Home Builder Developer - Interior Renovation and Design

A new report has provided evidence to back up what brokers have been saying: it is harder for stores to find retail space in the prominent shopping corridors, with rents jumping as much as 75 percent on Fifth Avenue from 42nd to 49th streets since just one year ago.

Ground floor asking rents have reached an average of $900 per square foot up 75 percent from last spring on the key Midtown stretch of Fifth Avenue, according to the Real Estate Board of New Yorks Spring 2012 Retail Report.

The advisory group attributed this growth in asking rents both to the lack of space on Upper Fifth Avenue, causing a trickle-down effect, and the high degree of pedestrian traffic everywhere along the avenue including crosstown walkers from Grand Central Terminal.

Average asking rents on Upper Fifth Avenue between 50th and 59th Streets have edged up 22 percent to $2,750 per square foot for ground spaces since last spring.

In other locations:

* Despite increases in all the prime East Side corridors, average asking rents for all space on the East Side declined 13 percent since a year ago. This is partly due to a falling off of aggressive bank leasing and the ongoing Second Ave. subway construction.

* Rents are down 13 percent in Times Square but they still average $1,400 a square foot and there are only two availabilities.

* West Village rents are down 7 percent although asking rents are still averaging $452 a square foot.

* SoHo and Herald Square are once again getting squeezed with rents up 11 percent and 23 percent, respectively.

* Average asking rents for ground floor space on Madison Avenue between 57th and 72nd streets increased 31 percent to $1,203 a square foot.

Continued here:
Fifth Avenue retail rents up 75% over past year: report

COLUMBIA, S.C., May 18, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --CMARK International, Inc., (OTC Pink Sheets: CMIT) a global provider of facility and logistic support services for government and commercial institutions is continuing to make considerable efforts with a larger portion of its product offering into alternative energy production as well as energy conservation.

Following up on initial efforts last fall with researching and developing geothermal energy applications, the company was invited and attended the U.S Navy Geothermal Program Office'sIndustry Conference on Geothermal energy in Reno, Nevada, this past December. After further study and research the company developed and recently proposed through one its affiliate joint ventures, a geothermal energy option package during the construction of an Army Reserve center in South Carolina.

According to publication on Geothermal Resource Estimates for the United States by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the total resource base in the United States, both renewable and non-renewable, is very large, nearly 50,000 times the annual current rate of national energy consumption. In addition to being a consumer, the United States Department of Defense is now exploring the potential to be a supplier of geothermal energy.

In another energy related area - energy conservation - CMARK International, Inc. has a full and continually expanding line of private label food service equipment - Columbia Food Equipment. This line has been gradually developed for the last four years.

The Columbia Food Equipment brand includes over 4,000 individual products with a substantial amount being cooking and refrigeration equipment. The vast majority of this equipment carries the ENERGY STAR certification for energy conservation features. Since the majority of the applications for this equipment are on U.S. Government projects, the company's effort to continue to develop and offer ENERGY STAR products is an ongoing commitment.

"The increasing involvement and enthusiasm of the Department of Defense and the Veterans Administration in the usage of alternative energy as well as energy conservation programs and requirements, indicates the vast potential of such initiatives and is a clear sign of CMARK moving in the right direction," said Charles Jones, president of CMARK.

About CMARK International, Inc.:

CMARK International is a licensed architectural firm with a history since June of 2000, of providing products and services for construction and design projects for U.S. government facilities worldwide.

CMARK International provides a wide array of facility and logistic support services including construction, architectural design, food service, furnishings and maintenance and operation services with a primary focus on U.S. federal facilities. The company operates out of its headquarters in Columbia, SC with other field support locations in the United States, Europe, and Asia.

For more information, visit http://www.cmark.org.

Link:
CMARK continues development in Energy Sector

NEW YORK, May 18, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --Architectural Record (http://www.ArchitecturalRecord.com), McGraw-Hill Construction's prestigious publication, has presented its 16th Annual Excellence in Advertising Awards to 66 companies and agencies. The awards breakfast hosted more than 250 manufacturers, agencies, and architects in Washington, D.C. today during the AIA 2012 National Convention & Design Exposition.

More than 170 advertisements were judged. Advertisements were considered from the first quarter of 2012 in Architectural Record (in print and online) and in the January/February issue of GreenSource. Winners were judged for content and graphic presentation by a jury of 10 esteemed architects from across the country, representing the breadth of the profession.

"There is no single ad type that appeals to every architect. Our audience is highly visual and attractive images are an important characteristic of an effective ad. I'm thrilled for our winners and wish them, and all of our advertisers, continued success," said Laura Viscusi, vice president, McGraw-Hill Construction Media and publisher, Architectural Record.

This year's winners included:

Best in Class:

Campaign:

Single Page:

Winners:

Honorable Mention:

Online Ad Awards:

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Architectural Record Announces 2012 Excellence in Advertising Awards

(CBS News) On a recent visit to Kew Palace in West London, CBS News learned a few things about one of the Queen Elizabeth II's ancestors by going through King George III's old home.

Special section: Queen's Diamond Jubilee

There are bigger and better-known royal palaces in Britain, such as Buckingham Palace - the Queen's London digs, and Kensington Palace where William and Kate will live and where Princess Diana lived between her divorce and her death. But the little palace at Kew in West London may provide a better glimpse of how the royals have lived through the ages. It's where beleaguered King George III lived more than 200 years ago - the King George who lost America to those uppity colonials.

A waxwork bust is all that remains of the poor king - no sign of the famous blood disorder that made him famously mad. But details of his troubled life have been discovered in the palace's kitchen.

Lee Prosser, curator of Historic Buildings, said the place was "absolutely full of junk" when his first visited the kitchen in 2001.

Because Kew Palace was abandoned by later royals, the Georgian kitchen block had become an untouched junk room. The kitchen has now been restored and is a window into the past.

One of its secrets is a tin bathtub for the King located in the kitchens where the hot water was.

"Wedged up right inside the chimney was a strange looking object, which turned out to be the bathtub," Prosser said. "George III, because he had bouts of illness, was prescribed baths as part of his treatment.

When CBS News visited three months ago, the kitchens were a construction site. These days, they reveal the latest modern appliances of the 1700s, including a bread oven, a barbecue that can handle a whole sheep and charcoal stoves that put out huge amounts of heat - whether you want them to or not.

Food historian Marc Meltonville has brought the kitchens to life, dressed in period garb and cooking period grub fit for a king.

See the rest here:
Mad King George III's tin bathtub unearthed in royal palace restoration

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of both First Fitness Trampolines with Handlebars and Safety1st Toilet and Cabinet Locks.

You are advised to stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed. It is illegal to resell or attempt to resell a recalled consumer product.

About 40,000 of the First Fitness Trampolines have been recalled. Theyre manufactured by Aqua-Leisure Industries, Inc. of Avon, Mass.

According to the CPSC, metal fatigue can cause the handlebar of the trampoline to break away during use, posing a risk of laceration from exposed metal surfaces or other injury from a fall. Four reports of broken handlebars have been reported, but no injuries.

This recall involves First Fitness Kids First trampolines with handlebars. The child-size toy trampolines have a red and blue metal handlebar, a blue nylon deck guard and a black jumping deck. First Fitness is embossed on the jumping deck in white letters. The trampolines can be identified by model number FF-6902TR and Toys R Us SKN 491463. The model and store numbers can be found on the lower right corner of the back of the packaging. A sewn-in tag on the bottom of the deck lists the factory date code of five numbers followed by GLTX.

The trampolines were sold exclusively atToys R Us stores nationwide from September 2010 through April 2012 for between $45 and $70.

Consumers are instructed to immediately take the recalled trampolines from children and contact Aqua-Leisures recall hotline for a full refund. Refund contact information is at the right of this article.

In addition, about 183,000 toilet locks and 685,000 cabinet locks have been recalled. They were manufactured by Dorel Juvenile Group (DJG) Inc., of Columbus, Ind.

The CPSC says that young children can unexpectedly disengage the toilet locks and gain access to water in the toilet, posing the risk of drowning. The cabinet locks are being recalled because young children can disengage the lock, posing the risk of injury from dangerous or unsafe items stored in the cabinet.

DJG has received 110 reports of toilet locks that did not adequately secure the lid, including eight reports of children, under the age of two, who were able to disengage or break the lock.

Originally posted here:
CPSC recalls two children's items: trampoline and Safety1st locks

Safety 1st just issued a large recall for its toilet and cabinet child safety locks because they may fail to lock , the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and Health Canada (HC) just announced. About 183,00 Safety 1st Toilet Locks and 685,000 Safety 1st Cabinet Locks are involved in the recall.

The defective Safety 1st products were manufactured in China and imported by the Dorel Juvenile Group (DJG) Inc., of Columbus, Indiana. The Safety 1st Toilet and Cabinet Locks were sold at Bed, Bath and Beyond; Burlington Coat Factory; Great Beginnings; Home Depot; Target; and Walmart from January 2005 through April 2010 for between $8 and $20 for the toilet locks, and from January 2000 through March 2009 for between $2 and $11 for the cabinet locks. Amazon.com sold both locks through April 2012.

Young children can unexpectedly disengage the toilet locks and gain access to water in the toilet, posing a drowning risk. The cabinet locks are being recalled because young children can disengage the lock, which poses the risk of injury from dangerous or unsafe items that are stored in the cabinet.

To date, DJG received 110 reports of toilet locks that did not adequately secure the lid, including eight reports of children, under the age of two, who were able to disengage or break the lock. DJG has also received 278 reports of cabinet locks that did not adequately secure the cabinet, including 71 reports of children between the ages of eight months and five years old who were able to disengage the cabinet locks. In one of the reported incidents, a 13-month-old boy swallowed small, toxic beads from a craft kit. The child was admitted to the hospital, observed overnight, and released the following day.

This recall involves Safety 1st Sure Fit Toilet Locks with model numbers 48003 and 48103. The toilet lock is attached to the tank, behind the lid, and is intended to prevent a childs access to the toilet bowl. This recall also involves Safety 1st Cabinet Slide Locks with model numbers 12013 and 12014. The lock is attached to cabinet knobs or handles to prevent access to the contents of the cabinet. Model numbers can be found on the back of the locks.

The firm advises consumers to immediately remove the recalled Safety 1st locks and contact DJG for a free replacement lock of a different model. When removing the recalled locks, consumers are urged to immediately store dangerous items out of reach of children and to prevent unsupervised access to bathrooms. DJG can be reached, toll-free, at 1.877.416.8105 from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Eastern Time (ET), Monday through Friday, or at the firms website at http://www.djgusa.com.

The CPSC noted that, in March 2012, a large recall of 900,000 Safety 1st Push N Snap Cabinet Locks was implemented due to lock failure. That release can be accessed at: http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml12/12136.html.

Original post:
Safety 1st Recalls Toilet, Cabinet Child Safety Locks for Failure to Lock

Carole Mikita joins growing number of baby boomers in joint replacement surgery

By Carole Mikita

May 18th, 2012 @ 10:26pm

SALT LAKE CITY In the last 10 years, hip and knee replacement surgeries have more than tripled in the 45- to 64-year-old age group. In fact, there were more than 288-thousand hip replacements in 2009 with more than half of the patients under age 65.

Surprisingly, the rise in these types of surgeries is not all because of obesity. Baby boomers are now known as the "fix it" generation, and I recently had the experience.

In my pursuit of a good news story over the years, photographers and I have hiked through the mountains of Guatemala; waded through fields of mud following a rainstorm in Tonga; and made our way, not very gracefully, to the San Blas Islands off the coast of Panama.

That can take a toll on the joints, particularly on someone whose family has a history of arthritis. As a baby boomer, allow me to represent so many in our generation.

This year, I finally came out of denial and into the realization that I actually had to have hip replacement surgery. I was limping severely, and it was obviously time.

A week before the operation, specialists at LDS Hospital take patients through the steps of what will happen before surgery and what they need to do after.

The 7th Floor West at LDS is a joint center, complete with a physical therapy area and private rooms and bathrooms. But for most, the stays are short, usually lasting a day or two.

Here is the original post:
Carole Mikita joins growing number of baby boomers in joint replacement surgery

WASHINGTON -- A popular brand of toilet and cabinet locks are under recall.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission Dorel Juvenile Group said there has been a voluntary recall on Safety 1st toilet and cabinet locks.

Young children can disengage the toilet locks and gain access to water in the toilet, posing the risk of drowning.

The cabinet locks are being recalled because young children can disengage the lock, posing the risk of injury from dangerous or unsafe items stored in the cabinet.

The recall involves Safety 1st Sure Fit toilet locks with model numbers 48003 and 48103. The toilet lock is attached to the tank behind the lid and is intended to prevent a child's access to the toilet bowl.

The recall also involves Safety 1st cabinet slide locks with model numbers 12013 and 12014. The cabinet slide lock is attached to cabinet knobs or handles to prevent access to the contents of the cabinet.

Model numbers can be found on the back of the locks.

The products were sold at Bed, Bath and Beyond; Burlington Coat Factory; Great Beginnings; Home Depot; Target and Walmart from January 2005 through April 2010 for between $8 and $20 for the toilet locks, and from January 2000 through March 2009 for between $2 and $11 for the cabinet locks. Amazon.com sold both locks through April 2012.

Consumers should immediately remove the recalled locks and contact DJG for a free replacement lock of a different model.

When removing the recalled locks, consumers are urged to immediately store dangerous items out of reach of children and to prevent unsupervised access to bathrooms.

Originally posted here:
Safety 1st Products Recalled

SAN FRANCISCO, May 18, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The 75th Anniversary of San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge is an integral part of the multi-million dollar remodeling and renovations at the Radisson Hotel Fisherman's Wharf. This iconic hotel, which has long been a favorite for leisure and business travelers because of its ideal location on the Wharf, is celebrating the anniversary of the historic Golden Gate Bridge with a photographic mural that is artistically placed in each guestroom. The beautifully depicted scene of the Golden Gate adorns the wall over the bed in each guestroom.

"The stunning mural brings the beauty of San Francisco's most famous landmark into the hotel and helps to accent the hotel's new interior design which is striking, contemporary and comfortable, says General Manager, John Sevilla. "Since we cater to so many leisure travelers, particularly international visitors, we thought it appropriate to bring the most symbolic image of San Francisco into each and every guestroom. So far our guests are enjoying sleeping 'under the bridge' which is depicted at sunset in the mural," added Sevilla.

About the Radisson Hotel Fisherman's Wharf

Located at 250 Beach Street in the heart of Fisherman's Wharf, The Radisson Hotel Fisherman's Wharf is steps from Pier 39, the Wharf's famous eateries and attractions, as well as the Ferry to Alcatraz Island, Ghirardelli Square and San Francisco's Cable Cars.

The hotel welcomes guests in its newly appointed selection of 355 guestrooms, many with exclusive views of the San Francisco Bay or the hotel's courtyard. All of the guestrooms have been completely refreshed and feature Sleep Number Beds(TM) (in most rooms) with plush bedding and comforters, contemporary seating, and privacy window treatments. The new spa style bathrooms have granite countertops, expanded showers, and custom vanities. In addition guests may enjoy 37 inch flat screen TVs, work desks with an ergonomic chair, in-room coffee makers and dry bars (in select rooms). Rooms that feature a terrace have stylish new patio furniture ensuring a perfect place to enjoy the view. Additional amenities include concierge and bell service, complimentary wireless service throughout the hotel, a business center, a state-of-the-art fitness center, and a year-round heated outdoor swimming pool with new resort style lounges.

For more information and reservations at the Radisson Hotel Fisherman's wharf San Francisco visit http://www.Radisson.com or call: 415.392.6700.

See the rest here:
The Radisson Hotel Fisherman's Wharf Completes a Multi-Million Dollar Remodeling That Includes a Tribute to the ...

May 17, 2012 - Arena Football League (AFL) Jacksonville Sharks JACKSONVILLE - The ArenaBowl XXIV Champion Jacksonville Sharks made a pair of additions Thursday, shuffling the team's roster prior to Saturday's Week 11 matchup with the Iowa Barnstormers. The team announced that quarterback Collin Drafts and defensive lineman Jimmy Saddler-McQueen have been assigned to the team's roster.

The 27-year-old Drafts (6'3", 215), began the 2012 season with the Orlando Predators, starting the team's first four games. With Orlando, Drafts completed 76 of 134 passes for 815 yards, throwing 15 touchdowns against eight interceptions. He also ran for 51 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 23 carries and is currently the Predators' second-leading rusher.

This is Drafts' third season in the Arena Football League, as he debuted with the Dallas Vigilantes in 2010. In that year, Drafts completed nearly 61% of his passes and threw 60 touchdowns against 15 interceptions. He saw limited action with the Predators in 2011, accumulating 12 touchdown passes against just two picks. Drafts is a native of Beaufort, South Carolina and played collegiate football at Charleston Southern.

The 25-year-old Saddler-McQueen (6'3", 250) is an AFL rookie who began this season with the Tampa Bay Storm. He played in four games with the Storm, including the team's Week 4 matchup against Jacksonville, recording five tackles (four solo) and a pass breakup.

After finishing his collegiate career at Texas A&M-Kingsville, Saddler-McQueen signed with the Chicago Bears as an undrafted free agent prior to the 2010 NFL season. Waived by the Bears prior to training camp, Saddler-McQueen caught on with the Dallas Cowboys, appearing in his first career game against the New York Giants in November of that season. Saddler-McQueen also spent time on the St. Louis Rams' practice squad during the 2010 season.

The Sharks also announced Thursday that the team has activated fullback Rendrick Taylor from injured reserve, while offensive lineman Josh Vernon has been placed on injured reserve and wide receiver V'Keon Lacey has been placed on league suspension.

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The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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Sharks Tweak Roster; Add Drafts, Saddler-McQueen