‘The remaking of a stadium’ — an exclusive look inside BC Place

October 28, 2010 — Jennifer

VANCOUVER — The transformation of BC Place, one of British Columbia’s iconic pieces of architecture, is barely half-complete.

From the outside, the grey lidless bowl with its trademark marshmallow roof now a distant memory sits in the middle of a jumble of construction material, looking like a worn crown with only half its spires.

Inside, the bowl is organized confusion as workers do a series of delicate dances, avoiding swinging masts and the ubiquitous forklifts that carry and shove and stack the materials meant to transform an ugly 27-year-old duckling into a new swan.

But an image is shaping up for Vancouverites of what their beloved stadium will look like when construction that includes retractable-roof is finished next summer as it gets ready to host the 99th Canadian Football League Grey Cup.

On Friday The Vancouver Sun and Global TV were given the first tour of the construction zone by PavCo officials who are more than halfway through the $563 million refit of the stadium…

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Written by: Jeff Lee
Date: October 24, 2010

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10 Sweet Tips for an Eco-friendly Halloween

October 28, 2010 — Jennifer

Check out these 10 tips for making your Hallween more eco-friendly! You’ll soon be on your way to a “greener” Halloween!

It’s going to be a weekend full of sugar-hyped trick-or-treaters, creepy front-yard department store decor and makeup-covered adults sipping from spiked punch cauldrons.

Each Halloween, an estimated $40 per capita is spent on candy, decorations and greeting cards, all of which produce large amounts of waste. We’ve got some eco-friendly tips to make this Halloween a little less crushing for the planet, your wallet and your recuperation time on Nov. 1.

1. Hand out organic goodies.
From lollipops to gummy bears, many companies specialize in making healthier alternatives to traditional candy. YummyEarth offers organic treats with no chemical colors, artificial flavors or corn syrup. You can find them at major retailers like Toys ‘R’ Us and Whole Foods. Also, Trader Joes offers a line of organic lollipops.

2. LED the way.
Consider using LED lights or solar-powered lamps to light the path to your front door for those trick-or-treaters. Plus, an investment in solar garden lights can save you long term, with a return on investment of 47 percent over 10 years…

Please click here for the article and the rest of the tips

Written by: Amanda Wills
Date: October 26, 2010

Posted in Articles, Environmental. No Comments »

Five reasons home-equity growth is more likely than not local

October 25, 2010 — Jennifer

Big civic projects and even bigger geography on list compiled by Polygon’s Neil Chrystal

An Arizona builder recently said he feels like the Maytag repairman, as it has been more than two months since he welcomed a prospective buyer to his two model homes.

The builder’s homes share the neighbourhood with foreclosed homes. The once-lush landscaping has been reduced to tumbleweed. Shifting sand obscures street curbs. Graffiti artists have come and gone.

It’s no better in the eastern part of the Land of the Free. In Buffalo, N.Y., tired neighbourhoods are havens for drug dealers and other miscreants. In one 210-home community, 73 homes are vacant.

In 2009, more than three million Americans suffered through the humiliating and soul-destroying foreclosure process, and experts warn that when the numbers are crunched, 2010 could be even worse.

States with high foreclosure rates are California, Idaho, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Georgia and Florida…

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Written by: Peter Simpson
Date: October 23, 2010

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Real-estate market cools as HST bites into Vancouver prices

October 25, 2010 — Jennifer

The Royal LePage House Price Survey released Tuesday showed that year over year prices are up for all housing types surveyed in Vancouver but third-quarter prices — along with unit sales — are down from their early 2010 peaks.

Despite the slowdown, historically low interest rates are still drawing buyers into the market.

City-wide, average detached bungalow prices rose 8.8 per cent year over year to $873,500. Standard two-storey homes were up eight per cent to an average price of $977,250 while standard condos increased 10.2 per cent to $491,000 in year over year comparisons.

“Our market has cooled since the beginning of the year,” says Bill Binnie, broker and owner of Royal LePage North Shore. “To put things in perspective, however, third-quarter unit sales are up 40 per cent over the same period of 2008. Overall, we’ve got a healthy, balanced market in Vancouver.”

Vancouver homes are typically selling below asking price, and the 2010 residential real-estate market to date is about 10-per-cent slower than the same period last year. New home sales in general are down, and condos in particular are moving slowly…

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Published By: The Province
Date: October 20, 2010

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Olympic Tower 2016 – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

October 22, 2010 — Jennifer

Here are some amazing concept pictures of the new Olympic Tower that they are going to build in Rio de Janeiro for the Summer 2016 Olympics. We can’t wait to see it when it is finally built.

This vertical structure will be placed in Cotonduba Island . It will be both a observation Tower, and a welcome sign for the visitors arriving by air and by sea at Rio de Janeiro , where the Olympic Games 2016 will take place. The project is from Zurique, and utilizes solar energy during the day with its solo power panels, to pump the sea water as seen in the model. The movement of the water will be also utilized to turn the turbines and produce the power to work the system at night time.

In the Solo City Tower is the Cafe anfiteatre, auditórium, shops etc. E lifts will take the visitors to the top, where the view will be fantastic, and bungee jumping will have a special platform.

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September housing numbers up in Metro Vancouver

October 12, 2010 — Jennifer

VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – There was a slight increase in home sales in Metro Vancouver last month.

September saw a 0.8 per cent spike over August, but that’s still down almost 40 per cent from September, 2009.

Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver President Jake Moldowan says the market has been holding steady, and the amount of time houses are on the market has dropped. “Activity is pretty stable, prices remain pretty stable here. One of the things that’s quite interesting is our days on the market are down for the first time in 6 months.

He says they’ve also seen a spike in foreign investment. “We jumped to about 2.6 per cent in July, in August we jumped to about 4 per cent and in September we’re now over 6 per cent.”

He says September’s numbers are consistent with July and August.

Written by: Jesse Johnston
Date: October 04, 2010

For the link to the article, please click here

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Realty firm sees signs of stability in B.C. markets

October 12, 2010 — Jennifer

Province’s home sales have slowed, but values will remain strong in coming months, Re/Max predicts

The realty firm Re/Max is predicting that provincial real estate markets are settling into a period of stability, pointing to British Columbia’s high-end home sales as an indication of that trend, according to a forecast released Tuesday.

Re/Max, in its fall 2010 Market Trends report, said B.C. home sales have slowed, but predicted home values will remain stable in the coming months.

Metro Vancouver has seen home prices edge off of peaks attained earlier this year, but Re/Max expects they will hold on to most of the gains they saw during the 2009 market rebound.

“The interesting thing we’re seeing is that the luxury-home market is staying fairly strong,” Elton Ash, Re/Max’s executive vice-president, said in an interview…

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Written by: Derrick Penner
Date: October 06, 2010

Posted in VictorEric. No Comments »

Household budgets straining as B.C. real estate costs climb

October 4, 2010 — Jennifer

Homeownership costs are quickly approaching all-time highs thanks in part to higher mortgage rates in the second quarter, according to RBC Economics Research.

In a report released Monday morning, RBC said affordability measures in B.C. rose between 1.1% and 2.5% during the second quarter compared with the first, representing some of the most significant affordability deterioration across the country.

That means demand for housing in the months ahead will likely diminish, RBC said.

“While we generally dismiss talk of a Canadian housing bubble, the high-flying Vancouver market is probably the closest area to one in the country with very poor affordability likely playing a role in the steep drop in the resale market since the start of the year,” said RBC senior economist Robert Hogue. “Nonetheless, even though the Vancouver market is clearly vulnerable to a price correction, this does not imply that a collapse is imminent because existing and new home supply is well contained at this point.”

RBC’s housing affordability measure rose across all housing types in the second quarter…

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Posted by: Business in Vancouver
Date: September 27, 2010

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