It's taken a little time, but Keystone Custom Homes' Worthington at Township Square neighborhood is quickly taking shape, with its residential and commercial/retail areas complementing each other.

There's a lot going on in the community, including a new model home and work on the apartment phase of the subdivision, said Janette Hawkins, vice president of marketing and information technology at Keystone.

The Manheim Township smart-growth development will feature 259 houses 196 singles, 33 duplexes and 30 townhomes along with rentals above the commercial space.

The model house is a 3,197-square-foot Manchester with traditional elevation, including a wraparound front porch, a stone front and three reverse gables with pent roofs.

"We beefed up the details in the architecture," she said.

The home isn't currently for sale, but the floor plan starts at $287,625 including Keystone's 21 percent anniversary discount and the base square footage is 2,953.

Hawkins said the Manchester is a new design "that's very open and ... flows very well."

The staircase "is tucked away toward the rear of the house," she said, while the kitchen, breakfast area and family room open to each other.

"It's a great space for entertaining."

The two-story family room boasts a bowed wall of windows, and the formal dining room is sizable, Hawkins said. A study is situated off the family room.

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Construction of apartments underway in live/work Worthington neighborhood

Ledge is being excavated and retaining walls added to create a site for a retail building and parking lot on this 1.1-acre lot across the street from the Sports Center of Connecticut.

A stop-work order has been lifted by the Shelton Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) on the construction of the retail project at 781-785 River Road (Route 110), across the street from the Sports Center of Connecticut.

The developer now can move forward with footing and foundation work for the 5,800-square-foot structure being built. However, work on some of the excavation and grading will have to wait until the P&Z can act on the developers request to modify its previously approved site plan.

A view of the ledges vertical drop from the Turner Road house to the Route 110 road level, where a retail building and parking lot will be built.

A public hearing on the developers request has been scheduled for Wednesday, Jan. 22.

The developer is Bishop Management of Shelton, which includes principal Howard Soffan, owner of the Sports Center.

Work at the 1.1-acre site has been controversial because of how close the excavation is to at least one neighbor, whose Turner Road property abuts the development parcel to the north.

The excavation work has created a significant ledge drop-off near this neighbors property line.

Richard Schultz, city P&Z administrator, said having the developer put up an eight-foot-high chain-link fence to separate the excavated ledge from the Turner Road property owners land is a high priority.

Thats a safety issue, Schultz said.

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River Road retail project: Some work can continue as developer seeks changes

Friday, December 27, 2013 11:38 PM EST

By SCOTT WHIPPLE STAFF WRITER

NEW BRITAIN Avner Krohn, commercial developer/retailer, said installation of the two retail shops in the citys police station has been a long and arduous journey, almost two years, but most issues were resolved recently when he met with Mayor Erin Stewart and her chief of staff, John Healey.

All three said any loose ends should be tied up before the end of the year.

Dunkin Donuts franchise owner Cary Gagnon has also met with city officials. Dunkin Donuts will share space in the police station building with Krohns ice cream parlor, Caf Chocolat.

Krohns goal is to start construction in January and open in the spring. Dunkin Donuts hopes to open in mid-February.

By springtime next year well have four downtown restaurants with outside dining. (Main Pub, Caf Beauregard, Dunkin Donuts and Caf Chocolat), Krohn said. Cary and I believe our stores will serve hundreds of people daily.

Krohn said his company, Jasko Development, is doing the internal construction for Caf Chocolat. Gagnon is using Kaestle Boos, the local architectural firm.

Healey said the Dunkin Donuts project is moving forward at a rapid pace.

Healey says he doesnt know whose idea it was to build retail space in the police station. I can tell you that regardless of whose idea it was, retail space is coming in the police station, and the mayor has a desire to see other retailers downtown.

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Retail space below police dept. to be filled âat a rapid paceâ

Construction on Broad Street near the Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market.

JOE JOHNSTON Buy Photo

BUILDING BULLETIN: Local real-estate investment and construction company Covelop Collaborative Development is hoping to attract a national chain to its newest project --a 4,662-square-foot retail/restaurant space in San Luis Obispo.

Leasing agent Preston Thomas of Rossetti Co. said construction of the building, located at 2256 Broad St. near Fresh & Easy, will be completed in mid-January and can be filled by one to four tenants.

Covelop is hoping to attract a national chain to the building, Thomas said, though it also is looking for local independent businesses to fill some spots.

No tenants have been confirmed, he said.

The cost per square foot is $3.25, and sizes range between 1,082 square feet to the entire 4,662-square-foot space. The construction will feature an on-site parking lot as well as a patio area for customers.

Project name: Broad Street Fresh & Easy Center

Owner: Covelop Inc., San Luis Obispo

Contractor: Stalwork Inc., San Luis Obispo

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Update on SLO building projects: Broad Street

Our Vision: People living and working in thriving communities beyond the Earth, and the use of the vast resources of space for the dramatic betterment of humanity.

The Society publishes Ad Astra magazine and maintains an active global network of volunteers and local chapters. Membership and participation are open to all. Join the space movement, and help build a positive future for humanity!

2014 Legislative Blitzes: Washingon DC in February, Home Districts in August

Washington Legislative Blitz February 23-25, 2014: The National Space Society will be participating in the Space Exploration Alliance (SEA) 2014 legislative blitz in Washington DC in February. NSS encourages all members to sign up for and participate in the SEA Blitz as described at http://www.exploremars.org/space-exploration-alliance-blitz-2014 from Rick Zucker of Explore Mars. Dale Skran, Deputy Chair of the NSS Policy Committee will be coordinating NSS members as needed. Please send him a short email message at dalelskranllc@gmail.com indicating you plan to participate when you sign for the Blitz.

The Space Exploration Alliance includes groups ranging from NSS and Explore Mars to AIAA, the Moon Society, the Mars Society, the Planetary Society, the National Society of Black Engineers, SEDS, and Buzz Aldrin's ShareSpace Foundation. The major goal of the SEA blitz from an NSS perspective will be to provide as much support for the NASA budget as possible during these difficult budgetary times. Now is the time to stand up for space and be counted. We look forward to seeing you in Washington, DC, February 23-25, 2014.

Home District Legislative Blitz August 2014: If you live too far from Washington to participate in the 2014 SEA Blitz, NSS is currently planning on organizing a "home district" blitz later in the year, probably during August when Congress is in recess and members of Congress are in their home districts. If you are interested in participating in the home district visits please send an email to Dale Skran at dalelskranllc@gmail.com. This email should contain your contact information. By doing so, you are giving permission for a statewide coordinator to contact you for purposes of organizing home district visits.

Additionally, we are seeking at least one volunteer to coordinate visits in each state. If you are interested, please send an email to that effect to Dale Skran at the email address above. We especially encourage multiple volunteers for larger states such as California and Texas. Thanks for your support.

Roadmap to Space Settlement 2014 International Student Art Contest

The National Space Society is looking for student artists to create illustrations for the NSS Roadmap to Space Settlement. Submitted artwork should REALISTICALLY illustrate one of this year's two themes: Asteroid Settlement or Building a Space Settlement. All full-time students at any grade level between the ages of 12 and 25 are eligible. The deadline for submissions is March 16, 2014. See our contest web pages for information about prizes and submission requirements.

National Space Society Congratulates SpaceX on First Successful GEO Transfer Mission

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National Space Society - Official Site

SAN MARCOS A second mixed-use housing project this one featuring 416 apartments, retail space and a park is being proposed along the Sprinter line in San Marcos, bolstering the citys efforts to concentrate new housing near existing transportation corridors.

The project, which the City Council is scheduled to discuss and possibly approve Jan. 14, would be built just east of 370-unit Palomar Station, the first transit-oriented housing on the 22-mile Sprinter rail line.

Were glad to be among the first cities on the Highway 78 corridor to embrace this concept, Assistant City Manager Lydia Romero said Monday. This project will help transform the area from industrial to a walkable, livable vibrant community.

Like Palomar Station, which has been under construction since spring, the new project would include retail stores in addition to housing to encourage residents to shop where they live. It would be built just south of state Route 78 on 12 acres of former industrial land near Palomar College and the Las Posas Road shopping district.

In addition to apartments and 15,000 square feet of retail space, the project would include a 1.3-acre neighborhood park. About half of the apartments would be one-bedroom units, boosting the projects appeal to students and employees at the college and nearby Cal State San Marcos.

The project which would be called Davia Village and developed by Milano Holdings would be four stories tall: three levels of housing above one level of surface parking.

Community leaders predicted many such projects would sprout up along the Sprinter when it began operating in 2008, but the Great Recession stifled nearly all housing development for several years.

Experts say projects like Palomar Station and Davia Village will help shift North County away from sprawling subdivisions toward smart growth.

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Transit-oriented housing proposed

Strong retail construction will continue in 2014

Poland is one of Europe's leaders in retail space under construction

The supply of new shopping center space in 2014 will be similar to that in 2013. A total of 520,000 sqm of new space will be added to the stock, including some 120,000 sqm in six expanded malls, according to Katarzyna Michnikowska, senior conultant at Cushman & Wakefield.

The biggest opening next year will be Atrium Felicity in Lublin (73,000 sqm of GLA) and Galeria Warmiska in Olsztyn (41,000 sqm), Ms Michnikowska said.

This year saw several large shopping malls delivered to the market, with Pozna City Center (61,000 sqm) and Galeria Katowicka in the Silesian Agglomeration (53,000 sqm) marking some of the biggest openings. A total of 650,000 sqm of retail space was completed throughout 2013, 20 percent more than last year.

Poland continues to be one of Europes leading countries in retail space construction. It came in fourth, after Russia, Turkey and the UK in terms of new retail space delivered in the first half of 2013.

Smaller cities in the running

As major Polish cities grow increasingly saturated in retail space, developers are turning their focus to smaller cities with populations of 200,000 or less.

In the next few years developers focus on smaller cities will set the tone for the retail market, said Patrycja Dzikowska, associate director of research and consultancy at Jones Lang LaSalle. New schemes are being constructed in cities like Olsztyn, Kalisz, Elblg, Lublin and Siedlce, Ms Dzikowska added.

Some of those smaller cities are already showing significant saturation levels, such as Rzeszw, with 800 sqm per 1,000 inhabitants, Legnica and Opole. These cities, however, act as retail hubs for several other smaller towns, sometimes even 100 km away, and thus their retail centers may have much larger catchment areas. Still, developers should be very careful when considering a new project there, Ms Dzikowska remarked.

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Poland is one of Europe's leaders in retail space under construction

Summit Church, a megachurch east of downtown Orlando, recently sold a $1.5 million retail center next to its main church facilities on East Colonial Drive.

The church has been in the news during the last year because of the resignation in November 2012 and the suicide this month of its founding pastor, Isaac Hunter.

Jeff Porter, facilities director of Summit, said the church acquired the retail center at 3907 East Colonial and another property, called Fashion Village, in distress sales in 2012.

Porter said the church was "blessed" to find a buyer for the retail center, which was 100 percent leased at the time of the sale.

Goodwill Industries is one of the tenants. Built in 1966, the center includes about 11,723 square feet on 1.4 acres.

The buyer was a limited liability company managed by Ryan Stahl, president of Maitland-based Equinox Development.

Summit now owns two properties in Orange County: the church, with 32,970 square feet at 735 Herndon Ave.; and Fashion Village, with 43,072 square feet at 3815 E. Colonial Drive.

Hunter, who resigned after admitting having an affair with a church staff member, founded Summit Church in 2002 from a youth ministry. It started with 300 members and became one of the fastest-growing churches in Central Florida, with five locations and an estimated congregation of 5,000.

Sales

The Cushman & Wakefield Multifamily Advisory Services team of Senior Director Jay Ballard, Associate Director Ken Delvillar and Associate Lindsey Pfaender represented Balapines Partners LP of Irving, Texas, in the $36.3 million sale of Bala Sands Apartments. The buyer was the Carroll Organization of Atlanta. Bala Sands includes 298 units with an average size of 1,097 square feet. Carroll plans to complete minor upgrades and rebrand the community as Arium Bala Sands.

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Summit Church sells $1.5M retail center

Center Street Partners wants to construct a 16-story, 293-room hotel complex at Shattuck and Center streets in downtown Berkeley. Photo: Center Street Partners

A Carmel-based developer and UC Berkeley graduate will submit plans to Berkeley tomorrow to construct a 16-story, 180-foot tall hotel with office space, meeting rooms, and retail space at the corner of Shattuck Avenue and Center Street.

The new complex, proposed by Jim Didion and Center Street Partners LLC, will replace the 1970s-era one-story Bank of America building and parking lot, and, if approved, transform one of the most visible corners in downtown Berkeley.

The view from Shattuck Avenue. Photo: Center Street Partners

Once constructed, the new hotel will be kitty corner from a revamped BART plaza and next door to the new Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive, which is currently under construction.

The arrival of the new hotel would coincide with the scheduled reconfiguration of traffic patterns on Shattuck Avenue that would see routing both north and south traffic on the streets western artery. It also joins a number of plans under way for about 1,300 new apartments for the area. Numerous new restaurants have also recently opened in downtown, adding up to a noticeable transformation of the neighborhood.

Downtown is going to become much more animated, said Michael Caplan, the director of the citys economic development program. A lot is happening. The downtown infrastructure, like the BART plaza, is very dated. This project (along with the others) will be a huge refreshment of a sense of place, an opportunity to define what the experience of downtown Berkeley is in the 21st century.

The hotel, with 293 rooms, also has the potential to generate millions of dollars in tax revenue for the city, according to Matthew Taecker, a former city planner whose firm, Taecker Planning and Design, has been hired to oversee the entitlement process. The hotel rooms will likely rent for about $200 a night, and will be taxed at 12%.

Its the highest tax rate we get on almost anything, said Caplan. A hotel room a good tax generator.

While the 284,000 square foot hotel tower will be 180-feet tall, the architect of the project, Edward McFarlan, principal of JRDV Architects of Oakland, has designed smaller structures abutting the streets in order to retain and enhance a pedestrian-friendly environment. The faades on Shattuck Avenue and Center Street will be four stories high, essentially the same height as neighboring buildings. A one-story building will stand between the hotel and art museum, providing a visual break. The smaller sections will be clad in reclaimed wood or metal shingles to provide texture and visual interest.

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New 16-story hotel proposed for downtown Berkeley

Washington, DC (PRWEB) December 19, 2013

SmithGroupJJR, in collaboration with The JBG Companies, was awarded a 2013 Award of Excellence by the Maryland/DC chapter of National Association of Industrial and Office Parks (NAIOP), a commercial real estate development association, for its development of the LEnfant Plaza East Retail.

The NAIOP awards program, which each year recognizes outstanding projects in architecture, interior design and real estate in the Washington, DC/Maryland region, was held on Oct. 3, 2013 at the Willard InterContinental Washington, DC. The LEnfant Plaza East Retail project won the award for "Best Retail Project, Dining & Entertainment."

The landmark site in Southwest Washington, DC is an important example of mid-twentieth century modernist urban planning at the mega scale. The existing 1.3 million-square-foot development, originally built in 1968, will be transformed into 3 million-square-feet of mixed use development including office, residential and retail. LEnfant Plaza East Retail, as a refreshed retail destination, was one of the first steps in the plan to create a dynamic neighborhood. Construction of the 215,000-square-foot project was completed in 2013.

In designing the LEnfant Plaza East Retail space, the SmithGroupJJR team transformed a space that previously felt "underground" into a bright and open destination for the 30,000 employees within walking distance of the plaza. The new space offers a mix of quality national brand foods and soft-good retail tenants. The designers created a strong sense of identity for LEnfant Plaza with the introduction of a rich palette of materials and finishes and vibrant environmental graphics.

"SmithGroupJJRs design transformation has greatly contributed to the success of LEnfant Plaza Retail," said Britt Snider, a senior vice president at The JBG Companies.

"The recipe was simple introduce natural light and good artificial lighting, create a dynamic framework through the ceiling and floor design and let the retailers showcase their individuality," said Andrew Rollman, AIA, LEED AP, a leader with SmithGroupJJRs Workplace practice and Design Principal for the LEnfant Plaza East Retail project. Rollman is widely recognized for his expertise in commercial, retail and mixed-use development throughout Washington, DC.

LEnfant Plaza is a mixed-use development owned and managed by The JBG Companies, an investor, owner, developer and manager of office, residential, hotel and retail assets in Washington, DC's Metropolitan Area.

SmithGroupJJR is a national design leader in the workplace, corporate interior and mixed-use markets. Among the firms recent completions is the 120,000-square-foot, 1700 New York Avenue office building for Carr Properties and Sentinel Square at 90 K Street, NE for the Trammell Crow Company. For Cityline Partners, SmithGroupJJR completed Scotts Run Station Master Plan an award-winning, 40-acre mixed-use development plan in Tysons Corner, Va.

SmithGroupJJR (http://www.smithgroupjjr.com) is ranked as one of the nations top design firms by Architect, the magazine of the American Institute of Architects. With 800 employees in 10 offices, SmithGroupJJR is a leader in sustainable design.

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L’Enfant Plaza East Retail Honored with "Award of Excellence" by NAIOP