Crime Ring Linked to Construction Site Thefts in Southwest
Authorities in Ventura County, Calif. report that deputies have arrested 28 people in connection with a crime ring that has been operating out of the Los Angeles area for more than three years and has stolen millions of dollars in equipment from construction sites and businesses in nine Western states. About 215 victims were identified in 67 cities. Thefts ranged from hand tools to $20,000 concrete cutters and buyers for the stolen property were found at swap meets and pawn shops. Coinciding with today’s home building boom, 963 pieces of construction equipment were reported stolen in California last year, up from 472 pieces in 2000, according to the Crime Prevention Program of Southern California. In the first three months of this year, the group says that 293 pieces of equipment worth about $5 million were stolen; 116 of those were recovered. (www.chicoer.com)
ChicoER.com (8/23/05); Alex Veiga, AP
[Return to top]
Rents Head Up as Home Prices Put Off Buyers
Rents are rising again across the country, fueled in part by some people in expensive metropolitan areas where home prices have soared deciding to rent instead of buy. Rents in about 85% of large metro areas have climbed in the last year, according to San Francisco research group Global Real Analytics; in late 2003, rents were falling in 85% of those locations. Average rents nationwide rose 2.5% this spring from the spring of 2004, the group said, after falling 4.5% from 2001 to 2003. Nationwide, the vacancy rate for rentals fell to 9.8% in this year’s second quarter; the rate climbed to 10.4% in early 2004, its highest level since the Census Bureau began tracking vacancies in 1956. Over the past year, rents have continued to decline in the San Francisco Bay Area, Dallas, Denver and Memphis, but they have been rising in Seattle, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Kansas City, Cleveland, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. Average rents had been rising only in the hottest markets like New York, Southern California and South Florida. (www.nytimes.com)
New York Times (8/25/05); David Leonhardt, Carolyn Marshall and Vikas Bajaj
[Return to top]
Nation Faces Cement Shortage
Prices for cement in Pittsburgh have been rising in a way never seen in the region before, climbing from $75 a ton three years ago to $100 a ton today, with expectations that they will continue rising at least for the next year. Jim Guy, president of Tresco Concrete Products in Export, Pa. said he has been hit with his three biggest cement price increases ever this year and expects more. As a result, he said, concrete prices are up 8%-10% and with the addition of higher fuel costs every construction project is going to be more expensive. “That $3,000 driveway you got a couple years ago is now going to cost you five grand,” he said. Because Pittsburgh hasn’t been growing that aggressively, its supply of cement is okay, unlike places like Florida, where the building material is being rationed by suppliers. A spokesman for Nazareth, Pa.-based ESSROC Cement Corp., which is a division of Italcementi Group, the fifth-largest cement producer in the world, predicts that the tight market for cement should ease in a couple of years. His company is spending hundreds of millions of dollars on a new plant next to its existing one in Martinsburg, W.Va. (www.pittsburgh.bizjournals.com)
Pittsburgh Business Times (8/19/05); Dan Reynolds
[Return to top]
Charter School Decision Delayed; School Board Wary About Home Builder’s Financing for Project
A proposal that could result in the first charter school in Illinois has been sent back to the developer to revise some financial details. Cambridge Homes set up a non-profit corporation to oversee the $18 million construction of the school and to be responsible for its finances. The current plan calls for the school district to dip into education funds to repay bonds that could be issued to finance construction of the facility, which would have about 1,000 pupils in kindergarten through eighth grade. Keyvan Izadi, a land-use planner at NAHB, said building charter schools is a growing trend that allows schools to be built in less time and at a lower cost. “That’s why developers are teaming up with educational management organizations,” he said. “They’re working in a collaborative fashion with municipalities as opposed to being adversarial. This is truly the future solution.” (www.chicagotribune.com)
Chicago Tribune (8/23/05); Jamie Francisco
[Return to top]
Eminent Domain Ruling Paves Way for $120M Redevelopment
A state court judge has ruled that Daytona Beach, Fla. may take title to three beachfront properties so that the city of 68,000 permanent residents can pursue a $120 million plan to redevelop its 73-year-old decaying boardwalk area. The judge is requiring the city to make an $8.85 million downpayment and will then require it to pay three businesses what a 12-person jury decides later this year is the final price. He said he based his decision on the recent Supreme Court ruling allowing municipalities to seize and pay fair market value for businesses or homes that are hindering economic development. Under the city’s proposal, Los Angeles developer Bill Geary and his Carlsberg Management Co. would build twin 23-story hotel-condominium towers and develop 50,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space on a five-acre site. Taxpayers have voted to allow Daytona Beach to use about $12 million of public funds to help finance the redevelopment. Lawyers for the affected business say they will appeal the ruling. (www.globest.com)
GlobeSt.com (8/22/05); Alex Finkelstein
[Return to top]
Three Doors Down; Bigger Garages Gain in Popularity as Number of Cars, Belongings Grow
More and more people around the country are opting for three-car garages, especially in high-end homes, according to NAHB analysts who calculate that nearly two-thirds of new homes have a two-car garage and 19% a garage that can accommodate three cars or more. Stan Custer Jr., president of Custer Homes Inc., a builder in Susquehanna Township, Pa., estimates that the extra garage space costs between $8,000 and $12,000. Between 65% and 75% of the builder’s $450,000-and-up homes have a three-car garage. “One of the big concerns when you go to a three-plus-car garage is trying to design it in such a way that it’s architecturally pleasing,” he said. To add interest to the area in front of the garage, designers are setting one door back from the other two, or staggering all three, according to Custer, and also might vary the height of the doors and the bay. Also, “we’re doing a lot more with wooden carriage-style doors with interesting arched windows,” he said. “There are a lot more options with doors than there were 15 years ago.” (www.patriot-news.com)
Patriot News (8/21/05); Joel Berg
[Return to top]
Private Elevators on the Rise in North Texas
Previously found primarily in the homes of millionaires, residential elevators are now being installed in homes in the 4,500- to 6,000-square-foot range. Although exact numbers are difficult to find because residential elevators aren’t regulated, a 2003 NAHB study of home buyer preferences found that 7% of all new buyers nationwide characterized elevators as a “must.” James Quinly, national residential-elevator sales manager for ThyssenKrupp Access, said that his company in just the first three months of this year has already sold 85% of what it sold in all of 2004, which was a record year. Most of the elevators are 3- by 4-feet and hidden behind what appears to be a closet door. They move 30 to 40 feet a minute. The cost to install an elevator starts at about $12,000, and they are relatively inexpensive to operate, requiring 220-volt service similar to an electric range or clothes dryer. (www.dallasnews.com)
Dallas Morning News (8/25/05); Kristen Holland
[Return to top]
|
