road west of U.S. 23/I-475 in Monclova Township were requested by the Lucas County Transportation Improvement District through the Lucas County Engineer.

The project will require the county to buy the western-most structure of Brandywine Estates, a three building apartment complex at 6538 Salisbury, to build the extension of Briarfield.

Plans also call for adding turn lanes on Salisbury to accommodate the increased traffic that is expected for the Maumee companys new location.

The Andersons announced in November plans to buy 55 acres north of Salisbury, including 37 acres of the Brandywine Country Club golf course. Plans call for the Fortune 500 company to construct a building to house 450 workers.

Marv Robon, a Maumee attorney who represents the owners of the apartment complex, questioned the legal authority of the county to acquire private property for the roadway through eminent domain that will give a private company better access to its planned headquarters and provide improved traffic management on Salisbury.

Four residents of the apartment complex affected by the removal of the building also spoke against the realignment of Brandyway.

Work on the roadway project is scheduled to begin in early 2016.

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County OKs new road to Andersons

Supermodel Linda Evangelista is embroiled in a $1.5 million (937,000) lawsuit with the managers of her apartment building in New York City over the cost of replacing the roof.

The catwalk beauty owns a penthouse at the building in Manhattan and is faced with a potentially enormous bill over the upcoming construction works.

The management board of the Spears Building in Chelsea wants to charge the roof maintenance work solely to the owners of the penthouse suites, but they insist it should be shared among all 30 apartments.

The penthouse owners filed a lawsuit at Manhattan Supreme Court on Monday (02Mar15) in an attempt to block the move and force the board to spread out the $1.5 million bill, according to the New York Daily News.

A vote on the proposal is due to take place on Thursday (05Mar15) but the penthouse owners are urging a judge to block it until more information about the extent of the work can be provided.

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Linda Evangelista In Legal Battle Over Penthouse Roof

Bowman had admitted to investigators that he had been smoking Spice, a synthetic form of marijuana, before setting the blaze in one of the unfinished units.

Stewart handed down the four-year sentence after telling Bowman he found his remorse among the most sincere of the thousands of people who have appeared before him for sentencing.

Bowman's court-appointed attorney, Jaime Zenger, said Bowman had made a "horrible mistake."

"He had no intention of burning the building down and causing millions of dollars in damage," she told Stewart.

The sentence was part of a plea bargain that Bowman and Zenger reached with federal prosecutors last year. The judge ordered Bowman to pay restitution of $2.98 million at a rate of at least $15 a month while imprisoned and $400 a month once he gets out or in an amount determined by probation officers.

Bowman asked to be placed in a halfway house to serve out part of the sentence but Stewart said that request was up to the federal Bureau of Prisons, though the judge included that request in his recommendations, which also included placing Bowman in a prison in Colorado.

The four-alarm fire on Feb. 9, 2014 sent flames billowing into the nighttime skies and spread quickly through the complex's exposed lumber and siding. The resulting glow could be seen as far away as Davis County.

In several interviews with investigators, Bowman admitted that after smoking Spice, he entered the apartment complex and lit some cardboard on fire and tossed it against a boxed bathtub leaning against a wood wall because he "wanted to see the fire department," according to the complaint file against him.

Bowman became a suspect after investigators watched surveillance-camera footage that captured the image of a man walking through an alley immediately west of the apartment building shortly before the fire began.

The apartment building was rebuilt and now has tenants living there.

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Electrician gets 4-year sentence for arson at Utah apartment complex

Published: March 2, 2015

By Bob Niedbala

Staff Writer

WAYNESBURG Greene County Planning Commission granted final approval Monday to plans for the construction of a four-story apartment building for seniors on High Street in Waynesburg.

The 52-unit building, being developed by PIRHL Development LLC of Warrensville Heights, Ohio, will be built on the northeast corner of the intersection of High and East streets.

I think it will be an attractive addition to that corner, Todd Robie of PIRHL told the commission.

The L-shaped building will be constructed into the hillside and have its first floor and parking areas accessible from Nazer Street, Robie said.

The building will contain one- and two-bedroom apartments designed for independent seniors, 62 or older. Plans also call for a community room as well as space for activities and support services, Robie said.

Groundbreaking for the project could be held as early as April.

Plans for the project were earlier approved by Waynesburg Zoning Hearing Board. Borough council, in addition, agreed to contribute $50,000 toward the project over three years.

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Planning Commission grants final approval to Waynesburg senior housing project