Envy Apartment

The city of Tampa is on the cusp of a total makeover. With billions of dollars in investment and dozens of new apartment, condo, office and cultural buildings in the pipeline, the city's skyline and surrounding communities are poised to look a whole lot different than what it does today. But dreaming up the future of Tampa doesn't come without its challenges. For all the promises of a new urban core filled with hotels, parks, food halls and stores, there are also potential pitfalls. The Tampa Bay Times identified the five key obstacles that stand in the way of some of the biggest projects proposed in Hillsborough County . Many of these challenges are ones local politicians and business leaders have been fighting for years to find a solution. Others are fairly new territory, but still pose a real threat to the region's continued growth. [LOREN ELLIOTT | Times] A construction site is seen just north of Amalie Arena in downtown Tampa , Fla., on Monday, May 1, 2017. Curr...

Developers could break ground on at least three multifamily housing complexes this year in and around Lombard, village officials say. Bill Heniff, director of community development, said numerous apartment ideas have been brought to the village in recent months -- including the possibility of a 120-unit building being constructed on the site of the old DuPage Theatre -- but only three have completed, or are close to completing, the entitlement process. If those three projects are built, Lombard will be home to 547 new rental units and 100 new townhouse units. A market analysis of the village recently completed by Tracy Cross & Associates shows significant demand for more apartments in the Lombard area. Some factors driving that demand include an increasing number of young professionals who relocate to the area for a year or two at the start of their career. They need somewhere to live that is close to work but don't necessarily wa...

The long retail spine of Sydney Road, Brunswick, just north of Melbourne's CBD, was once a prosperous trading outpost on the way to the goldfields. These days it's a bohemian mix of variety stores, op shops, halal butchers and Lebanese bakeries. Take a side street to the west, however, and a different picture emerges. Sandwiched between Sydney Road and the Upfield train line is an area undergoing rapid and widespread transformation. Light industry is fast being replaced by mid- rise apartment buildings , their inhabitants attracted by the short commute into town and cheaper prices than in the city's south-east. The quality of these units is, on the whole, depressingly bad; think poor ventilation and bedrooms that "borrow" natural light (a weasel word for being dark and windowless). The occasional jazzy façade tries feebly to make up for otherwise cheap construction amid a chorus of greys. At ground level, carpark roller doors alternate with mean pocket garden...

afternoon sun Tuesday in the Sunridge Estates housing development in Pendleton." /> Staff photo by E.J. Harris The concrete foundation for a new home sets in the afternoon sun Tuesday in the Sunridge Estates housing development in Pendleton. Buy this photo Sunridge housing development on Tuesday in Pendleton." /> Staff photo by E.J. Harris Unfinished homes are nearing completion in the Sunridge housing development on Tuesday in Pendleton. Buy this photo Pendleton’s Sunridge Estates could welcome as many as 45 homes over the next few years. The southern Pendleton subdivision off of Tutuilla Road was part of a $660,000 deal with local developer Dusty Pace that the Pendleton City Council unanimously approved Tuesday . Under the deal, Pace would redevelop 13 of the 17 lots and purchase all of them within seven years. Pace plans to re-plat the land into 45 lots and buy them each individually from the city for $15,000 per lot. The $660,000 acts as both a ...

JACKSON, Mich. (WLNS) — Plans are taking shape in Jackson to bring more than 100 new apartments to the downtown area. The downtown Jackson skyline is undergoing a big transformation. Four apartment building projects are in the works, one of which is already under construction. It’s the downtown development that Jackson has been waiting for. “One of the big things we’re trying to accomplish is getting more apartments downtown ,” said City of Jackson Public Information Officer Will Forgrave. The Lofts on Louis development, which is located on Louis Glick Highway , is currently being constructed. When it’s finished, the building will have 30 apartments on the upper floors and businesses on the first floor. Different developers also want to place another apartment building on Jackson Street next to the lofts. It’s still in the planning stages. On Francis Street, an apartment building for senior citizens is planned. It will contain 45 units and retail space. The biggest project rehabs...

At the ribbon cutting this month for the Wesley Village affordable housing complex in Garden Grove, Laura Archuleta couldn ’t resist referencing Joni Mitchell ’s 1970 environmental protest “Big Yellow Taxi.” Built on underused land that’s part of the Garden Grove United Methodist Church campus on Main Street, Wesley Village offered Archuleta , president of the nonprofit community organization Jamboree Housing Corp ., a chance to riff on one of Mitchell’s most famous lyrics. Where Mitchell sang “They paved paradise/And put up a parking lot,” Archuleta told about 300 people packed into the steamy church sanctuary on a hot afternoon that “Today we are going to learn how a group of dedicated organizations and individuals re-purposed a parking lot and put up a paradise.” Then she and others who spoke, including a single mom with six children who now reside at Wesley Village , told how the project became reality through a unique collaboration that involved the church, Jamboree and other...