Home Construction

When it comes to renovating your new home, it can be difficult to decide what to do first. Melissa Perlman and Mark Burns closed on their beach cottage in Delray Beach, Florida, nearly two weeks ago. The first project they tackled was landscaping. The home, built in 1956, was recently renovated. "It was move-in ready and pretty perfect in our eyes," says Perlman, president and founder of BlueIvy Communications, a public relations agency. "We live on a semi-active road, so our landscaper put in Colusa plants that will grow and eventually provide more privacy in our front yard." Before writing up a to-do list, take a good look at your budget, one expert advises.  "Don't spend too much money on over-improvements," says Artur Muller, founder and CEO of Amluxe Realty in Lighthouse Point, Florida. "Create a maximum budget for renovations, which will keep your spending in line with comparable upgrades on the market."  A more accessible h...

The U.S. economy has long been driven by consumer spending. Right now, people's spending habits are weird. They are shelling out money to buy new homes or upgrade their existing ones. Plus, they are buying lots of goods — refrigerators, dishwashers, cars, lumber, patio furniture. But they are barely purchasing any "services." Spending is down significantly from a year ago on restaurants and hotels (19 percent drop), entertainment (32 percent down) and even health care (6 percent decline). These trends make sense in a pandemic when many are staying home, but they also explain why the U.S. economy has only recovered about 66 percent of its coronavirus losses — and why this recession has been such a devastating blow to women and minorities. Overall consumer spending is still down massively from a year ago. That's because spending on services used to be almost double spending on goods. So even though there's been an uptick in spending on homes and home...

Shipping containers fill a crucial niche in the world's economy. They are large and sturdy enough to uniformly transport goods but small enough to fit on trucks and light enough to be moved by cranes and forklifts. However, over the decades a challenge emerged: an excess of used containers. Where some saw a problem, innovative architects saw an eco-friendly opportunity. Since the mid-2000s, designers began repurposing containers into a wide array of buildings. Some structures can be simple—a single compact shipping container outfitted for dwelling—while others are complex designs that use multiple containers merged with other structural components. So what exactly goes into building a shipping container home? And are they as economical, sustainable, and livable as claimed? We break down what you need to know below. This one-bedroom, one-bath shipping container house showcases sleek design in Livingston, Montana. Photo by Windy Haus/@windy_haus What is a shipping container h...

A quartet of childhood friends with roots on Cleveland's East Side is attempting to bring a different sort of real estate product, and perspective, to the city. WRJ Developers LLC is planning a 64-unit apartment building made largely of shipping containers on East 72nd Street north of St. Clair Avenue, in a section of the St. Clair-Superior neighborhood that's home to a jumble of warehouses, manufacturing complexes and houses. The new-minted developers, who have named their project ArkiTainer, will be the first to tell you that they're fighting an uphill battle. Jermaine Brooks, Richard Singleton, Willie Levy and Jamion Berry each have dabbled in real estate for years. As a team, the 45-year-old men are taking on their first ground-up deal, an atypical form of construction in an overlooked location. And they're doing that as an all-Black company in a predominantly white industry. Khrys Shefton, director of real estate for the nonprofit Famicos Foundation, de...

CLEVELAND, Ohio – Six houses set to go up on Cleveland's East Side neighborhood may seem like a relatively modest development, but it's part of grander ambitions for the city's long-distressed Hough neighborhood. Developer Sheila Wright said at a groundbreaking ceremony Sunday that she hopes to start construction on the homes at East 65th Street and Linwood Avenue, north and west of League Park, before the end of the year. The homes will be in two layouts: 1,800 square feet and 2,200 square feet. The development is dubbed "Allen Estates," after Carolyn Watts Allen and Robert Allen. Both built homes in Hough in the 1990s and advocated for the neighborhood. All are set to be owned by Black residents. Wright and her business partner Angela Bennett, who make up Frontline Development, are planning to move in, and other homeowners are already lined up. Pricing is still undetermined but Wright said the aim is to make the houses affordable. It's the firs...

BATAVIA – Habitat for Humanity is well on its way to building four new single-family homes on Batavia's west side. On Wednesday, the nonprofit builder of affordable homes paused just long enough to celebrate its progress, break ground on another house and welcome its new homeowner to the community. Janice Owino of Aurora said she will never forget the telephone call announcing that her application for the program had been accepted. "I couldn't believe that I was getting my forever home where I will have a lifetime of memories with my husband and future kids," Owino told the crowd that had gathered for the ground-breaking ceremony for the house. "No words can explain our excitement." The Owino couple is originally from Kenya and Janice's husband George is in that east African country now waiting for a visa. U.S. embassies around the world have suspended the issuance of visas because of the COVID-19 pandemic. As the couple waits to be reunite...

Published 29 October 2020 Aberdeen City Council is continuing to make good progress on its programme to build 2,000 council or affordable homes, a new report has revealed. The New Housing Programme is a mixture of council houses being built by the council and affordable homes by private developers at locations across the city. The council houses and homes are earmarked for sites in Craighill, Kincorth, Tillydrone, Greenferns Landward and Kaimhill. More than 800 homes have already been built or are under construction at Manor Walk, Smithfield, Summerhill, and Wellheads. At a meeting of the city growth and resources committee yesterday, councillors agreed to proceed with three developer-led sites at Auchmill Road, Grandhome, and Cloverhill to preferred bidder status which will deliver 723 homes. The committee also agreed the city council will hold a "market warming" event with potential developers and contractors within the housing construction industry to ascert...