Tag: renovation house

What New Plans to Renovate Penn Station Could Mean for Its Future

Posted on By Kartika
Renovation

If the latest flurry of news around two dueling plans to fix New York’s Pennsylvania Station has left you scratching your head, you’re not alone. Various officials I have spoken with are also fuzzy on details.

The only thing everyone seems to know for certain is that nothing meaningful ever actually happens to improve North America’s busiest and most miserable train hub, despite decades of demands and promises. Hope has long gone to die on the 6:50 to Secaucus.

But now may actually be different.

why?

For starters, because a highly detailed and, at the moment, a clearly superior but unofficial proposal has suddenly emerged to challenge the one that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority has been slowly pulling together. At the very least, the new proposal, from a private infrastructure developer called ASTM North America, may be the disruption needed to get Albany moving.

Outlined for public officials and widely

…

In photos: A look at the Center Block renovations on Parliament Hill

Posted on By Kartika
Renovation

OTTAWA –

More than four years after MPs moved out of Center Block on Parliament Hill for the decade-long renovation to the historic building, journalists got a behind-the-scenes look at the project’s progress Thursday.

The massive project is slated to run until 2031, costing between $4.5 and $5 billion, and is on track to be completed on time.

“This is the largest heritage rehabilitation project that’s ever taken place in Canada,” said Public Services and Procurement Canada assistant deputy minister Rob Wright on the tour.

“We have to balance restoring the heritage with universal accessibility, with sustainability, with meeting modern requirements of Parliament, and creating greater access for Canadians, and creating a more secure environment,” he added. “That’s a tall order”

Protective plywood covers the much of the Hall of Honor, seen during a media tour of the project on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on Thursday, June 6, 2023. CTV

…

Vancouver homebuilder calls out the city’s ‘broken system’ for renovation permits – BC

Posted on By Kartika
Renovation

The paperwork needed to do a bathroom renovation in Vancouver is extensive and expensive, according to a local homebuilder.

Avi Barzelai, a licensed residential builder and renovator based out of East Vancouver, highlighted the process in a Twitter thread that’s gone viral.

Story continues below advertisement

“Working with the City of Vancouver is the absolute worst part of my job, by far,” Barzelai, who operates the Barzelai Building, told Global News in an interview Wednesday. “I deal with clients, I deal with trades, I deal with a lot of headaches. It’s nothing personal to the (city) staff, it’s the system. The system is broken.”

Barzelai said there are 10 steps that must be met before any work can even begin.

These steps include reports, inspections, permits, and surveys which, at minimum, will cost close to $10,000 he said.


Click to play video: 'BC speeds up housing development process'


BC speeds up housing development process


The process starts with a

…

What a 250K euro renovation looks like

Posted on By Kartika
Renovation

Within five years of moving to Europe, businessman Douglas Loewe “fell in love” with Barcelona, ​​he said.

He decided to buy a home there, spending about 500,000 euros ($545,000) to purchase an apartment in the city’s famous Eixample neighborhood in 1999, the senior operating partner at Macquarie said.

But by 2017, Loewe felt the two-bedroom penthouse needed an overhaul.

The main living area of ​​Loewe’s apartment in Barcelona, ​​called Aribau 133 Sobre Atic.

Douglas Loewe

Within a year, he had transformed the “deteriorated” two-bedroom penthouse into a three-bedroom space that is now worth 1.7 million to 2 million euros, Loewe said — more than double the amount he spent to purchase and renovate the property.

Renovating the apartment

Loewe had renovated the apartment once before, but “it needed refreshing on a lot of levels” after almost 20 years, he said.

He hired Matthew Coe, founder of the property investment firm

…

HGTV Fans Can’t Get Enough of Sarah Baeumler’s Latest Outfit

Posted on By Kartika
Renovation

Sarah Baumler is known for her impeccable eye for interior design on shows like Renovation Island, Rock the Block, and Battle on the Beach. But the HGTV star (and jewelry designer!) is making a name as a fashion icon, and her fans are trying to replicate her looks.

Sarah shared a casual selfie poolside at her Caerula Mar resort in the Bahamas. In the photo, she’s wearing a halter-style white tank top paired with matching white shorts with ruffle details at the waist and on the pockets. Her hair is pulled back in a sleek bun, and she’s enjoying a cold beverage in a mason jar. She captioned the post, “That Friday feeling 🤍Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend with the ones they love xxsb.”

As usual, fans left comments like, “I’d love to know so what makes the clothes you wear. You always look so great” and “I love that

…

How Home Depot’s CEO is navigating the remodeling dip

Posted on By Kartika
Renovation

The Home Depot deftly navigated the pandemic disruption under former CEO Craig Menear, riding the home improvement boom to annual sales growth in the tens of billions of dollars. Before Menear, who stepped down last year, was Frank Blake, who successfully guided the retailer from 2007 to 2014 through the housing market crisis. In short, both CEOs are tough acts to follow.

Under CEO Ted Decker, appointed last year, sales have edged down after rising 43% to $157 billion between 2019 and 2022, as consumers shift spending back to leisure and away from home improvement. What’s more, home renovations are projected to decline in 2024 after a decade of continuous growth, according to a report from the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University. But Decker says getting Home Depot through this slump is not by any means a turnaround story. Nor does he want to be a “caretaker”

…

Renovation work concludes on 355 King Street West | Queen’s Gazette

Posted on By Kartika
Renovation

Much of Queen’s University’s administration is now officially housed at 355 King Street West, with renovations and most relocations to the site now complete. The consolidation of administrative units in the new building will allow the university to free up and renovate more space in the central campus for academic and research-focused purposes.

The university renovated and is occupying three wings of the former St. Mary’s of the Lake Hospital building (areas previously known as the South, East and Sister’s wings). These wings are now home to Financial Services, Investment Services, Internal Audit, Campus Security and Emergency Services, Environmental Health and Safety, Insurance and Risk Management, Strategic Procurement Services, Postal Services, Facilities, and the Office of the Vice-Principal Research.

The university bought the site from Providence Care in 2017, and construction started in 2021. Environmental sustainability was a key consideration in the work that was done. The project adapted the

…

ATCO invests in Calgary with renovation of downtown towers

Posted on By Kartika
Renovation

Published June 07, 2023 • 3 minute read

Rendering of lobby area at renovated ATCO tower in Calgary, for David Parker column.
A rendering shows the new lobby area of ​​909 11th Avenue SW, one of the ATCO towers being renovated in Calgary. Photo by Courtesy, Colliers International /Postmedia Network

Although it’s always great to hear of out-of-province companies showing their confidence in this city with real estate ventures, we too often forget to applaud the local firms who continue to invest here.

…

Living with a renovation: Preparation, communication are key

Posted on By Kartika
Renovation

Renovation projects can be very disruptive and stressful. If you are like most people renovating, you cannot easily vacate your home and must find ways to live alongside the work. Luckily, there are ways to prepare.

Communicating with your renovator is a big part of the process. Work with your renovator to draw up a project plan that best accommodates your family’s needs. Talk to your renovator about your household’s daily schedule, any vacations that you have planned and any special circumstances that need to be accommodated, so they can factor into the work plan and schedule for your project. This way, particularly disruptive or messy parts of the project, such as refinishing hardwood floors, can be arranged for when you are away or otherwise accommodated around your family’s schedule.

Make sure you discuss which parts of your house will be affected by your renovation project. Depending on factors, such

…

5 Painted Kitchen Cabinets to Inspire Your Next Renovation | Architectural Digest

Posted on By Kartika
Renovation

Katherine used Sherwin-Williams’s Rookwood Dark Red for her painted kitchen cabinets. “This is a Victorian color that feels unusual for a modern kitchen,” she reflects. “I like the juxtapositions.”

graham yelton

Katherine Thewlis didn’t let being a renter stop her from tackling the kitchen in her 1,200-square-foot Johnson City, Tennessee, home last fall. The e-designer and blogger was more than ready to say goodbye to the many features within the space, which included what she called an Easter egg yellow hue, wood paneling, and linoleum floors. However, given that she wouldn’t be able to take on a major renovation, Katherine had to get creative. She needed to keep the kitchen’s original flat panel cabinets intact for storage purposes but did give them a major facelift. “I sanded and repainted them myself to match the wall paint color,” she says. “I wanted it to have a built-in look. I purchased some

…