Latest news with #Riaz
Miami Herald
14-07-2025
- Business
- Miami Herald
Bay Area developer building ‘micro-studios,' and yes, people are renting them
The size of a typical studio apartment is 500 to 600 square feet. The studios that Riaz Capital is building around the Bay Area measure on average 300 square feet - which is on the small side, even for a standard hotel room. But the Oakland-based developer sees micro-studios as a way to provide "affordability by design" in a state where the cost of housing is a major financial burden for many residents. Units come with only the essentials. Many don't have ovens - just two electric burners. The first few units the company built came with mini fridges rather than full-size ones. (Upon residents' frustration with the lack of freezer space, they upgraded to bigger ones at their next project.) The small unit size means they can squeeze more apartments into a single building, achieving greater economies of scale when it comes to their maintenance and operating budget. So do the units rent for half as much as a 600-square-foot apartment? Well, no. But the rent is cheaper than many of the newly built apartments across the Bay Area. At ArtHaus Jack London, a former motel Riaz converted into 130 apartments, a 277-square-foot studio goes for $1,750 a month. That price is the same whether you're renting a market-rate apartment or one of the income-restricted 'below-market-rate' units for those making less than 110% of the area median income (about $120,000 for a single-income earner in Alameda County). Other newly built studios around Oakland of more typical size run closer to $2,200 a month. Riaz Capital is bringing the micro-unit concept elsewhere. They have built 2,200 residences throughout the Bay Area, and have 3,700 units in development across California, including in San Diego and Santa Cruz. Riaz Taplin, CEO, and Lisa Vilhauer, vice president of design and entitlement, sat down to explain why they're betting their smaller units can be a solution for some Californians looking for low-cost housing options. Q: How did you get into multifamily real estate? Taplin: In the 1970s, my dad was working in condo conversions. Some people bond with their dad around sports - me and my dad bonded over real estate. We started buying apartment buildings in the late '90s. Then, after I went to college, I felt like, "I didn't get a degree to deal with toilets and tenants." So I wanted to do something different. I spent the first part of my career building luxury housing, but I was interested in the idea of a design-based solution to affordability. I've spent the last five years focused on housing single-income professionals at scale. Vilhauer: I have a degree in landscape architecture but ended up working in civil engineering and planning. After eight years, I decided I wanted to be on the developer side instead of the consultant side. So I went to Taylor Morrison, which is a public national home builder, and a few years later went to a smaller family-owned development company in the East Bay, and then came to Riaz. Q: Land is so expensive in the Bay Area that we see most ground-up developers focusing on the top end of the market, where rents are the highest. On the other side of the spectrum you have nonprofit developers that rely largely on subsidies (typically, tax credits) to build affordable housing. Why focus on building apartments that are in the middle of the market? Vilhauer: Few people are building for the people who make somewhere in between - between $60,000 and $120,000. We decided to focus on them. We saw such a need. During 2020, when we started leasing our first project, that's when we saw that we'd really hit the nail on the head. We were finding a lot of renters who couldn't work remotely – who needed to be here in Oakland. People like teachers, bus drivers, nurses, who didn't want to be sharing spaces at that time, but they still needed to find somewhere within their budget. We're even seeing some retirees, who enjoy the convenience of living downtown. Q: During the COVID-19 pandemic, many people wanted to live alone rather than with roommates. What are the trends in how people are living today, and how did that inform your design for these units? Vilhauer: People are often living in roommate situations because it's affordable. While some people enjoy the community aspect, a lot of people prefer to live on their own. That really informed our design. We're trying to build naturally occurring affordable housing, versus income-restricted. Some of our units are rent-restricted - like the moderate-income units that we built so that we could be allowed to build more units in each property with the state density bonus program. We also have a lot of renters staying here for shorter periods - like traveling nurses. We offer leases that are less than a year long for them. We also offer furnished units that are move-in ready. Q: During COVID-19, a lot of people decided to leave the urban environment. These ArtHaus apartments are very "urban" projects. How has that impacted your business? Taplin: The trend before the pandemic was small house, big life. You exchange having a big home in the suburbs for a smaller place in the city, because your backyard is the urban environment. The pandemic created a shift against proximity. That coincided with the end of a major tech cycle here. Now, with the rise of so many artificial intelligence companies in the Bay Area, I think we're starting to see another tech cycle. That's bringing people back, and they're looking for housing. Vilhauer: Here at ArtHaus Jack London, after nine months of lease-up, we're about 93% occupied. Q: Rents in most parts of California and the Bay Area have started to recover from the pandemic slump - except for in the East Bay. Are you getting the rents you expected? Taplin: No. This five-year period is an anomaly in California history - it may or may not correct itself. I believe that we'll see a reversion to the mean. Q: Can you talk a bit more about the state density bonus program and how you've used that in your projects? Vilhauer: The density bonus is a state policy program intended to get more housing built, both market-rate and affordable, through a trade off: the developer provides a certain amount of affordable housing, and in return they either are allowed to build more densely, or get out of development standards that might add costs to a building. Santa Cruz, for example, has a standard that developers can't use vinyl windows. And it's hugely costly to install aluminum windows. So through the density bonus, we're providing more affordable homes, and we're able to install vinyl instead of aluminum. Copyright (C) 2025, Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Portions copyrighted by the respective providers.
ITV News
11-07-2025
- ITV News
Taxi driver with 'sordid interest in children' jailed for sexually assaulting teenage girl
A taxi driver who sexually assaulted a teenage girl he picked up in his car has been jailed. Police said during the journey she took videos and captured the conversation where she told Wahid Riaz she was 14. But he parked at the bottom of her street, told her to hug him and began kissing her. He then engaged in sexual activity with her before dropping her off at her house. When she got home she went straight into the bathroom and vomited before getting onto the sofa and crying herself to sleep. At Preston Crown Court Riaz, 52, of Causey Fott, Nelson, was jailed for five years and ordered to sign the Sex Offender's Register for the rest of his life. In a victim impact statement the girl said: 'Immediately after the incident, I had a deep feeling of being dirty. I had really long baths and showers, and I would scrub my body so much I would make it red. "I was just trying to feel clean. This incident happened in summer, and I was really conscious about what I was wearing. I refused to wear shorts, skirts, or crop tops."I was anxious and asked myself if my clothes were too revealing or if they showed too much skin, what might happen to me. As I blamed myself and what I wore that night."Detectives said Riaz made his young victim go through the stress of having to give evidence in court after refusing to admit what he had done. DC Ryan Benson, who led the investigation into the assault in July 2023, said: "Wahid Riaz is a despicable individual who has a sordid sexual interest in children.
New Indian Express
24-06-2025
- Business
- New Indian Express
Chasing the catch, barefoot in the grind
NEW DELHI: Start work at 3 am while the city still sleeps, and the ice cuts my fingers till they bleed, but I have mouths to feed,' says Imran, hoisting a crate of mullet at Ghazipur Fish Market. For twelve years the wiry labourer from West Bengal has lived by the whistle of refrigerated lorries and the smell of offal. Each dawn he earns between Rs 500 and Rs 2,500 hauling fish from trucks to auction tables. After paying for a shared room and cheap food, he wires home about Rs 20,000 a month. 'If I stop, the children stop eating,' he shrugs. Imran's ordeal is echoed by hundreds across the market. Ghazipur, shifted from Jama Masjid in 2000, is now Delhi's seafood artery, nearly 300 wholesalers and 1,500 labourers handle 200 tonnes daily from the coast. Restaurants would starve without them, yet these men stand ankle deep in melt water with no gloves, boots or medical cover. When COVID 19 shut the gates in 2020, Imran pawned his phone and hitch hiked home, surviving on boiled leaves. Debt soon dragged him back. It is a cycle that traps the poorest in the dirtiest jobs. Traders see growth 'This market is 1000 times better than Jama Masjid,' says wholesaler Riaz, whose turnover tops Rs 40 lakh a day. 'We businessmen must take responsibility for maintaining cleanliness. It's not just the government's duty; we should allocate resources for cleaning and train our workers accordingly,' he says.
The Print
20-06-2025
- Business
- The Print
New Delhi-Dhaka must reimagine ties as ‘strategic necessity for collective growth'—Bangladesh envoy
Riaz in his speech touched upon the soft dimensions of India-Bangladesh ties—language, culture and education. With thousands of Bangladeshi students studying in India, and an organic exchange of ideas and people across the two countries' 4,096-kilometre shared land border, he said the bilateral relationship was not merely geopolitical but personal. The remarks come at a time when ties between New Delhi and Dhaka have been tense for months. New Delhi: Bangladesh and India must reimagine bilateral and regional cooperation, not as a legacy of the past, but as a strategic necessity for collective growth and resilience, said M. Riaz Hamidullah, Bangladesh's High Commissioner to India, during a wide-ranging speech at the neighbouring country's belated national day celebration in New Delhi Thursday evening. 'Our collaboration cannot be judged solely by the memoranda signed or the meetings held,' he noted. 'We aspire for a peaceful and prosperous neighbourhood that upholds universal values while also protecting national interests.' 'Bound by shared geography, shared ecology, and a shared linguistic and cultural heritage, our two peoples embrace each other with respect and dignity,' Riaz added. 'Not just because we share the largest land boundary; our people engage organically, not merely as a matter of choice.' He further asserted that 'Bangladesh's ties with India are historic, deep and multilayered. Bangladesh is open and engaged with India to address diverse issues of the present and future'. Riaz noted that bilateral trade between India and Bangladesh grew in double digits in the fiscal gone by and said Dhaka sees the India-Bangladesh partnership as an engine for broader regional development, referencing the sub-regional energy agreement through which Nepal has begun transmitting 40 megawatts of electricity to Bangladesh via the Indian grid. 'These mutually gainful tasks are already in place,' Riaz said. 'It is this understanding that asks our two nations to reimagine bilateral and regional cooperation, not as a legacy of the past, but as a strategic necessity for our collective growth and resilience.' Highlighting Bangladesh's priorities under its chairmanship of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC), Riaz said Dhaka looks forward to 'reinvigorating the regional cooperation agenda'. The envoy underlined the country's commitment to democratic values, calling democracy one of the founding ideals that inspired Bangladesh's liberation. He spoke of the current political transition under way in Dhaka, where an interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus is expected to hold free and fair elections early next year. He further emphasised that the future of Bangladesh lies in transformation: empowering the young to define their destiny and build a democracy that is not only electorally functional but socially inclusive. Riaz ended on a personal note, recounting his meeting last month with Raghu Rai—the Indian photojournalist who documented the Bangladesh Liberation War and was awarded the Padma Shri in 1972 for his powerful imagery. 'His work captured our agony, our struggle, and reminded me that the humanism of 1971 still binds us,' he said. 'Today, some of the war veterans from 1971 are with us in this hall. Their sacrifices must never be forgotten.' 'The friendship between Bangladesh and India must continue to fly forward, rooted in history, yet reaching ambitiously into the future,' Riaz concluded. (Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui) Also Read: After Operation Sindoor, why India must keep an eye on Bangladesh too
Hindustan Times
20-06-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Baloch Liberation Army takes responsibility for attacks on Pakistani military
The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) has asserted responsibility for various attacks directed at Pakistani military forces in Hoshab and Kolwah regions. The group claims that these operations incorporated improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and confrontations, reportedly resulting in the deaths of five Pakistani army members. In another incident, the BLA announced the capture and later execution of an alleged Military Intelligence (MI) agent named Khizir. They stated that Khizir was apprehended in Zehri, Khuzdar, and executed following a trial conducted by the "Baloch National Court," after allegedly confessing to his intelligence-gathering activities in various districts during his interrogation. Additionally, another "pro-independence" Baloch insurgent group, the Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF), has taken credit for two distinct attacks. The first involved a hand grenade strike aimed at the office of the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) in Khuzdar. The second incident took place near Habib Hotel in Wadh, where a truck carrying precious stones from Dalbandin to Karachi was attacked. The explosion affected the truck's engine and tires, but no casualties have been reported thus far. Previously, BLA fighters conducted five separate assaults on the Pakistani army in Zamuran and Panjgur, leading to the deaths of four Pakistani army personnel. During these operations, the army's surveillance equipment was disabled, while BLA fighter Riaz, also known as Aman, was reported killed, according to a statement from Jeeyand Baloch, the BLA spokesperson. Earlier, Allah Nazar Baloch, the head of the Baloch Liberation Front (BLF), had accused the Pakistani military of fabricating and promoting the narrative regarding ISIS-Khorasan (ISIS-F) to undermine nationalist movements by exploiting religious sentiments, as reported by The Balochistan Post (TBP). Nazar alleged that the ideological basis of ISIS-K is a constructed narrative orchestrated by Pakistan's Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the military's media wing. He stated that the intent is to sway public opinion against national liberation movements by wrongly labelling them as proxies for foreign entities, according to TBP.
