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The 327,000-square-foot property is part of the CityPlace master plan, which will bring 4 million square feet of Class A office space to the Houston area.

The initial phase of a 60-acre mixed-use community in Spring, Texas is moving forward with financial help from American National Insurance Co. The project is being developed by a joint venture between Patrinely Group, USAA Real Estate and CDC Houston.

CityPlace in Houston

HFF has arranged a five-year, fixed-rate construction loan for CityPlace 2, the first office building to be developed within the CityPlace master plan. HFFs debt placement team representing the borrower was led by Wally Reid, senior managing director, Cortney Cole, managing director, and Trent Agnew, director.

CityPlace is part of the larger 2,000-acre Springwoods Village master-planned mixed-use community located at the intersection of Interstate 45, the Grand Parkway and the Hardy Toll Road in northeast Houston.

Designed by Gensler and built by Harvey Builders, CityPlace 2 is scheduled for completion in 2018. The 327,000-square-foot Class A office building is 100 percent leased to American Bureau of Shipping, who will relocate its world headquarters from 16855 Northchase Drive in Houston. The initial phase of the project includes a second office building, also located at the eastern end of CityPlace, near a full service hotel, and a lakefront plaza.

CityPlace2 will also include 24,000 square feet of ground level retail space, as well as a restaurant and a parking garage for employees and visitors. Houston-based Transwestern is in charge of retail leasing operations.

When fully completed, CityPlace will feature 4 million square feet of Class A office space along with 400,000 square feet of integrated retail space. The site is located at Interstate 45, the Grand Parkway and the Hardy Toll Road in northeast Houston.

Rendering courtesy of Gensler

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HFF Secures Construction Loan for TX Office Building - Commercial Property Executive

Work on what will be the next major building to complete in Edinburghs Exchange District is now underway.

The foundations and groundwork phase of the project at 2 Semple Street is reaching completion and developer GSS Developments Ltd is working toward a May 2018 delivery.

With Grade A office stock in limited supply in Edinburgh city centre, GSS believes the 45,000 sq ft development will fill a requirement for financial, legal or professional services firms, together with creative industries.

The office space over five floors could accommodate up to 400 employees.

GSS Developments director Paul Stevenson said: With the construction of 2 Semple Streets concrete core progressing and the structural steel frame being erected in the next couple of months we are delighted reach this next key stage of construction.

With pressure on the supply of high-end office accommodation in central Edinburgh, 2 Semple Street will be an important addition to the citys business infrastructure and it will be the only new Grade A offices in The Exchange, the citys financial district, to be ready for occupancy in 2018.

For occupiers who have lease expires in 2018 and 2019 and are considering relocation, 2 Semple Street offers the absolute certainty of delivery by the middle of next year.

McLaughlin & Harvey was appointed as the main contractor last year. The development has been designed by Michael Laird Architects.

Angela Lowe, senior director at joint agents CBRE, added: In Q1 of this year there was a promising start to the take-up of Grade A office space in Edinburgh and with continued low levels of supply, the progress on 2 Semple Street is welcome news. It enjoys a prime location in The Exchange and allied to the fact there will be no other completions in 2018 it will appeal to a wide range of businesses.

Chris Cuthbert, director at CuthbertWhite, added: 2 Semple Street is a highly attractive proposition and be of interest to businesses either looking for a floor or two, or indeed one occupier seeking control of their own building to include signage rights.

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Construction of Edinburgh office building forges ahead - Scottish Construction Now

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Planning permission has been granted for what looks set to become the largest, single office building in Northern Ireland.

Belfast City Council approved the plans for the 12-story One Bankmore Square development at the Movie House cinema site on Dublin Road.

At 250,000 square feet, the office block has enough space to accommodate up to 3,000 employees - while over 570 construction jobs will be created.

Property developers The Richland Group said it will become the largest single office building in Northern Ireland.

They also said in addition, as part of the overall offering, there is "potential for the scheme to include a Movie House Cinema".

A statement on Tuesday evening, after planning permission was granted, said they are "delighted with this outcome" and "excited that we can now concentrate on delivering One Bankmore Square".

They hope the 65m scheme can be completed by 2020.

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Planning permission granted for NI's largest office building | UTV ... - ITV News

Home / News / Heritage Designation On The Way For... http://www.insideottawavalley.com/ To accommodate the influx of students, changes later came with another addition in 1960, extensive renovations in 1968 and first and second-storey additions in 1971. Further upgrades were made in 1992. In 2012, North Grenville District High School ...

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There is not one universal blueprint when it comes to high-efficiency air movement and ventilation equipment in residential spaces. Energy recovery ventilators (ERVs); heat recovery ventilators (HRVs); blowers, and high-volume, low-speed (HVLS) fans are all important HVAC components that can deliver the high-end, highly efficient performance consumers are looking for.

And these options are certainly in high demand.

According to a recent report from Navigant Research, worldwide revenue from ERVs will nearly double from $1.6 billion in 2014 to $2.8 billion in 2020.

Along with new standards and regulations, the heightened sensitivity to how the health and comfort of office workers affects productivity is driving increased acceptance of IAQ technologies in more buildings, said Benjamin Freas, research analyst with Navigant Research, per a release. ERVs are growing in popularity because they provide energy-saving benefits without sacrificing IAQ.

Manufacturers consistently deliver new products in high-efficiency categories (as detailed on Page 12), so where do contractors even begin when they are deciphering the options available to them in the high-efficiency arena? Are there certain types of products that are essential? Or, is each situation truly unique?

To try and tackle these questions head-on, members of The NEWS advisory board were presented with a simple prompt: If you were to design a high-efficiency movement/ventilation equipment system, what products would you choose for the job and why?

Those with experience in this highly specialized area of HVAC answered in a variety of interesting ways.

Rob Minnick, CEO and president of Minnicks Inc. in Laurel, Maryland, said he would choose a ductless system, an ERV with bath fans tied into it, and maybe a dehumidifier, if the job required it.

[These options are] more efficient, offer more control for comfort, and there is no duct-loss outside of any ductless system that may have some ducts usually in the bedroom area, he said. The efficiency benefits of both an ERV and HRV are substantial.

HRVs minimize energy loss by taking cooled or heated air and swapping it with exterior air. This process transfers some of the heat or coolness from the internal air to the air entering the space. The issues presented by ERVs and HRVs are often the fact that not all contractors have the knowledge to install them. They can require a great degree of maintenance but when installed and maintained properly, they provide honest value to homeowners.

I often receive similar questions from customers asking what I installed in my house and why, said Travis Smith, owner, Sky Heating and Cooling, Portland, Oregon. Well, when I custom built my house last year, my first priority was my HVAC system. My 3,500-square-foot home in Portland, Oregon, has a WaterFurnace Intl. Inc. 3-ton variable capacity geothermal system with variable-speed pumps and four zones. The system has an air scrubber, Trane CleanEffects whole-house air-filtration system, and a Lifebreath 155ECM HRV for ventilation since the home was very well sealed. The ductwork was sealed with Aeroseal LLC duct-sealing equipment that gave us less than a 10-cfm leakage on the ductwork. We have a WaterFurnace NSW025 geothermal water heating system to provide hot water and a Mitsubishi Electric FH15 ductless system to heat, cool, and dehumidify the garage since its a below-ground garage.

Smiths second home is smaller, at 2,100 square feet, so he didnt go with a geothermal system but still wanted a high-efficiency system in place.

This home has a 2-ton Trane XV18 variable capacity air conditioner with a S9V2 dual-stage gas furnace and a two-zone Trane system. Because this home is in the high desert, we have an Aprilaire steam humidifier and plan on adding a Navien Inc. tankless combi-boiler and a radiant floor for the lower floor of the home. We will also be aerosealing the ductwork soon, but we bought this house and did not custom build it.

When considering high-efficiency options, Russ Donnici, president of Mechanical Air Service Inc. in San Jose, California, believes that equipment selection, as long as it meets the projects requirements, is actually less important than duct sizing and installation quality.

A high-efficiency system has to produce measurable high-efficiency results and be quiet, he said. Branch duct sizing should be 0.07 inch to 0.09 inch of static. In addition, register selection is important since not all registers of the same size have the same net free open area. We select registers for NC [noise criteria] 20-25 rating.

The California Energy Commission requires testing of duct systems to be sure their leakage is 6 percent or less of the systems airflow capacity, so Donnici said his company seals and tests to 3 percent, so they know they are delivering the proper airflow.

We are a Bryant dealer and use the companys variable-speed condensing furnaces and fan coils, he said. In special cases, we may use some Trane commercial equipment or build up a system we design for high efficiency that may need to overcome the pressure drop of high-efficiency particulate air [HEPA] filters. Typically, we would use a Greenheck fan or a similar fan depending on the total external static pressure [TESP] of the system.

Rich Morgan, president, Magic Touch Mechanical Inc., Mesa, Arizona, said his company does quite a bit of work on the home-performance side of the business, and because of that experience, the companys efficiency improvements often include air sealing and other measures that tighten up a homes envelope.

This often means adding a means of mechanical ventilation, said Morgan. We typically opt for an HRV in these scenarios. Most often, we specify the Lennox Intl. Inc. Healthy Climate HRV as weve found them to be reliable, easy to install, and homeowners are both familiar and comfortable with the brand.

Publication date: 5/15/2017

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Contractors Custom Build Their Most Efficient Ventilation Systems - ACHR NEWS

Dallas Fort Worth Texas, MAY 12 2017 The customers have spoken and the results are in, Cowboy Remodeling is simply the best remodeling company in the Dallas Fort Worth area!

The good news is that Cowboy Remodeling has launched their new Website! The Dallas Fort Worth area is lucky to have the quality top notch home remodeling services that Cowboy Remodeling brings to the table.

You might be feeling like its finally time for that much needed bathroom remodeling project? Dont forget about your dream kitchen! If you are looking for a quality re-modeler that wont break the bank, you have found your remodeling company.

Whether the job is big or small Cowboy Remodeling can help you. Perhaps youre just in need of some new hardwood flooring? Whether you need new counter tops, cabinets or flooring, Cowboy Remodeling can service all of these needs for you and more.

What breaks apart Cowboy Remodeling from the rest of the guys is that they really want to do the best job they can for their customers. They want to contribute to your home and they do this by addressing all of your needs. Their seasoned professionals are not only experienced but they value listening to their customers. While many re-modelers just get in and rush to get the job done, you will find that Cowboy Remodeling will take their time to do the best job possible. Cowboy Remodeling doesnt just do bathroom remodels, kitchen remodeling and hardwood remodeling, they also do interior remodeling, outdoor remodeling and floor remodeling. Did I mention the huge selection of products they have to choose from? They offer different types of materials for your counter tops. You can choose from natural stone, ceramic tile, and plastic laminate. Doing your kitchen cabinets? You can choose from prefabricated or custom made. This is just mentioning a few of their options. Check out Cowboy Remodeling for more options to fit your needs.

Remodeling can be a dreaded time in any homeowners life. Between picking colors and different assortments of tiles and hardwood flooring and counter tops you can begin to find yourself on overload. This is good reason to go with a company that prides themselves on customer support and satisfaction. Building long term partnerships is just what they want to do. Remember to pick Cowboy Remodeling for your kitchen remodeling, bathroom remodeling, and other remodeling needs.

Contact Cowboy Remodeling Phone: (469) 518- 7573 Website: https://www.cowboyremodeling.com You can email them on through the contact form on their website. You can also follow them on social media through Facebook and Twitter

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Cowboy Remodeling Announces Their New Website Launching! - MilTech

As Apple employees prepare to move in to their new headquarters, one documentarian is looking back over the past year to show what it took to get them there.

Documentarian Matthew Roberts on Sunday published his latest drone video, recapping progress for the construction of Apple Parkthe official name of Apple's new headquartersover the last 12 months. The video focuses in part on the company's main, ring-shaped building, where most of the 12,000 Apple ( aapl ) employees slated to work there will find their offices. In June, the building, which has been called the "spaceship" because of its design, still didn't have a roof and construction crews were working feverishly to gets solar panels up there.

As the months wore on, however, construction crews made significant progress, and most of the solar panels were sitting atop the building by the end of the year. Now it appears to be nearly completed, if it's not done already.

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Apple Park is the brainchild of late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs and has been under construction in Cupertino, Calif. for the last several years . In addition to the main, 2.8-million-square-foot building, it will have a 100,000-square-foot fitness center, numerous restaurants, and a research-and-development facility, among other facilities. When it's complete, Apple Park will also be surrounded by 9,000 trees, an orchard, a meadow, and a pond. It'll also be completely powered by renewable energy.

After the main building, Roberts took viewers on a tour of a new auditorium Apple has planned, which will be known as the Steve Jobs Theater. However, unlike the main office building, the auditorium's construction progress has been slower, and the 1,000-seat facility is still in full-on construction mode.

Apple Park's massive underground parking tunnel also appears to be under construction, but coming along nicely over the last year. The research-and-development facility, however, is fully completed.

Apple employees are slated to start moving into Apple Park soon. Apple has said that it will likely take six months to move employees into the facility.

Excerpt from:
Watch Apple Park's Construction Progress Over the Last Year - Fortune

By Victoria Mitchell

Elected officials are hopeful that a Class A office building in the central business district will attract daytime foot traffic to support existing downtown businesses. (Rendering by Krieger Klatt Architects; provided by the city of Royal Oak)

Posted May 15, 2017

click to enlarge

Some business owners are concerned that the building would eliminate handicapped parking spots and hinder back-door access to the businesses. (Photo by Victoria Mitchell)

Some business owners are concerned that the building would eliminate handicapped parking spots and hinder back-door access to the businesses. (Photo by Victoria Mitchell)

ROYAL OAK Visions of a city center development including nearly $100 million in buildings and a central park on municipal property took a step toward reality when site plans for a private office building received a green light last week.

On May 9, the Planning Commission unanimously approved a conditional site plan and a special use permit for the Central Park Development Groups six-story office building.

Mike Leinweber, Boji Group vice president of construction services, said the Class A office building a building with the highest quality of construction would include a two-story lobby, offices, retail, retail-related business services, a market/restaurant with an outdoor patio, and a private rooftop terrace.

We are very proud of this building, Leinweber said. We do think that it is a significant step forward in the city, achieving many of the goals in the 2014 vision of some of the things that are needed in the downtown new office space, Class A type of offices. It certainly is a Class A building.

The City Commission established a goal of securing 180,000 square feet of Class A office space by 2020 to generate daytime foot traffic in the downtown.

The building would stand where the Williams Street parking lot exists now in front of City Hall. The structure would span from Second to Third streets to the north and south, and where the current City Hall stands now west to the alley behind existing Main Street businesses like Mr. Bs Pub and Brueggers Bagels & Cafe.

The front of the building would face the current City Hall. For more than a year, the City Commission has been discussing plans to tear down the existing City Hall and Police Department buildings and to replace them with a park. Other plans under consideration include a multistory parking deck and a new City Hall and Police Department.

The development of this building is contingent upon the citys execution of its overall development for the district, and there are elements in that that are important for this building, including the parking deck, Leinweber said.

Royal Oak Director of Community Development Timothy Thwing said plans are in the works.

At some point, the Planning Commission will see potentially the plans for a parking deck, the plans for a City Hall building, as well as a police station, Thwing said. Probably the last thing you will see is the park itself.

The special use permit approved during the meeting applies to the restaurant and outdoor patio that would be on the first floor of the development.

The proposed office building would replace 111 existing parking spaces in the surface lot. Proposed developments within the central business district are exempt from including and providing parking spaces in their plans.

The office building plans show eight private spaces for building tenants at the rear of the building, which would abut the Main Street alleyway. The plans also show that the development is taking 10 feet of the existing 30-foot-wide alleyway.

Thwing said a typical alley in the city is about 20 feet.

The alleyway was a subject of contention for a handful of speakers who came before the Planning Commission during the public hearing portion of the meeting.

Attorney Chris Martella, from Kemp Klein Law Firm, said he represents some of the adjacent property owners to the south of the proposed development.

We cannot look at this in a vacuum, Martella said. He added it is a beautiful project, but his clients have concerns with their business access and handicapped parking accessibility.

The issue of handicapped parking is a concern, Martella said. The existing buildings in the area use the flat lots as both access points and handicapped parking.

Martell said he is concerned that handicapped parking would be moved to the proposed northern parking structure that would abut 11 Mile Road.

Mr. Bs Pub owner John Prepolec said he is concerned about parking for his handicapped customers, along with loss of business that he feels will result from losing the parking lot. He said 65 to 70 percent of his customers use the back door as their entranceway because of the adjacent parking lot.

Its interesting they call it an alleyway, but truthfully, its an entrance, Prepolec said.

His sentiments were echoed by Michael Nash, who owns six buildings on the east side of Main Street that all back up to the existing city parking lot.

This project will have a devastating effect not only on those six buildings, those six tenants, but it will metastasize throughout Main Street, he said.

City Commissioner Sharlan Douglas who also sits on the Planning Commission said she was left shaking her head by those commenting.

For many, many years, downtown restaurants and retailers have been begging, clamoring for daytime tenants, for office workers and people to eat in their restaurants and shop in their stores, and this is a development which 700 people, 20 working days per month, 12 months a year, could generate 168,000 potential lunches in Royal Oak.

Yes, I realize that there are going to be restaraunts that no longer have parking right outside their door, but we are delivering customers that our downtown businesses want, and we are providing parking to accommodate them, she said.

Ron Boji, president of Boji Group and partner in the Central Park Development Group, said the development is expected to house about 700 people at full capacity.

Planning Commission Chairwoman Anne Vaara said that not only would the new office building deliver lunch traffic, but it would also bring catering, dinner and breakfast customers, and opportunities for large-scale meeting spaces.

So there is a tremendous opportunity for growth of the restaurant and retail business in Royal Oak because of this, she said.

The property sale to the Central Park Development Group for the city-owned lot has not been executed.

About the author

Staff Writer Victoria Mitchell covers Royal Oak and Clawson along with Royal Oak and Clawson school districts. Mitchell has worked for C & G Newspapers since 2014 and attended the University of Michigan-Dearborn and Wayne State University. She is a Michigan Press Association award-winner for writing, design and general excellence and in her spare time enjoys volunteering with the Girl Scouts of America.

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Commission approves plan for high-end office building - C&G Newspapers

ST. LOUIS -- Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon isn't done criticizing the slide rule at second base that cost his team a run in Saturday's 5-3 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals. He followed up a postgame rant with a more sarcastic tone on Sunday morning.

"I have some other additions to it," Maddon said. "We should eliminate the headfirst slide. That is a dangerous slide. Your hand could [get hurt], your eye could get poked out. All these different things can occur on a headfirst slide.

"I think face masks should be mandatory for all hitters. And pitchers have been hit in the head by line drives several times, so pitchers should be forced to wear helmets."

Maddon wasn't finished, as he thinks Major League Baseball has gone too far in the name of protecting players due to isolated incidents over the years. On Saturday, Cubs rookie Ian Happ slid into second base to break up a double play but slid a little past the bag, causing the umpires to declare the batter out as well. The inning-ending double play negated a run, as Kyle Schwarber was crossing the plate as Anthony Rizzo was crossing first. Rizzo was subsequently called out.

"I have no idea why these rules are part of our game," Maddon said right after the loss. "There was an out created there. That was just one out they did not have to earn. I totally, absolutely disagree with that. It has nothing to do with safety and protecting the middle infielder."

Maddon took the night to think of other ways the league can keep players safe. Face masks and no headfirst slides were just a couple of his "ideas."

"I thought of other ways for protectionism," Maddon continued. "I think there should be a cage in the on-deck circle so on-deck guys can stand behind the screen and not get hurt.

"I think there needs to be cup checks as players are running on the field in order to prevent the loss of future families."

Maddon indicated he has not heard from the league office about his critiques but wouldn't be surprised if it called him.

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Sarcastic Joe Maddon has 'ideas' for safety rules - ESPN

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Matt Tootle believes Notts County will challenge for promotion next season if they make the right additions in the transfer market this summer.

The Magpies are hoping to be challenging at the top end of League Two under boss Kevin Nolan who is already in the process of making new signings.

He will look to build on the brilliant work he has carried out since January when he inherited a Magpies team that looked dead and buried.

Ten straight league defeats had seemingly made the prospect of non-league football a real possibility given the lack of form.

But Nolan inspired a wonderful turnaround by going on an incredible run of just one home defeat since he took over, and it helped the Magpies secure safety with considerable room to spare.

Defender Tootle now believes the club can build on their brilliant second half to the campaign as they finished it as one of the form teams in the division.

Matt Tootle believes the club can challenge next season.

And with Magpies owner Alan Hardy ready to back Nolan in the transfer market by giving him a top-seven budget, Tootle is excited about the possibilities about what next season has in store for everybody at Meadow Lane.

"When I signed here last summer I probably looked a bit of an idiot to some people because I said we would get promoted," said the former Crewe ace.

"We were third at the start of the season even though we weren't playing very well.

"But the class we had in the team, and the players we had, we knew we weren't playing to our ability.

"But we were winning games because we had that experience and that bit of quality was coming out now and then.

"Then something went wrong over Christmas and I don't know what it was.

"I believe if we still had something to play for then we wouldn't have lost two out of the last three.

"The Pompey game would have been different too if we had been closer to the play-offs.

"So looking at next season with the right additions I think we will be up there.

"I won't look stupid this time by saying it.

"Every team we played, the opposition would say that our team on paper was ridiculously good.

"If we can continue what we were doing and keep sticking to how the gaffer wants us to play, we will challenge I am sure of it."

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Right additions will see Notts County challenge next season, insists defender Matt Tootle - Nottingham Post