Home Builder Developer - Interior Renovation and Design

By Jim Weiker

The Columbus Dispatch Sunday March 4, 2012 5:43 AM

Good is in, tubs are out, and steam is seeping into kitchens and baths.

As the Central Ohio Home & Garden Show wraps up today, we look at the latest in remodeling trends and products, many of them featured at the show.

Much of the remodeling industry continues to focus on baths and kitchens, especially kitchen makeovers that involve removing the wall between the kitchen and dining area. Kitchens overall are lightening up, with cleaner, brighter lines replacing the ornamented dark designs popular in the past.

Elaborate outdoor spaces are also powering the industry, with expansive patios and outdoor kitchens.

But financial caution is still the order of the day for many homeowners.

I think it will be a good year in all, but people will watch every dollar they spend, not only the size of the job but the materials they select for the job, said Bill Owens, president of Owens Construction in Powell.

Here is a closer look at some of the trends and materials catching on in central Ohio.

Granite, with a wider variety of colors and finishes, still rules kitchens, with quartz gaining steam and newcomers such as glass and copper making some headway. But, surprisingly, countertops landing in many central Ohio kitchens and baths are the old standbys of wood and marble.

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Trends for remodeling kitchens, baths highlighted at Home & Garden Show

CEBU CITY, Cebu - Construction has started for another information technology (IT) building at the Cebu IT Park, a project by the Ayala-led Cebu Property Ventures and Development Inc. (CPVDC) and Asian i-Office Properties Inc. (AIO) pegged at a total cost of P1 billion.

CPVDC and AIO broke grounds recently for the construction of e-Bloc Tower 3, encouraged by the strong market response to e-Bloc Towers 1 and 2 also at the Cebu IT Park.

"The construction of e-Bloc 3 is a manifestation of our strong commitment to makeCebu IT Park a preferred BPO/IT destination in the country," said Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) President Antonino Aquino.

EBloc 3 is a 12-story office building with a total of 15,764 square meters leasable area. Tower 3 is the third installment to the e-Bloc Towers built as locations for BPOs, information technology and information technology-enabled services business locators.

CPVDC President Francis O. Monera also said the quick take-up of spaces in Towers 1 and 2 has prompted them to launch another office building.

CPVDC and AIO constructed e-Bloc 1, which now houses J.P Morgan Chase and Co. and NCR Philippines. Following that, they built e-Bloc 2, which is still under construction but already 80 percent leased to BPO-IT companies with growing operations.

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Firm Constructs R1-B IT Building

By WILLIAM J. KEMBLE Correspondent

TOWN OF ULSTER, N.Y. The Town Board has approved construction of a medical building on a U.S. Route 9W site where deteriorating cement structures have been an eyesore for years.

Construction could start as soon as May, according to a representative for developer MHMG-KM Kingston.

The unanimous vote allowing the developer to build an 83,440-square-foot facility, which will be occupied by Mid-Hudson Medical Group practices, came during a board meeting on Thursday.

The former Miron Building Products site on which the building will be constructed is across Route 9W from Adams Fairacre Farms and next to the southbound entrance to U.S. Route 209.

Project manager Larry Boudreau said the only changes the developer has made since a January presentation to town officials was eliminating access to the property from Grant Avenue, which borders the north and west sides of the site, and adding a lane for right turns into the site from southbound Route 9W.

Boudreau said the state Department of Transportation did not want that (Grant Avenue) access, and the reason why is that it is too close to the railroad (tracks). They gave a lot of reasons for safety issues that included people ... turning on the tracks.

Mid-Hudson Medical Group, whose doctors work in more than two dozen disciplines, is based in Dutchess County and has offices in Rhinebeck, Red Hook, Livingston, Brewster, Hopewell Junction and Fishkill.

Last year, Kingston-based Pine Street Pediatric Associates became part of the group and is expected to have an office in the new Ulster building while also maintaining its Midtown Kingston office.

Brian Cohan, a property representative for the developer of the Ulster building, said there will be about 150 employees in the new medical building.

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Town of Ulster OKs construction of medical office building

The Asok-Sukhumvit area of central Bangkok faced chaos on Saturday as a fire broke out at a 13-floor office building but no one was injured, police said.

The spectacular fire, believed to have been caused by an electrical short-circuit, originated on the seventh floor of the Fico Place building located on Sukhumvit Soi 21 (Asok) shortly before 3pm and spread quickly to other top floors.

The inbound and outbound lanes from the Asok-Phetchaburi to Asok-Sukhumvit intersections were closed to traffic to allow more than a dozen fire trucks and crane units better access to combat the blaze. Heavy traffic jams resulted in the immediate area and surrounding vicinity.

Firefighters sprayed water into the building from outside but failed to contain the flames which spread to the 12th floor at about 4pm. Limited space around the building and power lines reportedly obstructed the firefighting operation.

The firefighters decided to demolish parts of the walls of the building to try to control the blaze from inside because the complexs key-card access system prevented them from entering, and fire hoses were lacking.

The fire was brought under control about 4.30pm. The estimated damage is not yet known.

Deputy Bangkok Governor Malinee Sukvejvorakij said the cause of the fire was under investigation. Initial assumptions suggested problems in the buildings interior electrical systems were likely to blame, as the complex was closed and no one was working on the weekend.

City Halls Public Works Department will look into the safety of the building after forensic police examine the scene and reach a conclusion about the cause of the fire, Dr Malinee said.

The Public Works Department will also check whether the construction of the building complied with the building control law.

Fico Place is owned by Fico Corporation controlled by the Srichawla family, who operate the Grand Millennium Sukhumvit Hotel, Le Fenix Sukhumvit Hotel and Fenix Tower in Sukhumvit Soi 31 among many other businesses.

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Fire at Asok building

SENECA Sewer authority officials asked Thursday for an opinion from the Oconee County Council on reordering the priorities for sewer projects for years to come.

We want to work with you, Greg Dietterick, chairman of the Oconee Joint Regional Sewer Authority planning and policy committee, told county administrator Scott Moulder.

Moulders appearance before the committee Thursday had been as a move to mend the sometimes sour relations between the sewer authority and the county.

At the committees request, Moulder will consult with county council members about prioritizing proposed sewer projects with an eye toward spawning economic development and job creation.

Many of the projects on a list compiled 10 years ago, such as the Martin Creek expansion and a septic receiving station, can be struck off the list, said Dietterick, who also is Seneca city administrator. The $6.2 million Martin Creek expansion is due for completion within two months. The receiving station is expected to be completed this year.

Another project from 10 years ago, Dietterick said, could be made irrelevant by a sewer line the School District of Oconee County plans to install up S.C. 11 to the site of the new Walhalla High School, scheduled for completion in 2015.

Highest on the county councils list, Moulder said, will be sewer service to the countys Golden Corner Commerce Park, off S.C. 59 near Fair Play, and to exits 2 and 4 on Interstate 85.

Recently completed engineering studies, Moulder said, estimate that between $8 million and $8.5 million could install lines and pump stations at the commerce park and both exits, with a force mainline installed up S.C. 59 back to the sewer authoritys treatment plant on Coneross Creek.

A portion of the money, Moulder said, was expected to come from the downsizing of the countys plans for a new jail from an facility costing an estimated $18.6 million to one estimated at about $8 million.

The county has already issued bonds for $17 million to fund the jail project, with the money banked until a final decision about the jail is reached.

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Oconee sewer authority says it wants to work with county

02-03-2012 08:02 For some Algarve magic a visit to Porches Pottery is an absolute must. The story, the artists and of course the pottery, are timeless and elegant, and magically blend the past and the present. A short history lesson: The Algarve, and Porches in particular, had a thriving local pottery industry in the past. However by the 1960's , demand had dropped, age-old skills were being lost and a centuries old Portuguese tradition was on its way to extinction. Irish artist Patrick Swift and his Portuguese counterpart, Lima de Freitas, joined forces to try to prevent this from happening. They founded the Olaria Algarve -- Porches Pottery -- in 1968, and with large doses of creativity and tenacity, created an array of distinctive pottery and a successful business, ensuring the survival of the potters craft. http://www.MyDestination.com/Algarve

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Porches Pottery - Algarve - Video

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- It's an old-house neighborhood, all right. There are long porches, American flags waving in the breeze and historical markers just below the front doors.

There are concrete outbuildings in the backyards, tulip poplars more than 100 years old in the front yards and bicyclists riding down the quiet streets.

Maybe it's not the best-known of all the old-house neighborhoods in Huntsville. But Merrimack Mill Village is the only one in town cited by "This Old House" on its recent list of the best old-house neighborhoods in the South.

Merrimack Mill Village joined old-house neighborhoods in St. Petersburg, Fla., suburban Atlanta and Memphis, among other places, on the list by "This Old House."

"A lot of people compare us to Five Points," said Jim Marek, president of the Merrimack Mill Village Organization. "They say we'll be the next Five Points."

Those people have good reasons. There's a revitalization of historic homes, many of them duplexes, that's reminiscent of what happened in Five Points in the 1990s and beyond.

There are strong signs of renovation on Clopton Street, Alpine Street and Triana Boulevard, among other places.

On Bradley Street, there's a tidy home with a new fence. Farther north, on North Broad Place, there's another renovated house with a new fence about to be installed.

On the corner of Clopton Street and Drake Avenue, Steven Gaffin and his wife, Mary Lee, are renovating another of the houses that was built in 1923.

Gaffin is a 26-year-old engineer with a long-time enthusiasm for old houses. His wife is an archeologist for Tennessee Valley Archaeological Research.

Excerpt from:
Merrimack Mill Village is recognized as one of the best old-house neighborhoods in the South

FRONT PORCH BLING: Front porches can sometimes get overlooked or become neglected because so many folks come home and enter their houses through garages or sidedoors. Take a look, if your front porch needs a little love, we've found it for you.

BUILT OF STEEL: Love this house Bob and Kim Zielinski built in Pittsburgh. But more so, I'm also impressed with people who stick to it even when the "experts" say it can't be done. "WHEN Bob Zielinski, a former marine who owns a glass manufacturing company here, and his wife, Kim, showed contractors plans for the house they wanted to build -- a 53-foot-long glass-and-steel wedge cantilevered over their factory -- the contractors said they couldn't do it. You'd have to get guys who build bridges and do highway work to create the support system for something like that, they said. So, that's exactly what the Zielinskis did. It took three years to build, but the Emerald Art Glass House (named after the Zielinskis' company, Emerald Art Glass) now hovers above the factory in the South Side neighborhood, overlooking the Monongahela River, railway line and bridges." DON'T FOCUS ON ONE THING: This is a wonderful lesson that nearly every designer teaches or has experienced with a client and everyone homeowner going through even just a small update needs to learn: You can't judge one item in isolation. INEXPENSIVE BATHROOM UPDATE: This bathroom update is full of interesting ideas and ways to improve a space without spending it all. I'm not a huge fan of the hand-held mirrors hung randomly, but the idea is one that could morph to fit your taste. The biggest thing here is the change in paint color. I'm pretty sure the cabinets were painted, not replaced. What a difference.

-- Bridget A. Otto

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Interior design news & notes: Front porches; built for Pittsburgh; and keeping the picture in mind

01-03-2012 17:43 http://www.realzionistnews.com brothernathanaelfoundation.org

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The Church VS The Synagogue - Video

By Beth Healy, Globe Staff

A group of black ministers, led by Rev. Eugene Rivers, is planning a protest Sunday evening at the Charles Street African Methodist Episcopal Church in Roxbury over OneUnited Banks effort to foreclose on the historic church and auction off its property.

Rivers and ministers from the Boston TenPoint Coalition said they would call for a national boycott of minority-owned OneUnited Bank if it does not back away from its threat to auction off Charles Street AME.

Were calling on black clergy across the United States to look into the practices of this bank and to stand in solidarity with Charles Street AME, who are in this case a victim of predatory lending by an anti-black bank, Rivers said in an interview.

The bank, which received a $12 million federal bailout from the government in 2008, has been struggling since the financial crisis and has not yet been able to repay the funds, nor has it paid interest or dividends, to taxpayers.

The bank said as part of a statement, We trust the community will not rush to judgment without full knowledge of all the facts. From its inception as an outgrowth of the civil rights movement, OneUnited always sides with the community to protect our communitys assets.

OneUnited sued Charles Street AME for repayment of a $3.7 million construction loan on a community center in 2010. Last month, the bank filed foreclosure and auction papers on the church building itself, because it wants to collect on a separate $1.1 million loan on which the church is collateral. Church officials and their lawyers say that Charles Street wanted to refinance these loans but that the bank, facing its own financial troubles, has been unwilling to negotiate.

Rev. Gregory G. Groover, the head of the church and chairman of the Boston School Committee, said the church continued to pay interest on the Charles Street loan but the bank sent it back in December. Ross Martin, a lawyer at Ropes & Gray who is representing the church pro bono, said he has been in touch with the banks lawyers but there has been no interest in sitting down to talk.

Weve been in contact with them on the pure litigation, but not on any substantive attempt to resolve it. Theyve said theyre not interested in having a discussion, Martin said.

The protest is planned for 5 p.m. on Sunday at the Roxbury church. Charles Street AME, with 1,000 members, was founded in 1818 and was an important center for abolitionists in Boston and was a stop on the Underground Railroad.

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Ministers plan protest of bank’s effort to foreclose on historic Roxbury church