The Architect Newswire is an aggregation of news from media outlets around the world, intended to keep you abreast of all of the industry’s important developments. The stories we feature are not reported, edited, or fact-checked by Architect’s staff.
ALAMAZOO GAZETTE (MI)
Tax credit cuts may halt development
Michigan’s 13-year-old brownfield tax-credit will disappear with the new year. Chris Killian reports that Kalamazoo officials are concerned the lack of this tool will stymie redevelopment. “When we sat down with a developer we were reasonably assured that we could give them ‘X’ percent in credits,” says director of economic development Jerome Kisscorni. “They [the credits] were a large reason why we have been so successful. Now we don’t know how things will be handled.” More than 37 projects have benefitted from the program, with a private investment of between $186 million and $219 million. “I was dismayed that the existing brownfield tax system is gone away with,” says state Rep. Sean McCann, D-Kalamazoo. “I’m concerned about how we are going to revitalize areas without the tools in the toolbox that we once had.”
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LOS ANGELES TIMES
Long Beach thinks big
Long Beach, Calif., is considering a $320 million Seaside Village development that would include a 100-room hotel, a science center, shops, and a 12-story, 275-unit condominium tower. Ruben Vives reports that there are mixed reactions to the size of the proposal. “This is spot-zoning at its worst,” says Los Cerritos Wetlands Land Trust executive director Elizabeth Lambe. “What's there now doesn't provide key amenities, and the community would like to see a better use for that site,” councilman Gary DeLong says. The 11-acre site is now home to the 1963 SeaPort Marina Hotel, an establishment that has seen better days. “We created a project that allows people to walk and to enjoy views of the water in a social environment.... That kind of experience doesn't exist in that part of town,” lead developer David Malmuth says.
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HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Houston thinks small
Texas isn’t known for doing things on a small scale, but several Houston area architects and designers are building small, according to Molly Glentzer. Mark Schatz and Anne Eamon live in a 560-square-foot home of their own design. University of Houston professor and architect Donna Kacmer designed a 540-square-foot home for Rick Russell. And Brad Kittel’s Luling-based operation, Tiny Texas Houses, specializes in homes between 120 and 450 square feet. “We'd be selling them like potato chips if we could finance them,” Kittel says—even though he’s built 50 so far.
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SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE (IN)
South Bend schools being studied
Local firm Hebard & Hebard is working on a comprehensive facilities use plan for the South Bend Community School Corp. Kim Kilbraide reports that the firm is currently compiling data on more than 4 million square feet of space located in dozens of buildings. Student enrollment is declining as the school district faces a $10 million shortfall over the next two years—trends that will be reflected in the plan’s recommendations. The $168,000 report is expected to be complete by March.
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AIKEN STANDARD (SC)
New year’s hopes for County Complex
Haley Hughes reports that the members of the Aiken County (S.C.) Council are looking forward to getting their new County Complex built in 2012. “I surely hope sometime soon after the first of the year, we'll see a ground-breaking for the County Complex,” councilman Charles Barton says. “I don't think we should be skimping on the upfront costs of a building that the architects say should last 20 to 25 years, but I expect we would hope to get 50 to 75 years of useful life from it,” councilwoman Sandy Haskell adds. “This Complex will serve the County well for many, many years,” chairman Ronnie Young says.
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SANTA MONICA MIRROR (CA)
Santa Monica’s “green street” breaks ground
Santa Monica, Calif., has broken ground on a project to transform a two-mile section of Ocean Park Boulevard into a “Complete Green Street.” Parimal M. Rohit reports that the $3.8 million project should be complete in about a year. “This project is expected to improve the character and functionality of the street for all users, and improve the quality and reduce the quantity of storm water runoff from the adjacent drainage area,” principal engineer Rick Valte says.
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COLUMBIA DAILY TRIBUNE (MO)
iLab helps Missouri students
The University of Missouri has opened an Immersive Visualization Lab, dubbed iLab, for its architecture and interior design students. Janese Silvey reports that the $85,000 facility includes three large glass screens illuminated by 3D projectors. “The iLab will not only allow students to experience their designs from the inside, but they also will be able to view their designs in a much larger scale and experiment with different textures and styles in real time,” assistant professor Bimal Balakrishnan says.
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CURBED NY
AC West 3rd Street
Pete Davies reports that CNN’s Anderson Cooper is renovating the 1906 Fire Patrol House No. 2 in New York’s Greenwich Village. He’s preserving the building’s history while transforming it into a home. “I'm making a gym from the turn of the century,” Cooper says. “I just bought the old kind of weights with big large balls on the ends. Back then there were gymnasiums, climbing ropes in the ceiling: It's an old firehouse [so] I want it to keep the old firemen's gym.”
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