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August 2022

Parking spaces

The most popular home upgrades this year have all been about making the space you already have larger

“It’s a lifesaver for us,” they said. The most popular home upgrades this year have all been about making the space you already have larger.

Homeowners are coming up with innovative new ways to use their rooms, avoiding significant renovations and the rigors of a competitive real estate market.

According to a recent Zillow survey, adding extra usable space to a home is one of the top objectives for homeowners in the year 2022. The most popular project, according to 31% of respondents, was adding more office space or upgrading current office space. Another common option (23 percent) was to create more living space by renovating an attic or basement and converting it into a living area (21 percent ).

“Homeowners want to make the most of their space and create productive square feet more than ever before,” says David Steckel, a housing expert on Thumbtack.

These upgrades may not only provide a property extra living space, but they may also bring in more money. Finished basements and auxiliary dwelling units (ADUs) with their own entrances can be rented out for a long or short period of time on services such as Airbnb to make the owners additional money. Get up to $5000 with Oak Park Financial today!

People who own their own homes make the most of their available space.

Jeff Neal was irritated because his three children were playing in practically every room of the house while the family was under quarantine due to a pandemic. “It was driving me mad,” he says.

He hired a contractor to renovate his unfinished basement, adding more storage and rubber gym mats to keep the floor safe for the kids, who now had a place to play inside. He came up with the notion of converting the basement into a usable space.

Neal and many other homeowners have quite different wants for their living space as a result of the epidemic. For some, this means purchasing and relocating into a larger home, or constructing an expensive addition to their current residence. Others will make smaller alterations, such as renovating unfinished areas of their home or constructing an auxiliary dwelling unit (ADU) or a storage shed in the backyard to increase living space.

“Instead of competing in all of these hot real estate markets,” Jeremy Nova, co-founder and creative director of Studio Shed, a firm that manufactures prefabricated backyard buildings, says, “people are coming up with inventive ways to use their properties more completely.”

Instead of buying a new house, you might save money by upgrading an existing room in your home. According to Steckel, finishing touches for a basement that needed cosmetic work might be added for as little as $35 per square foot. A simple renovation could cost between $80 and $100 per square foot. A thorough renovation, including structural improvements, might cost more than $150 per square foot.

However, if insulation, flooring, or drywall have already been built, the cost of converting an attic into a living space may be higher. Steckel estimates that installing a bathroom to an attic will cost around $300 per square foot on average.

Brooke Grassley opted to finish her basement because the housing market in Joliet, Illinois, is so competitive. She and her husband understood after looking at the homes in the region that not only would they have to spend more money to buy a larger home, but they would also have to spend money to make it match their needs. When they learned this, they needed to consider where they could live. They could have made adjustments to the basement instead of seeking for alternative methods to gain additional space for their money.

New venues are designed with adaptability in mind from the start.

Homeowners desire to create rooms that can be utilized for a variety of purposes and discover new applications for unused portions of their homes.

When the outbreak began in 2020, Bill and Jessica Capece were already looking for a larger location to reside. One of their needs was that the room could be utilized for more than one purpose, such as a hangout, a place for the in-laws to live, or a rental area for Jessica, a brand expert on QVC.

They couldn’t find the ideal house for them, so they opted to fix up their basement instead in the summer of 2020. Capece, who lives near Philadelphia, adds, “We now have all of these possibilities in a region that has always appreciated in value, even throughout the most recent crisis.”

Because more and more people prefer multi-purpose homes, more and more homeowners are going to their backyards to expand their living area without having to change the way their homes are designed.

ADUs can be basic one-room studios or functioning flats with a bathroom and a kitchenette. ADUs are growing more popular since they can be used for a variety of purposes. You can use them as a separate home office, a school learning pod, an art studio, a guest house, or (if the rules in your area allow it) as an income-generating rental unit.

“I think it’s one of the wonderful aspects and things that make it attractive,” Nova says, and she agrees. “It’s a practical addition that may be made to a house.”

David Angotti, the CEO of Hawaiianislands.com, built an auxiliary dwelling unit (ADU) in his backyard two years ago to maximize storage space. Due to the disease and the fact that his entire family had to begin working from home, Angotti immediately converted a storage room in the back of the house into an office because the main house had gotten too congested. “It’s been a lifesaver for both our sanity and productivity,” Angotti says.

The cost of an auxiliary dwelling unit (ADU) varies greatly based on its size, the features and level of completeness desired by the homeowner, and the amount of labor required. A one-room studio apartment may cost as little as $30,000, while an entire house may cost as much as $250,000. Nova believes that costs between $300 and $400 per square foot would be reasonable in most large cities.

Here are some things to consider if you’re thinking about expanding your home.

Assume you want to finish your basement, attic, or add an auxiliary dwelling unit (ADU), or all three. In this instance, the first thing you should do is contact the local building permits department to find out what types of improvements are legal and what permits you will need. A single phone call could prevent many problems from occurring in the future.

The next stage is to assess your current space and determine how much more space you will require to suit your needs. You shouldn’t feel awful if you don’t have much working space. Bigger isn’t always better. “It’s remarkable how meaningful a small space can be,” Nova adds.

Look for the proper designers and builders to assist you make your plans come true once you’ve determined how you want to make the most of your space, whether you want to add on to it or change it. The sound staff can assist you in obtaining licenses, purchasing materials, and ensuring that the job is completed correctly. Find the proper designers and builders to assist you make the most of your space once you’ve decided how to maximize it.

“Accept that you may not know everything about something,” says Steckel. Find an experienced specialist who wants to help you finish your project and can offer you guidance and support as you work toward your goals.

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Parking garage

San Marco Publix Parking Lot Floods on Opening Day Despite Resident Concerns – Action News Jax

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Aliera Peterson captured video Thursday showing people wading through ankle-deep water in the parking lot of the new Publix in San Marco on opening day.

“It was after five to 10 minutes of moderate rain,” Peterson said. “I shudder just to think what it’s going to be like when we get a really severe storm.”

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Action News Jax checked the Doppler First Alert radar, and it appears San Marco received about 3/4 inch to an inch of rain in about 30 minutes near the Publix.

Peterson says residents had been voicing concerns about the potential flooding for months at town hall meetings and to city council members.

She says they were assured that flooding would not be a problem.

“It’s been a known problem for a long time, and with 20 years to think about what would happen in this field, it seems that very little has been done despite the known problems,” she said.

Lily: After two decades, the long-awaited Publix opens at Shoppes in East San Marco

Peterson recalls seeing standing water at the site before crews began building the structure more than a year ago.

She made it clear that she and others in San Marco were thrilled that Publix was there; it simply asks that the problem of the floods be solved.

“It’s just disappointing that it’s a small challenge, although we thought they would have fixed that,” she said.

Action News Jax has contacted Publix and the developer, Regency Centers.

A Regency Centers spokesperson said in part: “Our teams have identified what we believe to be the issue and are addressing it as we speak. There has been a lot of rain at the site since construction of this area was completed without any problems, but – of course – yesterday was an outlier.

Action News Jax got in touch with Publix on Friday afternoon. Publix is ​​working on our request.

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Parking garage

Man arrested for brutal attack on woman in Hollywood parking lot

Authorities arrested a man who was wanted in connection with a brutal attack on a woman in a parking lot in Hollywood Wednesday.

The initial scene occurred early Friday morning around 2:15 a.m. in a multi-storey parking lot in the 1700 block of North Las Palmas Avenue, when the man attacked a 26-year-old woman who was celebrating her birthday at the Revel Lounge.

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CBSLA


According to the woman, Cynthia Stergious, she and her friends were approached by two men once they entered the garage where “words were exchanged” before her friend was punched in the head. That’s when they turned on her and started insulting her. Stergious said his mind went blank soon after.

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Video from the scene shows a man violently attacking Stergious when she was already unconscious, kicking and punching her in the face.

She suffered several injuries in the process, as seen in a gruesome photo after the attack.

On Wednesday, a 33-year-old Lancaster man, identified as Dammion Adkins, was arrested after Los Angeles Police Department investigators located him.

He was being held without bail.

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Parking garage

50 cars stuck in partially collapsed parking lot in Baltimore

Cars remain stuck in a downtown Baltimore parking lot two weeks after the second floor partially collapsed. Parts of the second floor of the Pratt Street garage partially collapsed on July 15, trapping around 50 vehicles inside. Some car owners said they had many concerns. It appears that none of the cars were damaged. Owners just want to know when they can get them back.| RELATED: Two floors of parking garage collapse in Inner Harbor, officials sayThe owner of the garage expects repair work to begin this week, 11 News’ I-Team has learned. was standing behind my car, it felt like a big clap of thunder,” Sara Kallay said. “(I) literally watched the ramp and the front of the garage collapse from the top floor.” After seeing a part of the garage collapsing, Kallay continued to work. “Literally, I think I was in shock,” Kallay said. “I walked into the building, I called my client anyway, I did my job.” Hannah Powell’s white Honda is on the top floor of the garage after her husband drove it to work that day. No one was injured, but Powell and Kallay said their companies insurance wouldn’t help. “It’s really scary. I mean, you don’t walk into a parking lot thinking you’d be dealing with something like this,” Powell said. “They said because my car had no damage and wasn’t in a store, they couldn’t do anything. They couldn’t cover anything.” | RELATED: Owner of partially collapsed parking lot hires engineers to assess damageBanyan Street Capital, owners of the garage, tell car owners it could be around eight weeks before anyone can recover his vehicle. The I-Team contacted the company. In an email, a representative wrote that the adjacent office building was not in danger and that “contracts are in place to begin shore up the car park ramp this week with debris removal scheduled to begin in late August.” -Team spoke said they were told Banyan’s liability insurance company did not believe that she was responsible for the expenses and the impact of this event.” “My car is trapped in their garage with no action on my part. I’m getting closer to $1,500 out of pocket on rental cars and gas,” Kallay said. The Baltimore City Fire Department said it completed a fire inspection at the garage in 2017, but it was not a structural inspection.

Cars remain stuck in a downtown Baltimore parking lot two weeks after the second floor partially collapsed.

Parts of the second floor of the Pratt Street garage partially collapsed on July 15, trapping around 50 vehicles inside. Some car owners said they had many concerns. It appears that none of the cars were damaged. Owners just want to know when they can get them back.

| RELATEDTwo floors of parking lot collapse in Inner Harbor, officials say

The garage owner expects repair work to begin this week, 11 News I-Team has learned.

“When I was standing behind my car, it sounded like a big clap of thunder,” said Sara Kallay. “(I) literally watched the ramp and the front of the garage crumble from the top floor.”

After seeing part of the garage collapse, Kallay continued to work.

“Literally, I think I was in shock,” Kallay said. “I walked into the building, called my client anyway, did my job.”

Hannah Powell’s white Honda is on the top floor of the garage after her husband drove her to work that day. No one was hurt, but Powell and Kallay said their insurance companies would not help.

“It’s really scary. I mean, you don’t walk into a parking lot thinking you’d be dealing with something like that,” Powell said. “They said because my car had no damage and wasn’t in a store, there was nothing they could do. They couldn’t cover anything.”

| RELATED: Owner of partially collapsed parking lot hires engineers to assess damage

Banyan Street Capital, the owners of the garage, told car owners it could be around eight weeks before anyone can get their vehicle. The I-Team contacted the company. In an email, a representative wrote that the adjacent office building was not at risk and that “contracts are in place to begin shoring the parking lot ramp this week with the start of debris removal. scheduled for late August.

Car owners the I-Team spoke to said they were told that Banyan’s liability insurance company did not believe it was responsible for the expenses.

But in the email to the I-Team, the company said, “We are working with insurance agencies on a daily basis to secure reward methods for the impact of this event.”

“My car is stuck in their garage without me doing anything. I’m getting close to $1,500 out of pocket for rental cars and gas,” Kallay said.

The Baltimore City Fire Department said it conducted a fire inspection at the garage in 2017, but it was not a structural inspection.

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