| Can ambitious builder back up bold plans?
A year ago, John Deneen boasted in a newspaper story of his plans to build hundreds of new homes in Dolton and Robbins. Just a handful have gone up in Dolton, and Deneen is finished with that town. In Robbins, he's yet to build a single house. He burst onto the scene about two years ago, with no reputation as a developer but armed with lots of bold plans. An indoor water park surrounded by a shopping center and hotel would be going up in Dolton, Deneen promised. In Chicago Heights, he was going to build a factory that would turn out inexpensive pre-fab homes. Harvey's decrepit Dixie Square Mall would be razed, and new stores built in its place, he vowed. So far, Deneen's history in the Southland has been one of unfulfilled promises.
A season of big projects
Alaskans don't need to rely on the annual migrations of geese to know that spring has arrived. They need only to look into the horizon to spy the picture-perfect vision of steel. Webs of steel are decorating the Northern skies, giving residents the first true sign that spring, and construction season, has arrived. The sheer number of tall steel displays shows promise for a busy building boon this year. "It's pretty much chaos, but it's organized chaos," said Brian Meissner, principal at the architect firm ECI/Hyer. "It's all happening this year." He said that so many mega-projects are underway at the same time, this season is reminiscent of the anomalous Project 80s days, when the state was flush in oil revenue wealth and funded high-cost projects across the land. These days, a good portion of the wealth is complements of the private sector, erecting multi-story office buildings, large retail outlets and dozens of smaller-scale buildings.
Local officials, shop owners optimistic over mall makeover
Bradley Mechum wants to believe an ambitious plan to remake the struggling Crossroads Mall will help his business in the long run. But he's not sure how to get by during the initial stage of the plan. Mechum owns Trading Collectibles, a sports memorabilia shop in the mall that will have to close or move elsewhere during July and August - his busiest time of year. Atlanta-based Capital City Development bought the mall recently for an undisclosed amount and plans to spend $12 million turning the 250,000-square-foot mall near the Carowinds theme park into a center called Plaza Fiesta Carolinas, according to Arturo Adonay, the developer's marketing director. Phase one is scheduled to open in September and will simulate a traditional Latin marketplace with bright colors, cobblestone streets and a mix of large retailers and smaller, independently-owned shops, Adonay said.
Rupert is in your network: Are MySpace Acts Independent
"We have lost the online equivalent of parks... where the limits on what we can reasonably say and do are set by society as a whole and not by the commercial interests of one company." If almost every independent musician, and an ever increasing group of filmmakers have a MySpace page, assigning NewsCorp copyright in the process, are they all technically still independent? MySpace and similar social networks can be a great way of getting noticed and networking, but what happens if you actually hit the big time? Bill Thompson's latests BBC post refers to the recent case of Tila Tequila, who after amassing 1.5 million contacts on her MySpace page was prevented from offering links to buy her debut album through any provider other than MySpace's own service. MySpace pointed out that "we retain the right to block or remove content that violates our terms of use, including unauthorized commercial transactions".
Mall stories an example of citizen journalism
A couple of months ago, I joined Julius Vaughns on the Aurora section of YourHub.com. A couple of days after I joined the team, Julius and I sat down and discussed Aurora. During that meeting, Julius told me that since he started at YourHub.com, he has wanted to take an in-depth look at the Town Center at Aurora, the former Aurora Mall. He wanted to look at the changes that the mall management has put in place since a shooting that occurred there two years ago. He wanted to look at the curfew put in place by the mall, limiting the hours that kids under 16 could be there by themselves. And he wanted to know what other people thought about it. 'Why not?' I told myself. What I didn't know was how many people actually cared about what was going on at their neighborhood shopping center.
Perry Homes offers small-town charm in historic Rosenberg
(PRLEAP.COM) Located in the historic city of Rosenberg, the 80-acre community of The Oaks of Rosenberg offers all the comforts of a small-town community with all the conveniences of the city. The new Brazos Town Center, a 540-acre development featuring 100 acres of retail shopping choices, a park and trail system, lakes and fountains, is less than three miles from the community. Plus, with access to U.S. 59, Texas 6 and Grand Parkway, The Oaks of Rosenberg is convenient to other nearby shopping and recreation such as First Colony Mall, Sugar Land Town Square, Home Depot and H-E-B. Perry Homes in The Oaks of Rosenberg offers a full selection of one- and two-story homes from the $150,000s and ranging from 1,700 to 2,700 square feet. Plus, through April 30, Perry Homes is offering a $10,000 buyer bonus on all sales in the community.
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