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A computer-generated image of the proposed Bolands Mill redevelopment. Photograph: Paul Tierney

Plans for a 150 million redevelopment of the historic Bolands Mill site in Dublins Docklands, including the construction of a 14-storey office block, will be lodged with Dublin City Council tomorrow.

The application, which proposes the restoration of the five original, but now derelict, mill buildings, and the construction of three new office and residential blocks, is the first significant plan to be made under the fast-track planning scheme for the Docklands.

The Docklands Strategic Development Zone (SDZ) scheme, approved by An Bord Pleanla last May, allows property owners to secure construction permission from Dublin city planners which cannot be appealed to An Bord Pleanla.

The application is being submitted to the council by Mark Reynolds and Glen Crann of Savills, acting on behalf of Nama. Bolands Mill was previously owned by developer Sen Kellys Benton Properties and a Treasury Holdings company.

The development is one of the largest proposed for Dublin since the crash and would provide almost 30,000sq m of office space for about 2,300 workers, 42 apartments, shops, cafes, restaurants and an exhibition building.

The tallest building proposed would be 14 storeys and 53m in height. A 15-storey apartment block is proposed, but it would be lower in height at 47.8m. The third new building, also an office block, would be 13 storeys and up to 49m.

Under the SDZ scheme a building of 15 storeys is permissible at the Bolands site. Dublins current tallest commercial building, the Google-owned Montevetro building on nearby Barrow Street, is 15 storeys tall, but buildings of up to 22 storeys or 88m could be permitted at two locations in the Docklands development zone at the Point Square on the north side and Britain Quay on the south side.

The principal historic buildings on the site are two six-storey stone warehouse buildings dating from the 1830s, as well as a number of buildings on Barrow Street dating from the 1870s. The mill, which was used during the 1916 Rising, was built for Bolands Bakery and was in use until 2001.

Plans to build three 12- to 16-storey office buildings and a boutique hotel on the site were rejected in 2006 on the grounds they would be out of scale with the area.

TULSA, Oklahoma -

The First Presbyterian Church in downtown Tulsa is taking on another project - the $8 million rehab of an old car dealership and office building.

Donations are covering the hefty price tag, but once the space is leased it could mean even more money for the church's mission work.

After two years of sitting empty, work is underway at 8th and Cincinnati. The scaffolding is up and the top to bottom overhaul is happening on the building that dates back to the 1930s.

"Well, we're leaving it as open as we possibly can. We may be doing some painting and that sort of thing, but everything that we can leave open and original we will, said Steve Caldwell with First Presbyterian Church.

Caldwell said the church already has Cyntergy Engineering signed as a tenant fully taking over the second and third floors, but that leaves four more floors to fill.

He said the goal is to have one tenant per floor to bring in larger companies.

Once the building is complete, the money from the leases will go directly towards supporting the church's mission programs around the city.

Caldwell estimates that to be around $800,000 a year comparing it to investing in the stock market.

"This becomes a mission endowment, only what we've invested in is an office building. That creates a much better return than the other way, Caldwell said.

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Tulsa Church Investing $8M To Rehab Abandoned Downtown Building

Renderings of the new developments. From top left clockwise: 135 Bremen Street, 150 West Broadway, 3521-3529 Washington Street, 319 A

Courtesy of the Boston Redevelopment Authority

By Megan Turchi

Boston.com Staff

November 26, 2014 12:53 PM

If you are looking for housing in Boston, the next few years may be a good time for you. The Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) and Economic Development Industrial Corporation (EDIC) has approved four projects around the city that are set to create 300 new housing units (and about 400 construction jobs) that will cost about $137 million.

The projects include turning an underutilized Jamaica Plain lot into housing and a self-storage facility, creating new housing units near the East Boston Greenway, and demolishing two buildings in South Boston to make a mixed-use building. The other project, in Fort Point, involves a little more rehabilitation.

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The Fort Point building at 319 A Street will be transformed from an office building into 48 residential units with roughly 5,500 square feet of ground floor commercial space.

The building was originally constructed 1914 and Boston Residential Group, LLC wants to preserve the historic brick building instead of tear it down.

Continued here:
Historic Building in the Remaking

WASHINGTON The Commerce Department reports on U.S. construction spending in October. The report will be issued Tuesday at 10 a.m. Eastern.

SALES REBOUND: Economists expect that construction spending rose 0.6 percent in October, according to a survey by data firm FactSet. That would reverse two consecutive months of declines. Construction spending fell 0.4 percent in September and 0.5 percent in August.

Building activity has been slowly improving for much of 2014, although its contribution to broader economic growth has been relatively modest. Homebuilding has increased very slowly, limited by meager wage gains that have barely outpaced inflation. That has cut into the amount of money that people have to spend on homes or rent.

Total construction spending has risen just 2.9 percent over the past 12 months ended in September. Spending on hospitals and health care facilities slid during that period, with the losses being offset by increased office and commercial construction.

Home construction has ticked up a mere 0.7 percent. New-home sales have risen only 1 percent, according to a separate Commerce Department report. Builders are largely targeting wealthier buyers which can boost profits but often means less construction to fuel economic growth. The median price of a new home has risen 15.4 percent in the past 12 months to $305,000, a pace that's more than double the average annual price increase for sales of existing homes tracked by the National Association of Realtors.

Still, builders are hiring at a slightly faster clip than last year. Construction companies are adding an average of 14,000 workers a month so far this year, compared with a monthly average of 11,083 in 2013. The challenge is that stronger hiring and economic growth during 2014 has yet to translate into the wage growth that could further propel construction spending and hiring.

Architectural firms are reporting greater demand for their services, however, a sign that construction spending should improve in the months ahead.

The American Institute of Architects said that its October billings index was 53.7. Any score above 50 indicates that billings increased. A breakdown of the index suggests that municipal governments and non-profits are spending more on architectural designs, after having kept their spending in check during the more than five-year recovery from the Great Recession.

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US construction spending likely rose in October