Apartment Choice

ANN ARBOR, MI - The next expansion of downtown Ann Arbor 's public parking system could start next spring and be completed by the end of 2019 if there's political support for it. Downtown Development Authority leaders are continuing to discuss adding hundreds more parking spaces by expanding the garage at Ann and Ashley streets, taking it from six to nine stories. At their last meeting in July, DDA board members were presented with an estimated timeline indicating construction drawings , along with site plan approval from the City Council, could be done by January 2018, with the project going out to bid after that. The estimated construction time is 12 to 14 months. The timeline presented to the DDA board assumes construction delays and shows contractor selection could happen in May 2018, with construction lasting through December 2019. It's assumed the contractor would stage construction to allow patrons to use the garage while the work is being done. The Ann/A...

SHERMAN OAKS >> Barry Cullison stared at a 3-foot- wide tree stump that once bore the weight of a pine at least six stories tall. Across the historic Chase Knolls Garden Apartments where he lives, dozens of other mature trees were being cut down: eucalyptus, ficus, liquidambar, jacaranda, magnolia and more. “It’s heartbreaking,” said Cullison, 70, a retired actor who has lived at the Chase Knolls complex for 21 years. “This can’t be undone. They’ve decimated the trees. The trees are coming down. And all we can do is listen to the chain saws.” Chase Knolls tenants have been fighting to save the “garden” inside the garden apartments . But the owners of the complex at 13401 Riverside Drive have said they need to cut down trees and destroy 200 carports for new plumbing, power lines and other utility upgrades. • RELATED STORY: Residents of historic Chase Knolls apartments challenge city on expansion Residents have been fighting the changes. A tenant group tried to stop the tree...

Despite having already received a zoning change to redevelop a parcel next to the Damen Brown Line station , the owners of the property at 4646 N. Damen Avenue have returned with a new plan which includes the neighboring property at 4650 N. Damen and bumps the density from nine dwelling units to 24, Chicago Cityscape reveals . According to the zoning application, which was introduced to the Chicago City Council in July, the plan comes from developers John and Robert Mangan’s Mangan Builders. The proposed development will replace what are currently two Victorian- era single family residences . According to the zoning application, the developer indicates that the house at 4646 N. Damen was acquired in 2016 while the adjacent property at 4650 N. Damen was purchased way back in 1978. In addition to the 24 apartments planned for the site, the developers are also proposing 4,000 square feet of ground- level retail split into two separate spaces. With its proximity to the Damen Brown Line ...

A decade after the crash, Shannon Valley housing estate , on the outskirts of Ballaghaderreen, in Co Roscommon, remains unfinished and partly in ruins. Although the number of “ unfinished housing developments ” has fallen sharply since 2010, Shannon Valley is one of hundreds that still dot the country. The Guls: ‘Every day I put rats in the bin’ Fatima Gul says her little brother, Yousaf, doesn’t like the rats. He jumps up on the sofa or the table in the living room when they come into the house. Their parents don’t allow Fatimar, who is 10, or her nine-year-old sister, Maryam, or Yousaf and his twin, Zohra, who are five, to play near the houses on the other side of their green. It’s too close to the rats and the rubble. Shannon Valley “ ghost estate ” outside Ballaghaderreen, Co Roscommon. Photograph: Simon Carswell" height="349" src="https://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.3181475!/image/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_620/image.jpg" width="620...

For the third year, the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center and Mark Twain House & Museum will partner with Capital Community College to offer a class on the work of Hartford's most famous authors . The Hartford Heritage Project course, "English 220, Studies in American Literature: Stowe & Twain," will begin Aug. 30 and run through Dec. 18, with alternating sessions online and at the historic Twain House , 351 Farmington Ave., Hartford, on Wednesdays from 2 to 4:42 p.m. It can be taken for college credit or audited for personal enrichment with optional papers and assignments. Either way, the cost is $599. Registration must be completed by Aug. 30 (and no later than Sept. 5, the last day to add a class). capitalcc.edu/hhp/courses. Audit information: Amy Lemire at 860-906-5185 or alemire@capitalcc.edu. Sunday Poetry Series The Clinton Art Gallery , 20 E. Main St., Clinton, will continue its free monthly poetry readings on Sunday, Aug. 20, from 2 to 4 p.m., with readi...