Home Builder Developer - Interior Renovation and Design

A $36.5 million loan on a key building in the Reynolds Crossing development in western Henrico County has been refinanced.

The refinancing was on an eight-story building at 6603 W. Broad St., which is the headquarters for Philip Morris USA. That building is across the street from the former Reynolds Metals Co. building that is now headquarters for Altria Group Inc., the parent company of Philip Morris USA.

Coastal Federal Credit Union, based in North Carolina, refinanced the loan for a seven-year term, said J. Sargeant Reynolds Jr., a principal in the familys Reynolds Development partnership that owns Reynolds Crossing.

A 10-year commercial mortgage-backed security loan was coming due in August. The CMBS loan was the largest single loan among about 40 in the Richmond area that were slated in April to mature between then and August, according to Trepp LLC, a New York-based provider of analytics and commercial real estate information.

Mortgage broker Phillips Realty Capital help secure the financing on behalf of Reynolds Development.

The 15-year lease on the 222,057-square-foot building expires in 2024, Reynolds said. The building was built in 1968 and renovated in 2007.

Meanwhile, construction has started on a two-story medical office building that is the final office project in the 90-acre mixed-use development.

Tenants will be the Virginia Eye Institute and Dermatology Associates of Virginia. Both companies will have an ownership stake in the building with Reynolds Development, Reynolds said.

The 49,200-square-foot building is under construction on land that is northeast of the Shoppes at Reynolds Crossing retail center and north of the Walmart store. It will be built along the Interstate 64 eastbound on-ramp.

The building, which is estimated to cost $11.5 million to $12 million, should be finished by July 2018, Reynolds said.

Also underway in Reynolds Crossing is the development of a 2-acre site for additional retail fronting Forest Avenue. This piece is being developed by The Wilton Cos., a Henrico real estate company that bought the parcel last year from Reynolds Development.

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A $36.5 million loan on a Reynolds Crossing building is refinanced - Richmond.com

25 King St in Brisbane, worlds tallest timber building. Photograph: Aurecon

The famous Queenslander tradition of building houses upon wooden stilts is escalating to a whole other level on Thursday or 10 levels, to be exact.

The sod-turning ceremony at 25 King Street in Brisbane will be a groundbreaking event in more than just in the literal sense. When complete in 2018, 45 metres of the 52-metre office tower will qualify as the worlds highest to be held aloft not by steel and concrete, but timber and glue.

The project is the latest of a flurry of engineered wood towers in Australia using solutions such as cross-laminated timber (CLT), the load-bearing material on projects such as StrongBuilds The Gardens Macarthur affordable housing project in Campbelltown. Sydneys International House at Barangaroo is constructed from CLT and the similar Glulam method.

According to Chris Ammundsen, the Aurecon lead structural engineer behind 25 King Street, the CLT process involves glueing thick layers of wood together with the grain alternating at 90 degree angles .

Using timber as the primary structural load-bearing element creates interesting questions during the design process of any building, he says.

For example; how might we minimise the risk of chainsaw attack?

Ammundsen has a lot riding on the answers he came up with his company is setting up office within the building in order to enjoy the benefits of working in timber surrounds, which a PlanetArk study indicated can lead to a lower heart rate and blood pressure.

There are also environmental benefits where every tonne of cement creates 900kg of greenhouse gas emissions, engineered wood acts instead as a carbon sink.

The GBCA (Green Building Council of Australia) last year updated its Green Star accreditation to incentivise CLT, which chief executive Romilly Madew says: provides great thermal performance, which means they are efficient to heat and cool and save considerable amounts on utility bills.

An RMIT Lifecycle Assessment study conducted on Australias first timber high-rise completed in 2013, Lend Leases 10-storey Forte building in Melbourne, concluded it would generate 22% lower global warming emissions over its lifespan than a traditional concrete build.

The construction site for engineered timber projects also generates less noise pollution, and the structures can be erected much faster with fewer workers: Lend Lease claims it will cut six weeks off the construction time of 25 King Street by using timber.

Thats because they are assembled like supersized flatpack furniture, says Nick Hewson, a technical manager with engineered wood suppliers XLam.

Theres a speed and simplicity in construction, he says. Think of assembling a big piece of furniture there are even oversized screws and slats.

He says the radically different building style is one of the main barriers to the growth of CLT in Australia, where a construction industry used to grappling with each project requirement as it arises instead needs to revamp workflows to ensure everything is on-site ready to go from day one. Anyone who has assembled an Ikea bookshelf can attest that a single piece missing from a flatpack can result in construction delays, structural deficiencies, and even desperate attempts to decipher oblique Swedish instruction manuals.

Just like Ikea products, CLT components need to be shipped in all the way from Europe, where modern engineered timber techniques were first developed and are far more widely used.

To address this, XLam is building Australias first engineered wood factory just outside Albury Wodonga, a town that sits on the border between Victoria and NSW and will be able to service both major metropolitan markets once it is operational early next year.

A UN annual review in 2015-16 found that production of CLT is expanding globally from 650,000 to 700,000 cubic metres in 2015 to a projected 1 million cubic metres last year, but concrete remains well ahead.

Safety is another obstacle to growth. As last weeks Grenfell Tower apartment block blaze in London so tragically illustrated, incorporating flammable materials into building design can be fatal so isnt adding wood into the mix a recipe for disaster?

Hewson says that when Australias building code changed last year to allow for medium-rise timber buildings, the rules were based on requiring sprinklers in buildings and cladding in fire-rated plasterboard a measure he conceded would lessen the psychological benefits of exposed wood in buildings. Where architects dont want to cover the wood in plasterboard, an alternative is using timber thick enough to self-protect.

[With thick wood] you can subject it to long periods of fire exposure, it starts to char which insulates the material inside. It can burn through slowly but maintain its strength, he says.

Ken Slattery, the chief executive of Cement Concrete and Aggregates Australia, has a simple observation to make in response to the new competition: concrete doesnt burn.

He says that concrete remains the most-used building material on earth as it is flexible, durable and long-lasting.

The rise of CLT offers another approach that builds upon the strengths of concrete in a quite literal sense engineered wood extensions slapped on top of existing buildings, as seen in the use of XLam timber in a 10-storey hotel being built on top of a six-storey office block in Melbournes Southbank.

According to Hewson, the fact CLT is 20% lighter than concrete allowed extra room to grow for the Adina Apartment Hotels project, due to start construction later this year for completion in 2018. He says: A lot of buildings from the 50s and 60s are looking a bit tired, and owners want to rejuvenate - so why not vertical extensions?

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Tall timber: the world's tallest wooden office building to open in Brisbane - The Guardian

Developer says 11-story complex will have outdoor collaborative space, gym

By Bethany Rodgers

Published: 2017.06.20 12:09

Rendering of plans for an 11-story office building at Pike & Rose in North Bethesda.

Via Federal Realty Investment Trust

The developer of Pike & Rose has released the first glimpse of an 11-story office building that will claim a space in the burgeoning North Bethesda neighborhood.

Tenant construction on 909 Rose, which will stand at the corner of Rockville Pike and Rose Avenue, could get started in fall of 2019, and the first occupants could move in early the following year, according to a press release from developer Federal Realty Investment Trust. The 208,527-square-foot building will be the second office complex in Pike & Rose, with the first leased quickly to corporate tenants such as Merrill Lynch, Bank of America, Regus and Hilti.

Pike & Rose offers tenants proximity to transit and boasts an array of dining, shopping and housing options; Federal Realty executives are even making plans to move their own employees to the site, according to the release.

The office building will form part of Pike & Roses second phase, which celebrated the opening of its first retail site in April with the relocation of REI. The first phase included the luxury iPic Movie Theaters, new restaurants such as Del Friscos Grille and the performance venue AMP by Strathmore. Residential complexes at the Pallas and PerSei provided a combined 493 apartment units.

The new building, 909 Rose, will feature meeting rooms, outdoor collaborative spaces with on-demand catering and Wi-Fi, bike storage and a gym with showers.

Business thrives when its people thrive, so were designing 909 Rose with that in mind, said Chris Weilminster, president of mixed use at Federal Realty.

Image of lobby at 909 Rose, the next office building planned for the Pike & Rose development. Via Federal Realty Investment Trust.

Post updated to correct construction schedule.

Department of Liquor Controls director toned down proposed ID policy before it goes into effect July 1

Few speakers Monday night opposed measure that will prevent city police officers from enforcing federal immigration law

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Introducing 909 Rose, Pike & Rose's Next Office Building - BethesdaMagazine.com

Charlotte Business Journal

Vacant office building in University City sells for $12.3M Charlotte Business Journal A University City office building that has sat empty since Allstate Corp. (NYSE: ALL) relocated its local offices has been sold. 401 McCullough, a three-story, 191,681-square-foot office building that sits on 32.6 acres fronting Interstate 85, was sold ... and more »

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Vacant office building in University City sells for $12.3M - Charlotte Business Journal

As a $1.6 billion plan to transform the iconic Farley Post Office Building into a transportation hub takes shape, critics say the money could be better spent on work more directly impacting commuters. NY1's Jose Martinez filed the following report.

It's Governor Andrew Cuomo's transit project of the moment: expanding Penn Station across Eighth Avenue into the old Farley Post Office Building.

Last week, the completion of a concourse linked the two sites for the first time.

"It is a beginning of a transformation," Cuomo said. "This is also Door Number 1. Door Number 2 is when we finish the train hall."

But the $1.6 billion project is not just about rail transportation. When completed, the Farley Building will have nearly three times the amount of space for retail as there will be for Amtrak and the Long Island Rail Road.

Which is why critics lined up at a news conference Tuesday blasting the deal. They said public funds should not be covering the bulk of the costs for a project that's more shopping mall than train hall at a time when the region's transit system is plagued by delays and breakdowns.

"We need to get down and tackle the real issues that are affecting infrastructure and transit in New York," said Charles Khan of the Strong Economy for All Coalition. "I promise you that it's not the lack of shopping malls and it's not that there's a lack of TV screens inside our transit hubs."

A plan for private developers to create the new transit hub has been around since the early 1990s, but it has gained traction under Cuomo.

"It's just going to privatize and sell off a public asset to the very wealthy yet again. We're here to say no," said Pete Sikora of the Center for Popular Democracy.

A spokesman for the governor called the protest "misguided," and boosters said the public-private renovation of the landmark will ultimately be a plus for the city.

"When you have this type of space and it's not being utilized in a positive way, that's really not good for the economy," said Gary La Barbera of the Building and Construction Traces Council of Greater New York.

And after a generation of plans, the renderings may finally become reality.

What will eventually be known as the Moynihan Train Hall, with its attached 700,000 square feet of retail space, is supposed to open by late 2020, early 2021.

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Money to Turn Post Office Near Penn Station into Transportation Hub Could Be Better Spent, Critics Say - NY1

A sunroom can be a peaceful, valuable addition to a home. Or it can turn into a disaster.

Asking the right questions upfront and hiring an experienced, qualified contractor will help people avoid many common mistakes.

"You've got to do your homework to get what you want and not go down a bad path," says Robert Criner, president of Criner Remodeling in Newport News.

The first step is to decide if a full sunroom is better than other options, such as a partial structure for shade, a screened-in porch or an expansion or remodel of an existing room, possibly with new windows or skylights to add brightness.

Many sunrooms are built off porches, decks or patios, but that's not as simple as it sounds, says Dan Bawden, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders Remodelers, a trade group, and a longtime Houston-based contractor.

Existing slabs and decks usually are too thin and weak to support a room with floors, walls, roofing, windows and doors, and original patios are designed to slope away from a home for drainage. Without replacing those structures with a flat, sturdier foundation, sunrooms will settle, pull away from a house and develop cracks and leaks. "Big problems can start happening within two years," Bawden warns.

A sunroom's roof should slope, he adds, because flat roofs will be vulnerable to leaks, mold and ice damage. Good-quality insulated doors, windows with energy-efficient glass and ceiling fans can keep a room from becoming too hot or cold, while having a door to the backyard is important for fire safety.

Another frequent issue is that the room behind a sunroom, often a den, can get darker; well-placed windows and skylights in an addition can help move light back into that space. Homeowners also should consider where they'd put furniture including televisions in a sunroom before they make final design decisions, Criner says.

Not surprisingly, the right contractor can simplify what can be a complicated process, from meeting local zoning and permit requirements to picking the right materials for a particular home, climate and budget. Check for licensing and designations such as Certified Graduate Remodeler or the higher Graduate Master Remodeler, both awarded by NAHB. Ideally, a company also should offer three-dimensional computer modeling to showcase exactly what a new addition would look like.

More tips: Ask about a contractor's experience with the specific project selected, look at pictures of past work, and check with at least two references. Previous customers will have important insights on timeliness, responsiveness, cleanliness and any bad habits such as playing loud music or smoking. Finally, be sure to have a start and completion date in any contract.

"Done right, a sunroom can really be a great investment," Criner says. "It will look like it was always part of a house, ready to be enjoyed."

Excerpt from:
Sunrooms a great investment for a home if done well - Daily Press

The Stormblood expansion for Final Fantasy XIV introduces two new jobs to the massively multiplayer RPGRed Mage and Samurai. To access them you dont have to rush through days of story quests and journey to new lands. You just have to be level 50 and talk to the right people.

Rather than lock the new jobs away in the expansions new lands, which can only be accessed by players whove reached level 60 and completed the main story, both of Stormbloods new additions are accessed via quests found in Uldah, one of the games three starting cities. Any character level 50 or above can start down the path to becoming a Red Mage or Samurai. The process is pretty painless.

The quest to take the red begins in the Steps of Thal area of Uldah, just inside the Gate of Thal. A distraught young girl seeks help rescuing her sister from a band of kidnappers. Sounds like a job for whatever random adventurer happens along.

The kidnappers havent gotten far. Step outside the Gate of Thal and youre a 10 second run to where a confrontation is going down. Whos the guy in the crimson outfit?

Turns out hes Xrthun Tia, the last of the Crimson Duelists, and his cutscene battle game is tight. The assassins? What assassins?

Xrthun has the situation well in hand, so its back to Uldah to see the girls off safely.

Since this is Final Fantasy XIV and your character is the hero of the realm, the Crimson Duelist has heard of you and thinks youd look good in a red hat. He asks you to join him for a drink at the Coffer and Coffin, where he pops the question.

Unlike the ones introduced in Heavensward, Stormbloods new jobs come complete with a fresh set of clothes. Wield your new weapon, put on your new garb, and youre all set.

Congratulations! You are now a level 50 Red Mage, ready to grind your way up to level 60 and experience all the new stuff Stormblood has to offer.

Becoming a Red Mage is easy. Becoming a Samurai is even easier. The quest is given by an Uldahn citizen hanging out right in front of the place where everyone shows up when they teleport to the city. Hes just standing there, being all excited.

The man witnessed a gladiatorial battle in which an old man from the East bested all comers using a strange, curved blade. He directs you to the arena.

There a silver-tongued showman directs you to the Gladiators guild, where Mr. Samurai is just sitting around, waiting for you to show up.

Theres no drama here. The old man thinks you might be a worthy contender, so he hands over a sword, a set of clothes and a gem containing the souls of his brethren, as you do.

Pow! You are a Samurai.

Pretty easy stuff, and so convenient. Since the two new jobs are available outside of the expansions new areas, players with characters in the 50s can switch to one of the new jobs and use it to catch up with all the story missions they have to complete before accessing Stormbloods new lands and quests.

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How To Unlock Red Mage And Samurai Jobs In Final Fantasy XIV - Kotaku

The Titans weren't ready last season. Before Nashville was famous for catfish, before Marcus Mariota's broken leg, Tennessee was being pushed around in a decisive Christmas Eve game in Jacksonville. The franchise traveled the NFL road from laughingstock (five wins combined in two years) to competitive (9-7 in 2016) in a hurry, outmuscling two AFC contenders in December wins while joining the NFL's middle class in scoring defense and offense. Parts of the roster remained undercooked, however, and general manager Jon Robinson knew it.

The signing of Eric Decker on Sunday evening completed a dramatic overhaul of the Titans' receiver group, matched only by wholesale changes in the secondary. The contract, and the ready-made feature stories touring Decker's Nashville home, cemented the Titans' status as this season's AFC It Team. Ready or not, it's their time on center stage.

Robinson had the luxury of inheriting a franchise quarterback when he arrived in Tennessee last January. That allowed the Titans to use draft capital on building up the team's offensive line and running game. Top-five rushing numbers immediately followed, but that didn't change the fact that Mariota's No. 1 wide receiver was Rishard Matthews. Mariota essentially didn't have a second perimeter option and it showed as the team's passing game decayed late in the year. Mariota completed fewer than half his passes in December, averaging just 5.9 yards per attempt in the three games before his Week 16 injury. A playoff trip would have been nice, but this team was only going so far with players like Tajae Sharpe and Harry Douglas getting too many snaps.

Robinson saw enough. He showed conviction taking Western Michigan's Corey Davis with the fifth overall pick in April's draft, then doubled down by snatching up versatile wideout Taywan Taylor and athletic tight end Jonnu Smith in the third round. With erratic receiver Kendall Wright banished, Mariota finally has a group of pass catchers he can grow up with. Decker, last seen as one of the best red-zone receivers and No. 2 options in football, completes the group. It's difficult to totally fix an organizational problem in one offseason, but Robinson's track record with the running game last season should give Titans fans hope.

The reconstruction of the secondary was no less dramatic. Tennessee has two new starting cornerbacks in former Patriots spitfire Logan Ryan and first-round playmaker Adoree' Jackson from USC, in addition to a new starting safety in free-agent pickup Johnathan Cyprien. The most exciting player of the group is second-year safety Kevin Byard, who flashed star potential in a part-time role as a rookie. After running out of defensive backs last season, the Titans look far more well-stocked this time around. Then again, the Titans aren't buzzy because of their defense.

Mariota has developed as a pro mostly out of the national spotlight, a rare luxury for a top-two pick in this media climate. That's what happens when you play for an organization that has been off the radar since Kerry Collins' fever dream 13-3 season. (It doesn't help that the next quotable item from the lips of Mariota or Titans coach Mike Mularkey will be the first.) The Titans don't drive television ratings or page views, so media decision makers were happy to ignore the franchise until they had no other choice. It's time.

Still just 23, Mariota will face the difficult task of integrating all these new offensive pieces without the benefit of a full offseason. He surprised the Titans by taking snaps during OTAs, just five months removed from a plate being inserted into his broken leg. But Mariota was not able to cut or practice at full speed in June after failing to close out the regular season healthy for a second straight year.

The familiarity between Mariota and Mularkey should limit the damage of the injury. Mularkey took over as interim head coach of the Titans halfway through Mariota's rookie season. And last year, after being promoted to the full-time gig, Mularkey helped shepherd Mariota's improved vertical passing. For all the hype about Tennessee's additions this offseason, the foundation of the Titans' offense remains unchanged. Taylor Lewan and Jack Conklin comprise the nastiest tackle duo in football. DeMarco Murray and underrated second-year back Derrick Henry might be the toughest one-two punch in the backfield. Tight end Delanie Walker is still a physical freak at age 32. Tennessee's offense comes harder than Mularkey's jawline.

While there has been some typical young-quarterback streakiness, Mariota has handled himself like a pro while throwing for 45 touchdowns against only 19 interceptions over the last two seasons. Now he has the teammates to take the next step to omnipresence, not to mention the schedule.

The NFL's hipster division is perpetually on the verge, a favorite of writers looking for what's next. It's also ripe to be conquered decisively.

The Texans are at least two years behind Tennessee in developing a franchise quarterback, coming off a season where they won nine games with smoke and mirrors. No one knows when the Colts' leader will be able to throw a football again, and how swapping out an entire defense will play out in 2017. Jacksonville looks intriguing on paper again, but Robinson is the newcomer who stole the show from the Jaguars and their fancy beach house. Rebuilds don't have to take five years.

Tennessee's coaching staff might have more to prove than its well-rounded roster. Since walking away from the Bills' head-coaching job, Mularkey has waited more than a decade to run a team like this. Defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau turns 80(!) before the season opener and oversaw a middling group last year.

Still, don't fall for any hot takesmen who try to claim the Titans as some surprise team. (My friend Chris Wesseling smartly staked out that ground last year.) This time around, they should be the clear favorites in their division and get used to the spotlight.

Their Week 1 matchup against the Raiders should be the national game on CBS, a sentence that would have sounded bizarre one year ago. The Titans have prime-time games against Indianapolis and Pittsburgh. A closing stretch against the 49ers, Rams and Jaguars screams "hot team heading into the playoffs."

Decker's signing was just the final reminder to the football cognoscenti that Tennessee is this year's consensus trendy team in the AFC. After an offseason attacking weaknesses on the depth chart, the Titans should be ready to attack this weak division.

Follow Gregg Rosenthal on Twitter @greggrosenthal.

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Eric Decker signing further fuels Tennessee Titans hype train - NFL.com

FOX31 Denver

Save Big on Replacement Windows & Patio Doors from Renewal by Andersen FOX31 Denver If you need to replace the windows in your home, do you want to choose a company that sometimes does replacement windows, or a company that only does replacement windows? The team from Renewal by Andersen is in our Help Center today. Call now ... and more »

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Save Big on Replacement Windows & Patio Doors from Renewal by Andersen - FOX31 Denver

Home Craft Window is one company that meets all the needs for window replacements in Chapel Hill North Carolina.

This press release was orginally distributed by ReleaseWire

Durham, NC -- (ReleaseWire) -- 06/19/2017 -- For many homeowners, the best part of their homes are the windows. Windows are not only meant for safety and security but also helps to enhance the home style and decor. In addition, they serve as an understated design piece that helps to frame the aesthetic in each room of the house. A broken window on the other hand makes the home look unkempt, along with not being safe. Homeowners who are looking to replace a broken window must think about not only the cost but the quality of the product and the experience of the company.

HomeCraft Windows strives for excellent service and commitment to the customers. They have been providing home window replacements in North Carolina for nearly two decades and offer various styles and options that fit nicely with any kind of classic and modern architectural requirements.

For homeowners that are looking for options, HomeCraft Windows is the right company as they offer a wide range of selections. The company will guide a customer through the process, showcasing a variety of products and solutions, without compromising on quality. They ensure affordable pricing with quality craftsmanship to get the window replacement done.

HomeCraft Windows believes that customer satisfaction and quality of service are the ultimate parameters which have determined their success rate. Over the years, they have maintained an excellent track record of delivering quick and quality service. The technicians are all factory trained and industry certified to carry out all tasks involved.

Get in touch with the experts for free estimate or call them to know more details on Window replacements in Raleigh NC.

About HomeCraft Windows HomeCraft Windows is a one stop solution provider for all replacement windows Durham. They offer quality bay & bow windows, garden windows, slider windows and more at reasonable prices.

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/home-craft-windows-offers-window-replacement-at-affordable-pricing-in-raleigh-nc-819037.htm

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Home Craft Windows Offers Window Replacement at Affordable Pricing in Raleigh NC - Digital Journal