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DURHAM -- State officials inspected Eagles Landing after North Carolina Central asked the state to buy the privately-owned dorm. Inside, they found trash dangerously packed into a garbage chute, which they called a fire hazard, sprinklers that did not work, and water damage. In a letter to the director of Durham's Inspections Department, officials from the State Construction Office said, "Regardless of whether the state purchases Eagles Landing or chooses not to...there needs to be immediate correction of all life safety items by the private owner." "We, of course, believe the building is safe," said Rosalind Fuse-Hall, who is with the NCCU Real Estate Foundation, which is the group that owns the dorm.
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A huffing and puffing wolf could not blow this house down even if, as the nursery rhyme once reported, eating three plump pigs cowering inside were his reward. He wouldn't get in because the home has 10-centimeters thick concrete walls, which is roughly 9 times stronger than a wood framed home, Conrad Hoeppner, territorial manager of LOGIX, a firm that makes insulated concrete form homes, said. Insulated concrete forms (ICF) have been around for 30-odd years but are relatively new in the city of Winnipeg, especially when used to build a home from foundation to rafters. Only about 6 homes have been built in Winnipeg with such technology -- it's more popular in rural areas -- but the future may bring more. "The foam has several advantages," Dave Penner, who is building his raised bungalow on Headmaster Row in North Kildonan with this technology, said.
SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Seattle-based developer LEXAS Companies, which is developing the luxury 30-story ESCALA condominium tower in downtown Seattle, has closed on its $175 million construction loan, the final stage in the project's capitalization. The condominium development loan from Southern California-based Fremont Investment & Loan paves the way for construction of ESCALA, which will be built at the southeast corner of Fourth Avenue and Virginia Street. The 850,000-square-foot ESCALA will be Seattle's largest condominium development. Fremont Investment & Loan's San Francisco/Bay Area office arranged the ESCALA loan. "We feel that this project represents everything a lender wants to see: experienced developers, significant sponsor commitments and a thorough business plan supported by sound underwriting and real estate principals," says Nancy Sulse, VP, Regional Manager of Fremont.
Although the construction industry has made remarkable improvements in its safety performance in recent years, accidents involving renovation and maintenance works rose 17.4% to 290 cases in the first quarter of this year. Speaking at the opening ceremony of the Safe Working at Height Promotional Campaign 2006 today, Permanent Secretary for Economic Development & Labour Matthew Cheung said the recovery of Hong Kong's economy had led to more industrial incidents. Although the number of industrial accidents in the construction sector dropped 3% to 677 in the first quarter, the accident rate per thousand workers has grown 13.5% from 42.2 to 47.9. Mr Cheung said four fatal accidents concerning renovation and maintenance works were related to work-at-height in truss-out scaffolds last year while two such cases were recorded so far this year.
When Kara Homes filed for bankruptcy this month, Amboy National Bank of Old Bridge was listed as the largest creditor with $58.2 million in loans.
When local real estate mogul Solomon Dwek's $400 million empire was frozen by a judge following charges of bank fraud, Amboy was again the largest creditor for $49.7 million. Just as Amboy has been surprised by the loans gone bad, a real estate market in decline could spell financial trouble for other local banks and thrifts that have lent heavily for housing developments and commercial real estate, bank analysts and federal regulators say. Industry analysts recall the savings-and-loan crisis from the late 1980s and worry that a new round of bank bloodletting could start if a once-robust real-estate market founders.
Granite Construction Inc. is part of a joint venture team that was awarded a $420 million design-build project in Missouri, the company said Tuesday. Watsonville-based Granite (NYSE:GVA) said its wholly-owned subsidiary, Granite Construction Co., is collaborating with St. Louis-base Fred Weber Inc. and St. Charles-based Millstone-Bangert Inc. on the project for the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission. .
Thirty-five construction workers died in 1970 when a section of the bridge collapsed and fell 50 metres to the ground and water below. A minute's silence was observed near the site of the collapse at Douglas Parade at 11:50am AEST. Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) Victorian state secretary Martin Kingham says the tragedy marked the beginning of a long campaign by unions to protect workers' rights. "The improvements ... haven't been given to us on a silver platter," he said. "Every improvement in workers' rights and health and safety we've had to fight for point by point, day by day, and it's an ongoing situation." .
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