The Rambler visa via S. Johnson

Work at the former Kenosha Inn is finally back up and running after our workers discovered non-abated asbestos. The “hot” material has been properly abated allowing demolition to advance.

The façade removal at the Renaissance Shell continues to move along successfully – this is another project hampered by unknown asbestos discovered during the project. It is essential that demolition firms ensure that their work force is properly trained in asbestos awareness so as not to danger workers, the immediate public, and environment. While these situations are frustrating to owners, the best practices of any reliable company should have an established proactive “safety always” mentality.

Champion Environmental Services, Inc. is preparing to mobilize for a City of Monona project; a commercial property and residential structure will be demolished. The two structures have been properly abated of all environmental hazards and we are awaiting utility disconnects and final demolition permits to be issued.

The seasonal nature of our work is apparent for this time of year. Bid opportunities are starting to gain momentum. An encouraging note is the uptick in private work. We are sitting on over 2 million square feet of private bid prospects with optimistic words from the owners only to recognize the tiring mantra repeated over the last three years – “ check back in another 30 days. . .management is trying to determine the best course of action. . .any day now we should have the go ahead….” Ad nauseum.

Certainly, the key decision makers are tasking away at a strategy to maximize the allocation of every penny. Even when a project warrants the ability to be performed pro bono, clients’ synaptic nerves begin toying with the notion that they are sitting on a literal gold mine. The revelry reaches a hypnotic pulse when you actually have the ability to buy the job.

Lost in translation is the owners’ ability to recognize the special circumstances surrounding such rare opportunities in the current market. The fluctuation of key commodity pricing is a compelling area few understand – how well can one forecast where diesel prices will go? Steel, copper, and other precious metal pricing is often contingent on what we can promise to our buyer within an allotted time to maximize return. What we get for structured steel is not necessarily what another contractor would garner due to our long standing relationships. Timing is everything – an offer to perform demolition for free, given a variety of factors, can easily turn into a million dollar bill when a prospective client becomes gluttonous in the merriment of fictitious fortunes.

My good friend Mark Anthony over at Demolition News continues to record and report the nauseous bid spreads that continue to defile our industry in the US. Over the years, I have warned municipalities and private entities about “promises” that certain demolition contractors will make in order to win a job – for clarification, these were in general terms regarding specific projects, I never “called out” a company by name. With satisfaction, I relay news on a project we were in line to bid in Wilkes-Barre, PA on behalf of a developer. Following months of providing extensive due diligence information on our company and the assurance that our bid would be welcomed along with a short list of three other approved companies, I was told that a local firm negotiated to do the job for free.

I warned my contact about the “rip and run” mentality in these situations; rip and run is where a company guts a building of all the scrap metal and then leaves the site in ruin. Mark Anthony reported on this specific item last month titled, “Developer fined after contractor vanishes… Contractor leaves developer in lurch after stripping site of steel and copper”. A link to Mark’s entry with the story can be found here: http://www.demolitionnews.com/page/7/

I was unaware that there were many closeted fans of Immanuel Kant who take his theory of perception on a literal a priori proposition.

What Demolition Wrought – The Other Side

Photo by Corey Hengen

Often, only one side of demolition is acknowledged in the process; frequently, that element focuses on taking components away from the local landscape. The central aspect of much of our work signals the beginning of something new, enhanced, and greatly improved.

There is a strong current of nationwide activism that advocates alternatives to demolition. Such campaigners readily cite environmental factors in an effort to postpone or deny knocking buildings down. Never realized in these debates is the fact that the environmental quality through these initiatives is greatly improved.

I can confidently decree that our company does more to improve the environment and health of people on any given day than most of these activists could accrue in a lifetime.

Our results are measureable and can be quantified; Champion Environmental Services, Inc. mitigates harmful lead, removes asbestos/PCB’s/mercury/Freon/ and ensures the extensive recycling of materials as opposed to the simple encumbrance of landfill dumping.

When Champion Environmental Services, Inc. demobilizes from a job site, we leave knowing that a cleaner, safer, and healthier environment for generations to come is accessible.

The Following article appeared yesterday in the “Daily Reporter”. Champion Environmental Services, Inc. is the asbestos abatement and demolition contractor for the Westlawn Project in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Our endeavor will provide a desirable resolution to a weathered problem. The redevelopment will eventually provide clean, safe, affordable housing to low-income families, the elderly, and those with special needs.

I want to acknowledge that the article was written by Marie Rohde; the photograph was taken by Corey Hengen, and future rendering of the site is from the Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee.

Welcome to the neighborhood: Westlawn ready for remake (UPDATE)
Published: October 6, 2010
By Marie Rohde

The city of Milwaukee is ready to tear down the largest public housing project in the state and replace it with a neighborhood.

“When you drive by Westlawn, there’s no mistaking that it’s a housing project,” said Paul Williams, a spokesman for the Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee. “We want to change that.”
The Westlawn housing complex, a series of barracks-style buildings, is on 75 acres bordered by 60th and 64th streets, Silver Spring Drive and the Lincoln Creek.

The redevelopment is intended to break down the boundaries that isolate the complex from the rest of the community. The new Westlawn will be a mixture of privately owned homes and housing for seniors, the disabled and the poor.

Homes that will sell at market rates will be built around the perimeter of the complex. Carolyn Esswein, adjunct assistant professor of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s Department of Urban Planning who is familiar with the plans, said those homes are attractive because they will be on 35- to 40-foot-wide lots while the average city lot is 25 feet.

“That’s been done elsewhere and the homes have sold quickly,” she said. “But it could be a matter of timing, and the economy right now could have an impact. There are a lot of people who want to buy vacant lots in the city, but they can’t get over the hurdles of financing.”

The market rate homes, according to city plans, will not be built until at least 2012.

Westlawn’s isolation was like that of other public housing built in the 1950s, and the redevelopment reflects changing attitudes toward public housing across the country, Esswein said.

The new Westlawn, for instance, would have streets connecting the complex to the rest of neighborhood.

“Right now, Westlawn is cut off from the rest of the neighborhood,” Esswein said. “When they connect the streets to the rest of the neighborhood and people can walk in and out, the residents will feel like part of the larger community.”

The plans also call for a small pharmacy and 12,500 square feet of commercial development for North 60th Street and West Silver Spring Drive. That was a response to requests from residents and another effort to connect the complex to the broader community, Williams said.

Residents who live in the east half of the complex have been moved to temporary housing, and demolition of those buildings has begun, Williams said. Those residents will be offered units in the new development, he said.

Construction on the eastern half, estimated at $101 million, is expected to begin in March and be completed in 2012.

The housing authority’s nonprofit partner, Friends of Housing, an organization involved in the senior housing portion of the development, will share part of that cost, Williams said. The project also got $7.4 million in tax credits to provide incentive for the development of affordable housing for low-income residents.
The second phase of the redevelopment will be built after 2012 and be about the same size and cost.

Williams said there is a need for low-income housing in the city. The waiting list for Westlawn has been closed for six months and has some 3,000 applicants awaiting
housing assignments.

Nancy Frank, a UWM urban planning associate professor, said the renovation of other housing projects has been controversial, such as with Chicago’s infamous Cabrini Green complex, where a mixed-use development replaced a traditional housing project.
“The question is whether they will provide fewer housing units for the poor,” Frank said.

The housing in the first phase will include one building with 94 single-bedroom units set aside for seniors and the disabled, Williams said. Another 160 town houses for families will be built there, he said.

Jim Bartos, executive director of the Silver Spring Neighborhood Center, said the remake will help the housing complex better mesh with the surrounding area.

“I think it’s going to be transformative for the whole neighborhood,” he said. “It’s going to be a stimulus for other development.”


Rendering by the Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee

State of the State Part II

Back on March 1, 2010, I solicited several assumptions regarding how local and global economic forces were influencing our bottom line. An AP report out of New York released just moments ago suggests that my key assertions were correct.

On March 1 I stated, “Market indicators remain in an unnerving pattern; one of the more intimidating trends I noted was a triumvirate blend of a strong dollar, positive gold movement, paired with creeping oil – I dare someone to place this scenario into sane context”.

The AP today: “The euro is falling again and continues to hover near a four-year low. It has become a key indicator for confidence in Europe's economy. The euro fell to $1.2318, a day after hitting $1.2146 . . . Crude oil fell $2.73 to $67.14 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.”

Gold remains at $1,191.80 an ounce despite loosing approximately 1% over two days.

I further stated on March 1 that “While January housing sales posted an increase, numbers also indicated a slight uptick in housing starts yet more bubbles await us. Significant commercial lending is coming due and as a result, many speculate more bank failures. Additionally, consumer spending remains tepid, no significant positive impact coming out of job creation, and European dept reflected in the so called “PIGS” - Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Spain, point to the potential for another significant economic slide.” My added emphasis is vital given such an accurate prognosis; as the AP notes today: “. . .the [Labor] department said new claims for unemployment benefits rose by 25,000 to 471,000, their largest amount in three months. . . Greek workers again took to the streets protesting recently approved budget cuts that were necessary for the country to receive a bailout. Greece was able to repay debt that came due Wednesday only because it had access to a rescue package from the European Union and International Monetary Fund. . . in afternoon trading, Britain's FTSE 100 fell 2.6, Germany's DAX index dropped 2.8 percent, and France's CAC-40 plummeted 3.9 percent.”

Certainly I take no pride in being correct on these assumptions as global – economically driven factors reach directly into the fissure of our cavernous lint- filled pockets. So where do we sit in the state of the state?

I encourage you to visit Mark Anthony over at “Demolition News” and read his posting, Comment – Is demolition perpetuating the recession…? Here is the link:

www.demolitionnews.com/2010/05/20/comment-is-demolition-perpetuating-the-recession
My apologies as I cannot get the link to set so you must copy/paste.