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The RiverPlace condominium project planned for downtown is on schedule for an early 2007 groundbreaking. Developer Richard Preis says his team spent the past 10 months regrouping to assess the rapid increase in construction costs that occurred post-Katrina and Rita and re-engineering the building in an effort to keep costs down. "When you're dealing with a $70 million to $80 million project, there are a lot of moving parts," Preis says. "We want to do this slow and right." There has been no final decision on how tall RiverPlace will be; at one point the tower was set to be taller than the state Capitol. But Preis says the 119-unit development will continue to have all the amenities promised earlier, such as a pool, fitness center and clubroom. "We're going to keep the Windsor Court atmosphere," he says.
WATSONVILLE, Calif., Oct. 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE: GVA - News) announced that it will release its third quarter earnings after the close of business on Wednesday, October 25, 2006. The Company will host a conference call on Thursday, October 26, 2006, at 11:00 a.m. Eastern time. Investors and other interested parties may access the call live by dialing (877) 864-2735 in the U.S. and Canada. For international listeners, dial (706) 634-7039. The conference ID number for the call is 1649271. A live Webcast will also be available via the Internet at www.graniteconstruction.com. The conference call will be recorded and available for replay approximately two hours after the call through November 3, 2006. In the U.S. and Canada, dial (800) 642-1687 or (706) 645-9291.
GASTONIA - Gastonia could take a swing at a "Big League Dream." But first, it would have to find a way to meet the price tag, with estimates starting at $15 million. Big League Dreams is a California-based company that creates replicas of major-league baseball stadiums such as Fenway Park and Yankee Stadium for youth baseball and for softball. The company made a presentation to city and county leaders this month to show what kind of impact a six- to eight-field complex would have on Gastonia. "I think the concept is really good," said Chuck Dellinger, director of the Gastonia Parks and Recreation Department. "It would not take away from the programs we already have." Big League Dreams operates five complexes in California and Texas, and more are in the works, expanding the company into Nevada and Arizona.
Butler County commissioners have narrowed to two the options for a secure entrance to the county Government Center once the new jail is finished. Currently, prisoners who are being moved from the adjoining jail to the Government Center's courtrooms go through a secure hallway and elevator, without having to be traverse public corridors. The new jail, however, will be a block from the courthouse. Commissioners met recently with architects from Kimball & Associates, who designed the prison currently under construction, to discuss a sallyport, a secure entrance for a prison vehicle where prisoners transported from the jail would be received at the Government Center. Kimball recommended the board consider three options. One would use the existing garage at the entrance to the existing prison.
A slowdown in the nation's overheated housing market has some analysts predicting that home construction is dropping into a bottomless chasm. But things may not be as bleak as the pessimists are predicting.
For one thing, the stocks of home building companies are seeing a boom on Wall Street, enjoying a bull run of more than 20 percent since midsummer. Part of the reason: anecdotal reports that a few more buyers are motoring to sales centers at outlying subdivisions.
A fresh reading on the industry occurs Wednesday, with housing starts for September. In August, the level of construction plummeted by 6 percent, a worse showing than analysts were expecting, to an annual rate of 1.665 million units. Watch for a very modest rebound.
Recently, sales of new homes have been running 22 percent below the levels of last autumn, said Mario Ricchio, senior homebuilding analyst for Zacks Investment Research.
You can buy nine homes in "typical middle-management neighborhoods" in Amarillo for the price of one in Beverly Hills, Calif. Home buyers would pay $194,167 here or a cool $1.8 million in Beverly Hills for a standard home, according to an annual Coldwell Banker survey. The Home Price Comparison Index defines typical middle-management digs as homes of approximately 2,200 square feet, with four bedrooms, 2 baths, a family room or equivalent and a two-car garage in neighborhoods that attract corporate, middle-management transferees. "From a cost standpoint, we are actually a good value relative to some other communities when you compare what a person has to pay for a 2,200-square-foot home," said Randy Jeffers, managing broker of the Amarillo Coldwell Banker office. Beverly Hills overtook La Jolla, Calif., as the most expensive market in the United States this year.
Another step forward for the proposed $218 million North Country federal prison project came yesterday, after word from Washington, D.C., that the Federal Bureau of Prisons gave its blessing for construction to commence on the sprawling Berlin site. "It's about time, and you can add some exclamation points to that statement," Berlin Mayor Bob Danderson said last night. Yesterday's action was the culmination of a lengthy environmental impact study of the 500-acre site. The next step is to award a construction contract by spring. Once ground is broken, construction is expected to take about three years. "We are now one step closer to diversifying our economy. The jobs we're creating in the construction phase and the permanent jobs bringing younger people into the community will reverse the tide of the trend we're seeing of so many young people leaving the area for lack of jobs," Danderson said.
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