Latest news with #Gaus
Chicago Tribune
13-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Chicago Tribune
Work continues, but Tinley Park's Harmony Square still set to debut on Friday
After more than a year of construction and over $38 million spent, Tinley Park's Harmony Square, an outdoor music and performance venue with retail space, apartments and townhouses, is set to open Friday, June 18. Construction was still at full throttle last week, but despite a few recent heavy storms, village officials said the work is on schedule with only minor projects left. Amanda Gaus, Tinley Park events specialist, said Friday the square's turf still needs to be finalized, mulch needs to be put down and items for the stage, such as speakers and lighting, need to finished. Eventually, she said, there will be more landscaping, such as perennial flowers plants, outside of the mulch and turf planned for the 2-acre square. The property is 6 acres total, including the planned townhouses and apartments, according to the village. 'Harmony Square has been a key component of our vision for a first-class downtown for many years now, and it's exciting to be here as it transitions from a dream to reality,' Tinley Park Mayor Michael Glotz said in a statement late June. A structure across from the stage, called Studio 67, also still needs to be finished, but Gaus said there are just 'cosmetic' final touches left. The building will be used as a reservable VIP space for events such as birthday parties and includes a rooftop area. Several projects are completed, such as a water feature, or splash pad, which will be showcased in the opening events Friday and is planned to be converted into a synthetic ice rink in the winter. In March, the village also reopened Teehan's, a popular Irish bar, after purchasing the property for $200,000 as part of the Harmony Square project. Other completed projects include replacement of a sidewalk ramp, parkway restoration and other miscellaneous structural projects, according to the Tinley Park website. The grand opening for the square, at 6700 North Street, will begin at 7 p.m. Friday with a ribbon-cutting ceremony, followed by food and drink vendors, speeches by elected officials, special deals on village merchandise for residents and a concert by the rock band BoDeans. Friday's events will be followed by a block party from 2-10 p.m. Saturday and noon to 7 p.m. Sunday at the square. It will include live music on two stages, food and drinks, rides and games. After its weekend launch, Gaus said, the square will dive into programing, with events such as the farmers market, community band series, seasonal light shows, movie showings, possible streaming of popular sports games and even an instrument zoo where children can play with a variety of instruments. Gaus said this could transition into free music lessons in the square and said large games, like Connect Four, would be added to the square. 'It's a third space,' Gaus said. 'It's not where you live, it's not where you work, it's where you go to have time off or have a picnic, have fun with friends, that kind of thing, that third place to go and see and do things.' The square ultimately fulfills the city's new 'life amplified' branding that leans into providing more live music in the area, Gaus said. Although construction on Harmony Square began in 2024, Gaus said the village has planned for a community space like this since the early 2000s, as Tinley Park bought the 3.3-acre property from Tinley Park Elementary District 146 in 2005. Specific details for the space changed several times, Gaus added. The village approved several multimillion-dollar contracts fulfilling a variety of purposes, including plumbing and decorative woodwork, for the property in the past year, including a $7.8 million contract last September, a $24.5 million contract last May and a $6.8 million contract last March. A few projects will be completed after the grand opening, Gaus said. During the first few weeks, 175th street will be closed for improvements, a project Gaus said the village aims to finish possibly by mid-August. As a part of this project, power in the area was shut off from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. July 9 in order to install a 4-inch gas pipe. West Point Builders, which is developing a portion of the village's land under the Harmony Square project, plans to build a five-story, mixed-use building with 63 apartments above commercial spaces on North Street, east of Oak Park Avenue and east of Harmony Square. West Point also plans to build 60 townhouses on the former site of Central Middle School. The village is also scheduled to replace almost 11,000 feet of old water pipes in the next year, according to the Tinley Park website, which also said concrete work for this project started on 171st Street the week of July 7. Parking is also ongoing and 'won't necessarily change,' Gaus said, as the village would adapt for each event and is providing a shuttle service from the 80th Avenue train station for events next weekend to avoid increased traffic downtown. Harmony Square is bordered by 172nd and 173rd streets on the north and south, and the 67th Avenue and 67th Court on the east and west. Gaus said she is looking forward to the square's opening. 'We're just really making sure that it's launched and that it's that really great place to go downtown,' Gaus said.
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
The 9 largest commercial construction starts of April 2025
This story was originally published on Construction Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Construction Dive newsletter. Total construction starts tumbled 9% in April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1.03 trillion, according to Dodge Construction Network. Nonresidential building starts, such as office, hotel and healthcare projects, dropped 3%, while residential activity fell 4%. Nonbuilding starts, such as highways, bridges and utility work, posted the steepest decline of the month at 22%, according to the report. That backslide marks an alarming shift for an industry already grappling with project delays and fading momentum, said Eric Gaus, chief economist at Dodge Construction Network. 'Broad-based monthly declines in construction starts represent a troubling signal for the sector,' said Gaus in a news release. 'While not definitive, the slowdown in April aligns with delays in the planning pipeline and other economic data that capture the volatility and uncertainty of all the April tariff announcements.' Gaus added lingering questions over trade policy and the broader economy will continue to weigh on construction activity in the months ahead. Here are the nine largest U.S. projects to break ground in April, according to Dodge: The $1.8 billion Hudson Tunnel Project in New York City. The $1 billion Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Sacramento, California. The $940 million Bally's River West Hotel and Casino in Chicago. Two buildings for the GM and Samsung SDI battery cell factory, valued at $875 million and $855 million, in New Carlisle, Indiana. The $775 million West Alabama Highway project in Thomasville, Alabama. The $365 million Carpenter wind farm in Carpenter Township, Indiana. The $331 million residential and retail development in Jersey City, New Jersey. The $256 million Vista Point apartments at Fairview Life Care Community in Groton, Connecticut. The $226 million Rambler Riverfront District apartments in West Lafayette, Indiana. Commercial construction cooled in April after a strong March, with groundbreakings plummeting 21% for the month, according to the report. Activity slowed across key categories including retail, office and warehouse starts. Institutional projects, however, posted a modest 2% uptick, supported by growth in healthcare and education projects. Manufacturing construction also rebounded, jumping 78% in April. On a year to date basis, nonresidential starts are down 10%, though commercial starts ticked up 3% during that period. Infrastructure-related construction struggled in April, with sharp declines across most categories. A 70% drop in utility projects caused most of the decline. Highway and bridge work also dipped 8%, and environmental public works dropped 2%. However, despite the monthly drop, year-to-date nonbuilding starts remain up 8%, fueled by previous gains in utility work and steady progress in road and bridge construction. Residential construction continued to soften in April, with total starts down 4%. Single-family starts declined 5%, while multifamily slipped 3%. Year-to-date, residential starts have dropped 5%, with single-family activity down 6% and multifamily down 4% compared to the first four months of 2024, according to the report. Recommended Reading The 9 largest commercial construction starts of March 2025 Sign in to access your portfolio
Hindustan Times
24-04-2025
- Hindustan Times
Cops bust massive cyber fraud racket after ₹5 crore tax shock hits job-seeking woman
MUMBAI: A 20-year-old woman's panic over an unexpected Income Tax (I-T) notice has led the Malwani police in Malad to uncover a sprawling cybercrime racket involving fake job promises, identity theft, and fraudulent banking operations. Acting on her complaint, officers seized a staggering 115 bank passbooks, 271 debit and credit cards, 204 SIM cards, and cash amounting to ₹80,000. The case unravelled on April 3 when Tamanna Gaus, a resident of Gosalia Compound in Malwani, Malad West, approached the police. She had received a tax demand notice from the Income Tax Department, holding her accountable for unreported cash deposits totalling ₹5 crore in multiple bank accounts she claimed she never opened. Alarmed by the high-stakes notice, Gaus insisted she had no knowledge of the accounts or transactions in question. Her only link to the mess: she had once submitted her personal documents to strangers who had promised her a job. 'She was visibly distressed and kept saying she had never seen ₹5 crore, let alone handled it. That's when we knew there was more to the story,' said a senior police officer. An FIR was registered against unknown persons under section 318(4) (cheating) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, and relevant sections of the Information Technology Act, including 66C (identity theft) and 66D (cheating by personation). Investigators traced the trail back to two young men—Abhishek Pandey, 21, of Borivali West, and Akash Vishwakarma, 22, of Kandivali East—who were swiftly picked up for questioning. The duo allegedly acted as 'bank account providers' to cybercriminals, collecting identity documents from unsuspecting individuals under the pretext of job offers. 'Pandey and Vishwakarma opened numerous bank accounts using fake identities—often with the help of women impersonating the original document holders,' said the officer. 'These accounts were then handed over to cyber frauds, many operating from abroad, who used them to launder money obtained through scams impersonating government or bank officials.' The racket's scale became evident during the raid: laptops, SIM cards, passbooks, and hundreds of debit and credit cards were recovered. According to investigators, the arrested men not only exploited Gaus's identity but are suspected to have duped many others similarly. 'We believe they ran a full-fledged operation collecting CVs and KYC documents by promising employment. Victims never realised their identities were being weaponised for organised cyber fraud,' said the officer. 'We're now investigating links to international fraud networks.' Pandey and Vishwakarma have been remanded to police custody for five days. Investigations are ongoing to trace the rest of the syndicate and identify how many more victims unknowingly became fronts for cybercrime.
