Home Builder Developer - Interior Renovation and Design

With housing affordability in sharp focus, owners wishing to either sell or expand their current living spaces will draw inspiration from not two, but three home renovation shows on free-to-air television next year.

Nines The Block will celebrate its 20th anniversary season mid-year, Seven is launching Dream Home with Dr Chris Brown at the wheel, while the ABC is about to deliver Grand Designs Transformations in January.

So much choice for consumers of reality lifestyle television.

Home Beautiful magazine points out that theres something about good home improvement television that turns all of us into expert interior renovators and designers.

Watching the best home renovation shows can easily make us think that a gut kitchen renovation is an easy weekend job, it wrote in its August issue.

No matter the reason you watch, we love spending time seeing a home go from dated disaster to Pinterest-worthy in a mere 30 to 45 minutes.

Plus, its much less stressful than managing your own renovation.

Agreed.

Anthony Burke and Yasmine Ghoniem. Photo: ABC

Heavyweight hosts

These three shows are set to deliver very different formats from execution to finished product, and its looking like the ABCs new lifestyle series may well be the classiest home reno show yet.

Were all familiar with The Blocks chippy Scott Cam and Byron-Bay real estate agent, Shelley Craft, and celebrity vet and Im A Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here! former host Dr Brown.

But who is hosting the ABC series?

Some serious house heavyweights.

Restoration Australias Anthony Burke, a University of Technology Sydney architecture professor, will join founder of one of the countrys trailblazing interior design studios, YSG, Yasmine Ghoniem.

Things are moving so fast in design and architecture at the moment. It is fantastic to see the way issues like sustainability, multi-generational living, tiny homes, recycled homes and more are being explored by Australian homeowners, stepping outside the expected and into the provocative at all scales of building, says Burke.

People are rolling up their sleeves and transforming our ideas of living in Australia, one project at a time.

Ghoneim, who was recently described by the Australian Financial Review as the reigning It girl of interior design, said she was blown away witnessing extraordinary achievements by ordinary people.

Shes lived all around the world, designed bars on barges in Shanghai and celebrity houses in California, fronted rockbands in Sydney and done aid work in Kenya and Vietnam, she revealed in a 2021 Design Files podcast.

She grabs life by the horns, and brings the same fearlessness to her interiors, it wrote.

Ghoniem says she reckons young homeowners watching this ABC series will be inspired to take risks and give it a red hot go when it comes to realising their own renovation dreams.

Theres nothing better than seeing others understand the benefits of good design, listen to their gut and go for it, she says.

Tumbled marble, Gaillo Sienna and Toledo Marble, European Linen, Kimono silk and honed travertine were some of the materials used in Ghoniems Palm Beach, Sydney interior design job. Photo: YSG Studio

Whats different about ABC show version of The Block?

Having endured three-months of The Block resulting in childhood sweethearts Steph and Gian taking home $1.7 million in prize money we know the tried and true format.

Screen-tested couples are curated from thousands of applications Australia-wide to turn up for three months and transform a rundown dwelling into a state-of-the-art living space.

Manufactured dramas and tensions on building sites, heavily sponsored content from car companies and fast-food outlets dominate, and dozens of tradies in utes turn up to lay foundations, water-proof bathrooms and carry in marble slabs for kitchen benches.

Carpets, furniture, cushions and throws and artwork are often already curated from The Block Shop, Schots Home Emporium, Freedom Furniture and Beacon Lighting (to name a few).

Not so on the ABC version.

Yes, there will still be ordinary Australians wanting to live the dream of home ownership or already own their homes (or businesses) and need inspiration for their DIY jobs and improvements.

The new co-hosts will also provide insight, expert advice, and the odd shoulder to cry on, just like the others do (and will do in Browns case).

Burke and Ghoniem may well be going next level though, in renovation and design influence.

Theyll be tasked with overseeing a Moroccan oasis in the Blue Mountains, a pink palace on Queenslands Gold Coast, a French-inspired convict cottage in Tasmania and a low cost eco retreat on Victorias Mornington Peninsula.

Each episode will showcase two unique stories and two stunning home reveals be it interior design, renovation, or a landscaping makeover.

Sunset Onyx, Calacatta viola, Lapis blue granite, Isernia stone and American white ash were materials used for Ghoniems Darlinghurst project. PhotoYSG Studio

Ghoniem will deliver a masterclass

If her body of work is anything to go by, these home renovators are in for an absolute treat.

In an opinion piece for realestate.com.au, Ghoniem, whose formative years were spent in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia before studying interior design at the Savannah College of Art and Design in America, said that she was often asked at dinner parties what she did for a living.

Oh, well, Im an interior designer.

Oh cool, really? So, you pick pillows and stuff right?

Yep, exactly. I pick pillows and stuff, she wrote, sarcastically.

Industry labels like interior designer and interior decorator have been used interchangeably for years and they shouldnt.

Im here to set it straight and clear confusion surrounding an industry which so many Australians are obsessed with but, understandably, know so little about.

She said, at its heart, interior design is the art and science of understanding peoples behavioural patterns in order to create functional spaces for them.

Designers apply their technical skills, including drafting documentation for computer-aided design (CAD) programs, to provide a response to a persons life, home culture, dwelling and local surroundings.

Dr Chris Brown will help.

Browns reno show

Meanwhile, at the Seven networks recent Upfront showcase for 2024, Brown will be hosting Dream Home.

These will be the greatest home transformations Australia has ever seen, he told a converted audience, addingthat contestants will help each other renovate each others homes, turning their own somewhat basic house into their very own dream home.

They battle it out room by room, and someone wins a big prize.

James Warburton, Seven West Media managing director and chief executive, told The West Australian the series will be a very emotional one for viewers.

It really goes towards what the name suggests: peoples ability to completely renovate their home into their absolute dream outcome, he said.

He said it will be a very different to The Block.

Its not a reality show based on renovating something to go to auction to win every single couple in the show wins, in terms of the fact they will actually end up with their very own dream home.

But, it may well be Grand Designs Transformations that win the design prize.

Read more from the original source:
ABC home renovation show set to outclass The Block and Dream ... - The New Daily

It should come as no surprise that after months, if not years, of rumours and leaks, that Grand Theft Auto 6 really is happening. A decade after GTA V first released on console, Rockstar Games has finally confirmed it will be premiering the trailer for its highly anticipated sequel in December, just in time for the companys 25th anniversary.

Given the accolades awarded to GTA V, having sold more than 185 million copies across three console generations, a new GTA is a big deal. Not just for the game itself and the countless hours were all likely to lose to it, but because Rockstar has such a high bar of quality that it sets a new standard for the industry.

We dont know how much of GTA 6 well get to see next month, though its hardly surprising that itll continue the series cycle of climbing your way up the criminal underworld while stealing cars and fleeing from the cops. But where else could it go from there? Heres six things wed like to see the series do next.

Sure, the appeal of GTA is the freedom to explore a huge open world made up with diverse terrain and neighbourhoods. On that, Vs Los Santos is probably Rockstars largest and greatest accomplishment. But rather than trying to top that, what if GTA 6 reined in the overall square feet in favour of something with more depth?

Theres an opportunity for a denser and more detailed environment, something a little more like the Yakuza / Like A Dragon series. You can grow familiar with the environments and denizens populating it. There could be a lot more interior locations as well, rather than just a lot of buildings that are little more than set dressing to drive past.

This may be unlikely, given the demands for any sequel to be bigger than the one before it. And to be fair, a game reliant on car chases and air travel works best with more space to play in. Still, we wouldnt rule this possibility out if reports are true that GTA 6 will be returning to Vice City, which is one of the smallest maps in the series.

Critics had already called out some of GTA Vs juvenile tone back when it first released. A decade later, its clear a lot of it hasnt aged too well. You might argue that bleak, nihilistic no-holds-barred satire of America has been an integral part of the series identity (with the exception of a 60s era mission pack set in London released for the very first game). But unless youve been in an underground bunker all this time, a lot has changed. How do you satirise the world, and America especially, when the real world itself is beyond satire?

Rockstar is definitely capable of more thoughtful and mature narratives when going by the Red Dead Redemption series. Even Michaels arc in GTA V had depth as a retired thief going through a mid-life crisis. But we can surely all agree the series misogynistic undercurrent has no place today. Thats not to say the next game shouldnt have strip clubs, because this is after all an adult game dealing with the murky criminal underworld. But can it find something interesting to say about sex work that isnt just crude titilation?

If GTA 6 follows its predecessor and gives us multiple protagonists, it should surely be a given that one of these should be a woman. But even if it goes back to one protagonist for a more focused narrative, why not be a woman?

Just looking at television in recent years, weve had excellent portrayals of powerful, dangerous, complicated, compelling female characters caught on both sides of the law, such as Killing Eve, Orange is the New Black and Yellowjackets. Theres no reason why GTA 6 couldnt also raise this bar in games, instead of continuing to fall back on tropes from films from decades past.

Not only would it add a new perspective and feel to a usually testosterone environment, but it might also open up new ways of thinking about how we interact with GTA 6 that isnt just macho shooting and blowing things up.

GTA V gets a lot of praise for how reactive its non-player characters (NPCs) are, sometimes giving the impression they have their own lives even if you werent there. Theres definitely room to expand on this. Instead of just one button where youd basically just shout at or harass passersby, it would be great if GTA 6 adopted Red Dead Redemption 2s system where you have different interactions to choose from that arent just misanthropic by default.

We dont expect this to suddenly be a wholesome game. But look, lifes hard, even for gangsters. If youve already got problems with the law, it doesnt mean the whole city has to be insufferable. Imagine playing in a city that you actually want to spend time in and not just turn into a dumpster fire for kicks. That said, we dont want to rule out some mischief, just like how GTA 4 let you shove pedestrians, wed still like the choice to be nice, and nasty.

A reason why GTA V has continued to keep selling so many copies years later is arguably down to GTA Online, and as such pretty much all updates have been geared towards this side as players continue coming back to Los Santos to build their own criminal empires and just let loose in the city as the ultimate digital playground.

Of course, its easy to forget that the online mode had many teething issues when it first launched and despite its success, its actually far from a user-friendly online game to get into, and we just mean the messy structure and systems rather than other players trying to mow or gun you down. We wont be surprised if an online mode is prioritised to be part of GTA 6s package from the get-go.

But while it might be sensible to have both solo and online integrated as one, we think its best to keep the two separate. Given Rockstars penchant for authored narratives, we cant imagine anything worse than having a memorabnle story beat interrupted by notifications of online events or other players getting in the way. Also, is it too radical to suggest not every game has to be always online?

Past GTAs have already had customisable vehicles, and the choice to customise character clothes and haircuts, but what about properties? Whether you start out in a squalid flea-bitten studio apartment or a penthouse by the beach, why not have the freedom to deck it out in a way to make it your own and not just a few prescribed themes?

Were not saying it has to be The Sims, but if youre going to have to shell out millions on a house, then heck, wed like the freedom to be our very own interior decorator. And no, we dont mean just decorating the walls with the blood and guts of our enemies.

Read more:
6 things we want to see in Grand Theft Auto 6 - Stuff

On October 11, 360 Painting, a Chelsea business specializing in a range of painting services, celebrated a significant milestone with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at Ugly Dog Distillery.

Phil DeWester, the owner of 360 Painting along with his wife Debbie, took the opportunity to share the scope and philosophy of his company. "We are a local painting company providing interior and exterior painting, including cabinet refinishing and deck staining to residential and commercial customers," he stated.

The celebration also served as an acknowledgment of the company's expansion and one-year presence in the Dexter and Chelsea communities. Phil and Debbie acquired 360 Painting of Ann Arbor in 2017 and have since broadened its reach, which now extends from Chelsea to Canton and as far north as Novi.

DeWester shared insights into their decision-making process, emphasizing the personal drive that led to their involvement in the home services sector. When evaluating different business opportunities, Debbie and I found that we had a lot of passion for home services," he recalled. The duo's experience with home renovations underscored the need for dependable contractors, which drives their company's commitment to exceptional customer servicea commitment that has earned them numerous five-star Google reviews and the confidence to offer a top-tier 2-year warranty.

The ceremony was supported by the Chelsea Area Chamber of Commerce and hosted by Ugly Dog Distillery.

Photos courtesy of CACC

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360 Painting Marks Expansion with Ribbon-Cutting at Ugly Dog ... - thesuntimesnews.com

AUGUSTA, Ga. Workers with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District, at J. Strom Thurmond Project have begun work to inspect and re-paint approximately 50 miles of the existing boundary line trees with bright orange paint, normally a 4-inch band around half of each tree. The work will continue through the autumn and winter and wrap up before spring arrives.

R&D Maintenance Services, a contractor with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, uses bright orange paint to make boundary line witness trees more visible and easier to identify, as well as trimming heavy brush to clear the boundary line between witness trees. This routine boundary maintenance does not move present property lines. The work makes existing property lines more visible. Workers scrape old paint off the trees and apply fresh paint on witness trees to mark the boundary line. If in-ground boundary survey pins are not visible, workers will dig where pins were placed to expose them.

This year, crews will start work in Lincoln County near Double Branches Road, by the Knox Boy Scout Camp and end north of Highway 378, near Dunaway. The work will encompass boundary line in Pleasant View Estates, Maxim Village, Maxim, Wells Creek, Lakeview, Long Leaf, Joy Acres, Whitstone, Parton, Azalea and Dunaway Estates Subdivisions and Soap Creek Marina.

Painted trees are a guide to locating the physical boundary pins installed in the ground, Heather Killips, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Thurmond Lake shoreline chief ranger, said. When buying property or planning to build on your land adjacent to public property, a professional survey is a good investment. Monument pins should never be disturbed from their permanent locations. If you dont see a pin, please call our office so we can help you and correct the situation.

Contractors will complete the work on foot with hand tools. In most cases, workers will avoid crossing onto private property. In the event the contractor cannot access public land without first crossing over private property, all efforts will be made to contact the owner for permission, and to avoid impacts to private property. To make the boundary line less obtrusive in adjacent subdivisions, the witness tree blaze width is reduced to 2 inches and painted on one quarter of the tree. The marked trees do not delineate the exact boundary; instead, they witness the approximate boundary line. The exact line can only be located by surveying the monuments and pins.

Its important to know the location of the boundary line when removing trees or vegetation from private property, Killips said. Its illegal to remove trees from public land without a permit. Its like going on your neighbors property and removing their trees. If trees are removed without permission, the penalty can be a combination of fines and a requirement to replace trees.

Adjacent property owners should remove any personal property items which may have wandered across the government line, and pets should not be unattended on public land, especially when workers are present. For questions or concerns call the Thurmond Lake office at 800-533-3478, ext. 1140.

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Boundary Line Maintenance at J. Strom Thurmond Project - sas.usace.army.mil

Starting Jan. 1, Worcester County landfills will increase the tipping fee for dumped refuse from $70 per ton to $80, and add a $20 removal charge for each paint or petroleum-product can.

At the commissioners meeting on Nov. 7, members voted 6-1 to approve a request from the public works department to amend the new fees into the Worcester County Solid Waste Enterprise Funds Fiscal Year 2024 operating budget. Commissioner Joe Mitrecic voted against the change because of the can-dumping fee.

Director of Public Works Dallas Baker said at the meeting that local hauling companies asked for the change in the refuse tipping fee because it would streamline the process.

Right now, when people come up (and) dump their waste, we charge different rates for refuse, for construction demolition, for some various other things, Baker said. The $80 will make it consistent with pretty much 90 percent of the material thats dumped.

As the system is now, after a truck dumps a load that is half refuse and half construction demolition, landfill workers must verify the cost based on the different rates associated with different dumped materials, Baker said. Haulers then have to return to the landfill to pay.

The haulers are interested in trying to get in and out of the landfill as quick as possible, Baker said.

Baker said that the $20 fee for paint and petroleum-product cans comes in response to an increased number of the cans getting dumped at county landfills, while the cans are not allowed to be disposed there.

The fee is an attempt to discourage illegal dumping and also helps pay for the extra labor that landfill workers contribute when theyre forced to remove the cans, Baker said.

Baker said public works would have a proper place to unload the cans without charging the $20 fee.

Mitrecic said that while he agrees with the tipping fee increase, he thinks that the fee would instead motivate contractors to dump cans in municipal trash receptacles instead.

No disrespect to those guys up there on the hill because they do a great job, but I dont really see them jumping out and picking up paint cans as opposed to picking up tires, Mitrecic said.

Tires are not allowed to be dumped in landfills and must be removed as well.

Mitrecic said he would not support the motion because he thinks the paint can problem could be solved another way.

Baker said hauling companies have told him that they try to tell contractors not to put illegal material in dumpsters, but some contractors hide the items under landfill-allowed refuse anyway.

Weve been having commercial haulers bringing in 20 and 40 yard bins half filled with paint cans and dumping them large scale, Baker said.

The Maryland Department of the Environment could fine the landfill if it found that these kinds of cans were being dumped there, he said.

Baker said that if haulers tell landfill personnel they have paint cans, the workers will direct them to another area to drop off the cans, and in that case the haulers would not be charged a fee.

I understand what youre up against but I also understand that if you ever put a 40-yard dumpster out in front of a job site, you could end up with grills, lawn chairs, paint cans and whatever else anybody in the neighborhood happens to have that they want to get rid of, Mitrecic said.

Mitrecic said that educating haulers and contractors would be a better option.

Baker said that public works could send educational letters to haulers, as well as post information on the county website and social media. However, Baker said that recently public works warned a company to stop dumping illegal items, and the company dumped more the next day.

Id much rather take that approach. The message just isnt getting through, Baker said.

Baker said that since the changes goes into effect Jan. 1, contractors and haulers have a two-month buffer to learn about the incoming fee changes, and dumpsters that are currently on construction sites likely wouldnt be affected.

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Worcester County commissioners approve new landfill fees starting ... - Ocean City Today

Good morning. Its Thursday. Well get a look at some of the most popular galleries in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which are about to reopen after a five-year renovation project. Well also find out what the chairman of the House Ethics Committee said about its investigation of Representative George Santos.

To renovate the galleries where it displays European paintings from the 1300s to the 1800s, the Metropolitan Museum of Art first had to clear 130,000 square feet of space almost twice as much as in the entire White House.

That meant moving 679 priceless paintings and 112 other works of art sculptures, furniture, musical instruments, even a sword.

Then a patchwork of drop cloths went down, and a forest of scaffolding went up. Doors were shifted a few feet to the left or the right, improving the sight lines in some of the galleries. About 1,400 skylights on the roof were replaced, many for the first time in 84 years. More than 7,000 glass panels in the ceilings of the 45 galleries were also replaced. Contractors did masonry repairs and repointing on interior and exterior walls. A new heating and air-conditioning system was installed, with more than 5,000 linear feet of ductwork.

All that took five years with a budget of $150 million, and then the art had to be moved back. Redoing the walls took 900 gallons of paint two shades of blue, along with red, purple and gray for the trim. Rehanging the paintings took 10,000 feet of wire.

The ribbon to be cut at a ceremony tonight is 18 feet long.

And, starting Monday, museum goers can climb the marble steps just past the Great Hall and see the Rembrandts and Vermeers.

They are not where they were. Stephan Wolohojian, the curator in charge of the Mets department of European paintings, said the renovation had let the Met reconceptualize the presentation of the collection through a fresh lens.

So now the paintings appear in chronological order. They used to be arranged by nationalities the Italian paintings were grouped together, separate from the Dutch, the French, the German and the Spanish. Were not just throwing everything upside down and seeing where it lands, Wolohojian said. There is real order.

That is not the only change. The galleries have been renumbered, so Gallery 602, for example, is to your left if youre facing the west side of Gallery 601, not ahead and to the right. The Met says the new numbering complements the chronological layout.

The Met managed to do the renovation without closing all the galleries by scheduling the work in phases. Not until March of this year were all 45 galleries off limits to visitors at the same time.

As job sites go, said Michael Dominick, the Mets senior associate building manager for infrastructure, this one was essentially the size of a city block. The panels for the skylights and the ceilings and the ductwork had to be hoisted in by a crane parked on the Central Park side of the Met.

The Met put a premium on efficiency and sustainability. Dominick said the three wings that house the 45 galleries were the biggest energy consumers at the museum. The improved efficiency of the new system is expected to save millions of dollars for the city, which pays the Mets utility bills.

The new heating and cooling system will also save more than 1,700 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions a year, the equivalent of taking 360 automobiles off the streets. The skylights alone will trim the Mets overall carbon footprint by 7 percent, a significant reduction from a change that most visitors will never notice.

The skylight project was high on a list of deferred maintenance and repair work that the Met compiled a decade ago. Dominick said condensation on the old skylights could drip on the ceiling panels and into the galleries. To prevent that, the Met turned the thermostats up to a blazing 120 degrees in the attic, the giant and mostly open space between the skylights and the galleries. Such temperature settings will no longer be necessary.

As for where the paintings went while the renovations were going on, the Met played a game of musical masterpieces, shuffling many to temporary locations in other parts of the museum.

But huge paintings by the 18th-century Venetian Giovanni Battista Tiepolo didnt go anywhere. They couldnt they are too big. One, Triumph of Marius, measures 18 feet by 10 feet and is the largest item in the European painting galleries. The Tiepolos never came off the walls the Met painted around them, very carefully.

Weather

Enjoy some sunshine and high temperatures in the low 60s during the day. Temperatures will dip in the evening to the mid-40s.

ALTERNATE-SIDE PARKING

In effect until Nov. 23 (Thanksgiving Day).

The House Ethics Committee will not push to expel Representative George Santos.

Representative Michael Guest, the chairman of the ethics panel, said it would not make a recommendation on Santoss fate. Attempting to do so would have lasted well into next year, he said.

Beyond that, Guest, a Republican from Mississippi, said he would not characterize the committees findings.

He said the committees report, which could be released as early as today, would provide House members the information they need to decide on whether a penalty is appropriate for Santos. The panel has been investigating a range of allegations of criminal and ethical violations, including accusations that Santos fraudulently obtained unemployment benefits, failed to properly file financial disclosures, sexually harassed an employee and violated conflict of interest laws.

Santos has already survived two expulsion attempts in the House, the second just two weeks ago, when a group of New York Republicans pushed for a floor vote. That measure was soundly defeated, with numerous Democrats voting not to expel Santos on the grounds that removing him while an ethics investigation and a criminal proceeding were underway would set a dangerous precedent.

On Wednesday Representative Nick LaLota, a Republican from New York, said that he would reintroduce a motion to expel Santos once the ethics committees report had been made public and his colleagues had been given a chance to absorb it. He said he expected the revived resolution to have a better chance of passing.

Santos has resisted calls for his resignation and has pleaded not guilty to charges stemming from a 23-count federal indictment that includes allegations of money laundering, wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.

METROPOLITAN diary

Dear Diary:

It was summer 1980, and I was a 19-year-old college student working as a part-time teller for what was then Greater New York Savings Bank at a branch in Flatbush.

I worked around 20 hours a week, earned $3.35 an hour and, as I recall, took home around $45 in a typical week. Because I lived at home, that was good money.

My hours included working on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. One Saturday, I was told another teller was needed at a different branch. To make the assignment more palatable, my manager gave me $5 for lunch and $20 for a taxi.

Never one to miss an opportunity, I went to the deli next door and bought a bagel with cream cheese for $1 and a soda for 50 cents. Then I got on the subway for 60 cents.

Needless to say, after that I always volunteered to travel to other branches when a fill-in was needed. The other tellers just couldnt understand it.

Rudyard F. Whyte

Illustrated by Agnes Lee. Send submissions here and read more Metropolitan Diary here.

Glad we could get together here. See you tomorrow. J.B.

P.S. Heres todays Mini Crossword and Spelling Bee. You can find all our puzzles here.

Kellina Moore and Ed Shanahan contributed to New York Today. You can reach the team at nytoday@nytimes.com.

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The Met Gives Its European Galleries a Fresh Look - The New York Times

The Richland County Land Bank will host a contractor meeting in partnership with the Ohio Department of Development on Dec. 5 at 4 p.m.. Contractors interested in working with the Land Bank on Lead Safe Ohio projects are encouraged to attend. The meeting will take place at 50 Park Ave. East in Mansfield in the Lower Level 1 meeting room.

MANSFIELD Amy Hamrick has spent the last 10 years leading the agency that tears down blighted structures across Richland County.

But the manager of the Richland County Land Bank could hardly contain her enthusiasm talking about the agencys newest projectone she hopes will prevent blight before the need to eliminate it.

The Richland County Land Reutilization Corporation, more commonly known as the Land Bank, has been allocated $1.358 million from the Ohio Department of Developments Lead Safe Ohio Program.

Hamrick said the Land Bank will use the money to fund exterior rehab projects at homes and other facilities across the county. Rehab projects can include replacing siding, windows, exterior doors, roofs, downspouts, gutters, exterior trim, fascia or soffit.

Funding can also be used to repair or replace porches.

But the project isnt a blank check for renovations any work done must mitigate the presence of lead.

Lead-based paint was commonly used in home construction and remodeling until was banned by the U.S. government in 1978 over health and safety concerns. Thus, its likely features like wood siding and windows have been covered with lead-based paint in older homes.

Residential properties, including both owner-occupied and rental units, can have up to $50,000 of lead-safe renovations covered. Childcare centers and congregate care facilities are capped at $100,000.

Theres a huge need for it, Hamrick said. Windows have been described to me as the most dangerous because every time you open and close the window, youre grating that lead paint and turning it into powder.

Hamrick said she hopes the program can help prevent some of Richland Countys older structures from ending up on the Land Banks demolition list.

Theres been a lot of questions, Well, why cant you save more of these houses? Hamrick said. By the time they get to me, theyre so bad they cant be saved.

So it is exciting to think OK, this is our way to do some prevention.'

Owner-occupants and owners of residential rental property, daycare facilities and congregate shelters can apply for the program if their building was constructed before 1978.

The Lead Safe Ohio program requires the Land Bank to prioritize households with an income at or below 80 percent of the average median income.

However, a household with a higher income can be eligible if the owner can document housing insecurity. For the purpose of the Lead Safe Ohio program, housing insecurity is defined as an uncertainty of the homes safety and concern that occupants could be jeopardized due to lead-based paint concerns.

Hamrick said the Land Bank will consider every qualified applicant, but will prioritize households with children. Applicants will also have to demonstrate they are current on their bills.

I know were going to get bombarded with applications, Hamrick said. Were going to look at the same things we look at when transferring land.

You cant have unpaid taxes. Youve got to be current on utilities.

Property owners will have to apply for the program and agree to work with one of the Land Banks pre-approved contractors in order to be accepted. The Land Bank will pay contractors directly for the work.

All contractors will need to be Renovation, Repair and Painting (RRP) certified.

Hamrick said she is still finalizing the application form, but it will be available soon at the Land Banks website. Paper copies will also be available at the land bank office.

The application period begins Dec. 11. There is no deadline for applications. Hamrick said the Land Bank will accept them on a rolling basis.

Hamrick also said the grant requires the interior and exterior of a property be tested for lead after the project is complete. The cost of testing and pre-cleaning the home, as well as administrative fees from the land bank will be included in the $50,000 and $100,000 limits.

Im going to hire someone to go in and professionally clean the entire house to get it to the standard that it needs to be at (before the testing), Hamrick said.

The Lead Safe Ohio program is funded by the American Rescue Plan Act through the State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund. All funds have to be spent by Feb. 28, 2026.

Hamrick said she isnt worried about the deadline.

I think were going to run out of money long before were going to run out of applications, she said.

Lead was a common ingredient in home paint and other home construction materials through the late 1970s. Its now known to have serious health impacts if ingested, especially for children.

According to the Ohio Department of Health, even small amounts of lead can cause learning and behavior problems in children. Lead is most harmful to children under the age of 6 and can also be dangerous to a baby during pregnancy.

The housing study released earlier this year found that Richland County has a disproportionately older housing stock. About 20 percent of the countys housing units were built before 1939 and another 55 percent were constructed between 1940 and 1979.

Lead wasnt banned from U.S. residential paints until 1978.

According to the Ohio Department of Health, dust from deteriorating lead-based paint is the most common cause of lead exposure for children.

Children can also be exposed by putting pieces of chipped paint in their mouth, as well as licking or chewing on painted surfaces. Lead can also leach into soil or out from lead pipes into drinking water.

Health experts say there is no safe level of lead in a childs blood. Even at low levels, exposure can lower IQ, cause attention disorders, make it difficult for a child to pay attention in school, delay growth, impair hearing, and more.

Richland Public Health offers free lead testing for children 6 months to 6 years old through its public health clinic as part of the Healthy Homes Program.

Click here for more information on lead poisoning in children from Richland Public Health.

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Richland County Land Bank to get $1.35 million in Lead Safe Ohio ... - Richland Source

For Immediate Release

WASHINGTON,Nov.16, 2023Today,theAmerican Immigration Counciljoins over100business organizations, including chambers of commerce and trade associationsthroughout the country,tocall on Congress to remove the current barrier to getting asylum seekers work permitsquickly. Thelettercalls for the waiting period to be reduced from the current 180 mandatory days to30 daysandadditionalfunding for United States Citizenship and ImmigrationServices(USCIS) for faster work permitprocessing.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are9.6million job openings, withan estimated6.5million peoplecurrentlylooking for work.Businesses are struggling with unprecedented worker shortages, especially in industries such as durable goods manufacturing, transportation, accommodation and food, wholesale and retail, and leisure and hospitality.

This letter wasorganized in partnership with the Refugee Advocacy Labandwasreleased alongsideagrowingmovementacross the countryledbygroupsincludingthe Asylum Seekers Advocacy Project, American Immigration Lawyers Association, and Refugees Internationalcalling for Congressional solutions to allow asylum seekers to get to work more quickly.

The following is a statement fromRich Andr, Director of State and Local Initiativesat the American Immigration Council:

Across the country, there are too many open jobs without enough workers to fill them. There is a solution in plain sight: let asylum seekers work quickly. The current barrier is statutory,and it requires Congress to act. There are several proposals currently introduced in Congress thatreduce the waiting period for asylum seekers to obtain work permits from180 daysto 30 and fund work permit processing so USCIS can increase its capacity to quickly process employees work permit renewals in the future. We urge Members of Congress to pass legislation that would make these crucial and critical changes that will bolster the workforce, allow businesses to grow, and further strengthen our economy.

The following is a statement from Kate Brick, Director of the Refugee Advocacy Lab at Refugees International:

As local economies face historic labor shortages, there is noreason whypeople seeking asylum must wait six monthsand often longerto access the workforce.Itsa loss for people who want toprovide fortheir families, for their communities, and for the businesses across the country who need their talent. There are clear, straightforward solutions on thetable,and we cannot afford for Congress to waste any more time in getting them across the finish line so people can get to work.

The following is a statement from Misty Chally, Executive Director of the Critical Labor Coalition:

The workplace looksvery differentthan it did pre-pandemic anditsputting an extra strain on business owners in service-related industries. Restaurants,hotelsand convenience stores are just a few of the industries struggling to fill positions which require employees to work in person. Lowering waiting periods for asylum seekers to receive work permits will help fill those positions, lower the demand for state and federalassistanceand strengthen our economy. Employers need workers and asylum seekers want to work thisshouldntbe a political issue.

Letter signatories include:

American Arab Chamber of Commerce

American Hotel and Lodging Association

Asian American Chamber of Commerce Pittsburgh

Austin Chamber of Commerce

Bartell Georgalas & Juarez LPA Co.

Berry, Appleman & Leiden

Biddeford & Saco Chamber of Commerce

Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance

Chamber of Commerce of Eastern Connecticut

Chehalem Valley Chamber of Commerce

Coalition of Franchisee Associations

Critical Labor Coalition

Dallas Regional Chamber

Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce

Detroit Regional Chamber

EthiopianTewahedoSocial Services

Euclid Chamber of Commerce

Fifth Group Restaurants

Findlay-Hancock County Chamber of Commerce

Flint & Genesee Chamber

Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce

Greater Houston LGBTQ+ Chamber of Commerce

Greater Houston Partnership

Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce

Greater Louisville Inc. -The Metro Chamber of Commerce

Greater Phoenix Chamber

Greater Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce

Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce

Hispanic Chamber Cincinnati USA

Holderbaum's Painting Inc.

Houston Hispanic Chamber of Commerce

Houston Northwest Chamber of Commerce

Hudson County Chamber of Commerce

Kentucky Chamber of Commerce

Lancaster Chamber of Commerce and Industry

Lansing Regional Chamber of Commerce

Latin American Chamber of Commerce Charlotte

Lewiston Auburn Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce

Longview TX Chamber of Commerce

Maine Society of Certified Public Accountants

Maine State Chamber of Commerce

Michigan West Coast Chamber of Commerce

Middlesex County Regional Chamber of Commerce

Minneapolis Regional Chamber

National Restaurant Association

National Retail Federation

New Jersey Business Immigration Coalition

New Mexico Chamber of Commerce

Northern Ohio Area Chambers of Commerce (NOACC)

Ohio Hotel & Lodging Association

Ohio Lawn Care Association

Ohio Life Sciences Association

Ohio Turfgrass Foundation

Opelika Chamber of Commerce

Portland Regional Chamber of Commerce

Quad Cities Chamber of Commerce

Reno + Sparks Chamber of Commerce

Rocky Mountain Mechanical Contractors Association

San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce

San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce

Sandusky County Share and Care

State Business Executives

Texas Association of Business

Texas Business Leadership Council

Texas International Produce Association

The El Paso Hispanic Chamber of Commerce

The Gallegos Corporation

U.S. Chamber of Commerce

U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce

United Corpus Christi Chamber of Commerce

Vail Valley Partnership

Youngstown Warren Regional Chamber

The American Immigration Council has a range of research and other resources, including legal and policy experts available to speak on the subject.

For more information, contact:

Brianna Dimas at the American Immigration Council,[emailprotected]or 202-507-7557.

TheAmerican Immigration Councilworks to strengthen America by shaping how America thinks about and acts towards immigrants and immigration and by working toward a more fair and just immigration system that opens its doors to those in need of protection and unleashes the energy and skills that immigrants bring. The Council brings together problem solvers and employs four coordinated approaches to advance changelitigation, research, legislative and administrative advocacy, and communications. In January 2022, the Council and New American Economymergedto combine a broad suite of advocacy tools to better expand and protect the rights of immigrants, more fully ensure immigrants ability to succeed economically, and help make the communities they settle in more welcoming. Follow the latest Council news and information onImmigrationImpact.comand Twitter@immcouncil.

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More than 100 Business Organizations Sign Onto Council Letter ... - American Immigration Council |

Construction has resumed on 550 Tenth Avenue, a 47-story residential skyscraper in Hells Kitchen, following the fire and partial collapse of its tower crane this summer. Designed by Handel Architects and developed by Gotham OrganizationandGoldman Sachs Asset Management JV, the 520-foot-tall structure will span 430,000 square feet and yield 453 rental units, with 137 reserved for affordable housing, as well as 9,000 square feet of lower-level retail space, over 20,000 square feet of amenities, and 26,764 square feet of administrative office space for Covenant House. GO Covenant LLC is the owner and Monadnock Construction is the general contractor for the property, which is located along Tenth Avenue between West 40th and 41st Streets.

YIMBY captured the new crane in full operation, busily lifting materials to the highest floors of the rising superstructure. The floor-to-ceiling windows and bronze-hued panels have also made significant progress since our last update back in late May, when the envelope was just beginning to clad the multi-story podium, and the tower was roughly halfway up. Topping out could likely happen sometime this winter.

Photo by Michael Young

Photo by Michael Young

Photo by Michael Young

Photo by Michael Young

Photo by Michael Young

Photo by Michael Young

Photo by Michael Young

Photo by Michael Young

Photo by Michael Young

Photo by Michael Young

Photo by Michael Young

Photo by Michael Young

Photo by Michael Young

Photo by Michael Young

The fire on July 27 caused the collapse of the cranes 180-foot-long boom, which then smashed into the reinforced concrete superstructure and fell to the street below. The incident only caused minor damage to some curtain wall panels and the wraparound sidewalk, and several non-life-threatening injuries. No fatalities were reported.

U.S. Cranes is now the new crane operator, replacing the former crane provider, Lomma Crane & Rigging.

The below rendering looks at the southwestern corner of the podium, showing the residential entrance situated along Tenth Avenue beneath a sidewalk canopy and an inward-sloping wall of glass that runs up to the podiums rooftop amenity level.

550 10th Avenue. Rendering by ATCHAIN

Residential amenities will include a second upper-level lounge with an adjacent outdoor sky deck providing expansive views of the Empire State Building, Hudson Yards, and sunsets over the Hudson River. The podium will also have additional amenity spaces for social, leisure, and health and fitness activities.

The closest subways from the property are the A, C, and E trains at the 42nd Street-Port Authority Bus Terminal station, which offers an underground transfer to the 42nd Street-Times Square station servicing the 1, 2, 3, 7, N, Q, R, W, and Shuttle train to Grand Central Station. Also nearby is the 7 train at the 34th Street-Hudson Yards station to the south.

550 Tenth Avenue is anticipated to be completed in June 2025, as noted on site.

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Work Resumes on 550 Tenth Avenue After Crane Collapse in Hell's ... - New York YIMBY

Kaplan Companies has beat back two appeals to block its plan to replace a defunct Frys Electronics store in Woodland Hills with a 1.2-million-square foot hotel and housing project.

The Los Angeles City Planning Commission voted to reject the appeals against the Houston-based developers 8.8-acre project at 6100 North Canoga Avenue in the Warner Center, Urbanize Los Angeles reported.

The appeals by the West Valley Alliance for Optimal Living and Jeff Bornstein, who both hired the same lawyer, argued the project needed further environmental review. They also wanted the developer to give land for a park, rather than pay fees to the city.

The 114,000-square-foot Frys closed in early 2021 during a shutdown of 31 stores by the San Jose-based electronics retailer, which went out of business. Kaplan bought the site a year earlier for $48 million.

The mixed-use project, to be called District at Warner Center, would include two 11-story apartment buildings with 852 units and a 2,200-square-foot market. A 12-story building would house a 204-room hotel and bistro.

The complex, to be built in three phases, would include parking for 1,400 cars. Construction would take four years.

The project, designed by Orange-based AO, would include 316 live/work units surrounded by plazas and greenery. A project site plan shows two courtyards with pools.

District at Warner Center would be built across Canoga Avenue for the former Anthem Blue Cross office building, which Los Angeles Rams owner Stan Kroenke bought last year for $175 million.

Kroenke has since proposed turning its parking lot into a temporary practice facility for the Rams ahead of the potential redevelopment of 96 acres he acquired in Warner Center.

Kaplan Companies, doing business as Kaplan Multifamily, has offices in Irvine and Phoenix, according to its LinkedIn page. Since it was founded in 1978, Kaplan has developed, managed or bought more than 35,000 apartments.

Dana Bartholomew

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Kaplan Survives Appeals Against Woodland Hills Development - The Real Deal