02/17/12

Greetings Neighbors.

It has been a little while since our last update. Our General Contractor has been very busy the past couple of weeks, even though the weather has been challenging.

As you can see the roof trusses are now up on Building A, near Bush Street. Both buildings are now fully framed up in their final forms. You may have noticed at Building B (east side) the yellow material (fire proofing board) is being slowly covered by a black waterproofing membrane. Now our GC can begin applying the exterior trim and siding materials over this waterproofing membrane in the coming weeks. Our General Contractor has also begun framing the front porches over the apartments that face Villa Street in Building B.

The GC is very close to finishing the multiple layers of flat roofing membranes as well as the sloped shingle roofing materials for Building B. Once the roofing is done and the black paper installed the building will be completely “dried in”, a significant milestone that allows us to begin installing insulation and drywall inside. Building A (west side near Bush Street) is not far behind Building B. You can already see the yellow board going up on the exterior walls already. This will be followed by the windows and doors, waterproofing materials, roofing, and then the siding just as you have observed at Building B.

Of note, we have recently hired a Code 3 Security to patrol the site during the evening hours and on the weekends. So if you see someone roaming around outside or within the fence lines don’t be alarmed.

We hope you enjoy the most recent photos of the site. Our General Contractor will shut down on Monday for President’s Day. Have a great holiday.

01/13/12

Greetings,

We enjoyed another beautiful sunny northern California week this past week and all went well at the jobsite and in general as planned. You may have noticed that the City continued their street work this week along Villa and Bush Streets, they even ran a large pipe underneath our trailer!

Tomorrow, Saturday 1/14/12, our GC has received approval for a group of the electricians to work quietly inside the first floor units pulling the electrical wires. They will be there between the hours of 9am and 4pm. Their work should be relatively quiet, but don’t be alarmed if you see some minor activity on the site.

Monday is a holiday, Martin Luther King Day, so there will be no work at the site. Our GC and their crews will return on Tuesday 1/17/12.

This week our GC plans to continue the framing work at Building A, next to Bush Street. You may remember that this week on 10/17 the GC has scheduled another roof truss delivery along Bush Street. Please pay attention when navigating the S curve as the truss truck will enter sometime in the morning and exit later that afternoon. The General Contractor’s flag persons will be in place to help.

Stay tuned for more updates, and have a great week.

01/06/12

Happy New Year Neighbors!

We hope that your 2012 is off to a great start.  Work at the site has been going well over the past couple of weeks.  As you may have noticed the City began work on a sewer line upgrade for Villa Street this week.  We believe this work is part of their City wide sewer upgrade program.  If we get more information we will be sure to pass it along.  We believe the project will be complete relatively soon, and we are doing our best to stay out of their way!!  Please contact the City if you would like more information related to their project.

The work at Madera continues to go well.  The General Contractor began framing the third story of Building A this week.  Please be aware that on January 10th and January 17th the GC is scheduled to deliver roof trusses to the west side of Building A.  They will need to enter the site from Bush Street in order to make this delivery.  There will be flag persons and signage in place during the short periods of time that the truss delivery truck enters and exits the site from the Bush Street S curve.  The GC will temporarily remove the perimeter fencing for this activity and it will be replaced once the work is complete later that day.  Please be on the lookout on these two days in the morning and the late afternoon when the truss delivery truck is entering and exiting the site respectively.

The General Contractor plans to install the remainder of the windows in Building B in the next couple of weeks and they will continue the roofing activities as well.  They also plan to begin installing exterior siding at building B within the next couple of weeks. 

Please stay tuned for future update…

12/16/11

Season's Greetings Neighbors,

The buildings are really beginning to take shape now.  Over the next two weeks our GC will continue the wood framing work on the second and third floors of Building A on the West side of the site.  Framing is almost complete on Building B with the standing of the 4th floor roof trusses this week.

There is a lot of work going on inside each of the buildings and in the garage.  Our GC is on schedule and hoping for relatively fair weather this winter.  Thanks for your continued patience.

From our family at Prometheus to yours we wish you all the best this Holiday Season and a very Happy New Year. 

11/23/11

Happy Thanksgiving Neighbors!

The work at the site has continued to progress this week. Our General Contractor has their wood framing crews at full capacity and the buildings are beginning to take shape. Next week the GC should begin framing the fourth story on West Evelyn. Our GC doesn’t anticipate any major activities that would affect the surrounding streets this coming week. Below are a few pictures of the progress “behind the scenes”…

10/28/11
The work continues to progress well at “Madera”.  This week our GC has begun framing the third story units for Building B (east side).  They plan to begin framing the first floor at Building A (west side) very soon.  They are prepping the concrete footings for the porches on Building B this week so soon you will see the porches being framed and then they will be ready to begin scaffolding around the building.

Please be aware that this Saturday we will have a few workers on site perform “quiet” framing layout and pipe hanging activities; no power tools, radios, etc.

This Tuesday our GC plans to install one of the new man holes that have been required by the City at Bush & Evelyn. The eastbound lane of the S-curve will be closed down in accordance with our City-approved traffic plan. Please be careful as you re-route around this location Tuesday and obey all traffic signals, signage and flag persons.  Our GC expects the work to be complete by the end of Tuesday.

10/14/11
The work continues to go well at Madera.  Although the weather slowed us down a bit these past couple of weeks wood framing continues to go smoothly.  You may have noticed the two story roof trusses are now set on the easterly half of the development along the Villa Street frontage.  Our General Contractor expects to start the wood framing of the first floor walls on the westerly half of the development along the Villa Street frontage next week.  The GC will be installing drainage pipe at the base of the building foundations on Villa Street this coming week.  This will be roughly a 2-3 day operation that will require a dump truck to haul loads of soil from the site.  Please be aware of this dump truck on Villa street on Monday & Tuesday of next week and know that it will be there only temporarily at intervals during the day. 

The General Contractor's next large concrete pour will occur on the northeastern half of the property near Bush & Evelyn on 10/27/11.  As in weeks past the concrete pump will arrive early at 6:30pm to set up and concrete trucks will begin to deliver shortly thereafter.  We anticipate the work to be complete by late afternoon or early evening before dark.  There will be increased traffic on Evelyn Avenue during this work so please obey the flag persons signs and directions and drive carefully.

9/27/11
You may remember that our GC had a large concrete pour on 9/16/11, which utilized part of Villa Street for access to the site.   At that time we mentioned that later in September there would be a second concrete pour that would need to use this same access.  Well that time has come. 

This week on Thursday 9/29/11 our General Contractor has scheduled the second major concrete pour for the podium slab on the westernmost side of the development site.  This concrete pour will require our GC to access the site from the Villa Street side with a large concrete pump and concrete delivery trucks.  Our GC has been working with the City on a special traffic plan as well as a staging area for the trucks and concrete pump in the parking lane along Villa street (see attached file).  It appears that this layout will impact the houses along Palmitta court and those further west that front Villa Street.  In an effort to mitigate those impacts our General Contractor has agreed with the City to start later in the morning so they can avoid most of the commuter and school traffic.  The concrete pump should arrive at 8am to start setting up in the staging area.  Concrete trucks should begin arriving around 8:30am.  Since our GC is getting a late start they anticipate that concrete pumping will take all day, probably until 5pm, depending on traffic and other variables. The concrete “finishing” work may continue into the evening as late as 7:00pm depending on the weather and how quickly the concrete sets up. 

Please be prepared for heavy truck traffic on Villa Street this Thursday 9/29/11.  Our GC will have flag persons there to direct traffic and make sure everyone can get through the two lanes in that area safely, so please slow down and be alert.   We realize this is not the ideal situation but unfortunately it is the only way to accomplish the work.  We certainly appreciate your cooperation.

In addition as you can see the work continues to progress well at the site.  Framing is ongoing and our GC expects the roof trusses for the first units along Villa Street to be delivered and installed this week.  The plumbers are hard at work both in the garage and in the framed apartment units installing all of the necessary supply and waste lines.  Please stay tuned for future updates.

9/09/11
Another major concrete podium pour is complete as of Thursday 9/8/11 which completes the easternmost building.  The framing also continues this week on the eastern side of the site.  The buildings are really beginning to take shape as the activity level at the site intensifies.  You may have noticed this week our General Contractor changed their plans and did not perform the sewer lateral work in Villa Street that I mentioned in last week’s update.  We hope that was a pleasant surprise!  This work has been rescheduled for a few weeks from now. 

This week on Friday 9/16/11 our General Contractor has scheduled the first major concrete pour for the podium slab on the westernmost side of the development site.  This concrete pour will require our GC to access the site from the Villa Street side with a large Concrete pump and the concrete trucks.  Our GC has been working with the City on a special traffic plan as well as a staging area for the trucks and concrete pump in the parking lane along Villa street (see attached file).  It appears that this layout will impact the houses along Palmitta court and those further west that front Villa Street.  In an effort to mitigate those impacts our General Contractor has agreed with the City to start later in the morning so they can avoid most of the commuter and school traffic.  The concrete pump should arrive at 8am to start setting up in the staging area.  Concrete trucks should begin arriving around 8:30am.  Since our GC is getting a late start they anticipate that concrete pumping will take all day, probably until 5pm, depending on traffic and other variables. The concrete “finishing” work may continue into the evening as late as 8:00pm depending on the weather and how quickly the concrete sets up. 

Please be prepared for heavy truck traffic on Villa Street next Friday 9/16/11.  Our GC will have flag persons there to direct traffic and make sure everyone can get through the two lanes in that area safely, so please slow down and be alert.  There are only a handful of times that our GC will have to access the site directly from Villa Street and two of them are large concrete pours; one next Friday 9/16 and another towards the end of September (see future updates).  We realize this is not the ideal situation but unfortunately it is the only way to accomplish the work.  We certainly appreciate your cooperation next week as our GC executes this concrete pour.  Thanks in advance for your cooperation.

9/02/11
Our General Contractor will have a couple of significant milestones this week at the site. On Thursday 9/8/11 they will place the 4th and final section of the Building B Podium, which will complete all of the structural concrete work for one half of the development. Keep in mind as with the past pours we will have the concrete pump arrive early at 6:00 am, with concrete trucks arriving at 6:30am. In the past we have been able to complete the “finishing” work by 5:00 or 6:00 pm and we anticipate that this will be the case for this Thursday’s pour as well. Please be aware that there will be back up alarms, concrete pumping, and truck traffic noise associated with these activities.

Also, next week our General Contractor plans to connect two sanitary sewer laterals from our site to the middle of Villa Street. This work will begin on Thursday and is scheduled to be completed by Friday 9/9/11. In accordance with the “City Approved” plans our GC will need to close the north side of Villa Street during this work. Please follow the signs, flag persons, and use caution when driving through this area next Thursday and Friday.

Structural wood framing will also continue this week, so please be aware that there will be more hammering, saws, and back up alarms from the equipment moving around the site as well. The project is moving along well and we appreciate your continued patience.

8/05/11
The work continues to move along quickly at the site. The General Contractor is ready to place concrete in the first 2 of 8 total areas of the podium deck. The first concrete placement will take place on Monday 8/8/11. It will take all day to deliver, pump, and finish the concrete. The City has allowed our General Contractor to mobilize their work force at 6am on these 8 special concrete placement days. Beginning at 6am the concrete pump will begin staging at the site. As early as 6:30am the first concrete trucks will begin deliveries, entering the site from West Evelyn Avenue. The delivery and placement work will continue throughout the afternoon and the “finishing/smoothing” of the concrete will potentially take until 8-8:30pm at night to complete. This activity is a significant milestone for the project. Once the concrete sets up for a few days the General Contractor will begin framing the buildings on the podium deck, another significant milestone. Assuming all goes well on Monday, concrete placement #2 will occur on Tuesday 8/9/11 with the same start and finish times and activities. Please be aware of the early start and late finish times on these days next week. Please also be aware of the increased truck traffic, concrete pumping and placement noise, and increase in back up alarms from trucks entering and leaving the site. We appreciate your patience.

7/13/11
Our General Contractor is continuing to install the podium deck shoring this week for building B (east side).  They are also continuing to prep the garage floor slab for Building A (west side).  Our General Contractor plans to begin placing podium concrete for Building B by the end of July with an estimated completion of the last section of the podium in late August.  Framing will commence as soon as the first section of podium concrete has “cured”, probably by early to mid-August.  The truck traffic to and from the site is very busy these days so please observe any and all traffic warning signs and flag persons directing traffic along West Evelyn Avenue.  Please take a look at the attached video for an update on our progress and a closer look “behind the fences”. 
Click to view video.

6/8/11

The weather has not been kind to us of late; who would have expected such a wet June!!  Nevertheless the work continues to move forward at the site albeit a few days off our original schedule.  Despite the weather we are pleased that our General Contractor has made significant progress on the foundation.  The footings are almost 100% complete as are most of the walls and columns.  Beginning the week of June 13th the General Contractor plans to begin placing the first sections of the garage concrete slab.  Please expect elevated levels of concrete truck traffic over the next two weeks as the slab placement progresses.  Once the garage floor slab is placed and the exterior building walls are braced and backfilled the General Contractor will begin the complex operation of shoring placement for the concrete podium slab which will take several weeks to complete. 

5/13/11
It’s Friday the 13th but our General Contractor feels pretty lucky to be enjoying such nice weather.  The work at the site is going well.  Now that the excavation is complete, our General Contractor plans to place the first concrete footings Wednesday through Friday of this coming week.  There will be more truck traffic than usual due to the concrete trucks turning in and out of the site on West Evelyn, so please drive, walk, and bike with care in this area.  This Saturday from 9a-3p there will be two employees of the Concrete Subcontractor there to “layout” the foundation footings in preparation for digging next week.  They plan to use measuring tools, spray paint, and a string line to accomplish this task, so they will be very stealthy.  This work will enable the crews to make up for 3 days that we lost last week due to additional unforeseen soil remediation that had to take place at the site.  We doubt you will notice their presence since they will be working about twelve feet below the surface of the street at the bottom of the excavation.  We have been in communication with the City and this work has been approved by the Chief Building Official in accordance with our conditions of approval.  We are looking forward to a busy summer of building and we will keep you updated on our progress.

4/29/11
Our General Contractor plans to continue the excavation and removal of soil from the site this week.  Please anticipate increased truck traffic on West Evelyn associated with this work.

4/22/11
Our General Contractor plans to continue the excavation and removal of soil from the site this week.  Please anticipate increased truck traffic on West Evelyn associated with this work. 

4/15/11  The weather is cooperating so our General Contractor anticipates the increased activity to continue at the site.  They plan to continue the excavation work with the trucks entering and exiting the site from West Evelyn Avenue.  As mentioned in the last update, due to space constraints on the site, the General Contractor has worked with the City to place their jobsite trailer adjacent to the property in the parking lane on Villa Street.  The door to the trailer will face the construction site and of course additional green screening material will be placed around the trailer to mask it from the adjacent neighborhood’s view.  They expect the trailer to arrive by mid-week. 

4/1/11  Activity at the site should increase this week.  Our General Contractor expects to begin the shoring work along the Bush Street frontage of the property.  Long steel girders will be drilled into the earth along this entire frontage in order to preserve the four large Heritage trees and retain the soil prior to our mass excavation in that area.  Simultaneously, the General Contractor plans to  begin the process of excavation at the eastern end of the property.  Trucks will enter the site from West Evelyn, receive the excavated soil , then exit the site on West Evelyn.  The General Contractor also plans to move the fence line on Villa Street to its permanent location along the back of the existing curb.  Once they move the fence they will apply a screening material as a visual block.  In an effort to manage the increase in activity on the site they also plan to place the construction trailer along the Villa Street parking frontage near the eastern end of the property this week.  PG&E plans to visit the site again on Tuesday 4/5/11 to remove their existing transformer and primary electrical feeds.  Our General Contractor as well as Prometheus wish to thank all of our neighbors for their continued patience and understanding.  We will continue to provide regular updates as the work progresses.

3/24/11 - This coming week our General Contractor will continue the demolition by removing the remaining concrete slabs and asphalt pavement.  Please expect elevated noise levels which may include some jack-hammering.  The General Contractor’s normal dust control measures will remain in place.  PG&E has scheduled Tuesday  3/29/11 for the gas line tie-in work that will occur at the intersection of Bush Street and West Evelyn.  Please be aware that the S-curve intersection will be out of service on this date. 

3/18/11 – This coming week our General Contractor will continue the demolition by removing the remaining concrete slabs and asphalt pavement.  Please expect elevated noise levels which may include some jack-hammering.  The General Contractor’s normal dust control measures will remain in place.  PG&E scheduled 3/29/11 for the gas line tie-in work that will occur at the intersection of Bush Street and West Evelyn.  Please be aware that the S-curve intersection will be out of service on this date. 

3/11/11 – This coming week our General Contractor will continue the demolition of the largest of the Minton’s buildings.  They also plan to start removing the concrete slabs and the pavement.  Please expect elevated noise levels which may include some jack-hammering.  The General Contractor’s normal dust control measures which include the water trucks and fire hoses to wet down the work areas and materials will continue to be used. 

3/3/11 – Demolition is underway at the site as of today.  Our Contractor anticipates it will last for roughly 20-30 days.  It will be followed by excavation of the site which will likely take another several weeks to complete.  During the demolition and excavation please expect heightened noise levels during the posted work hours from 7am to 6pm as well as some additional truck traffic on West Evelyn Avenue.  Standard dust control measures are being proactively employed by our Contractor.  We look forward to starting the foundation of our new buildings in the very near future.

2/23/11 – PG&E gas service abandonment work that was scheduled to occur today was postponed by PG&E until Friday 2/25/11.  The eastbound lane closure at Bush Street will begin at 9am on Friday through 3pm in order to complete this work.

2/23/11 – At the request of some of the neighbors we have set live vermin traps around the Villa and Bush Street frontages to help reduce any refugees from our upcoming demolition activities. 

2/28/11 – PG&E will remove electrical services from the property this coming week.  This should not impact traffic flow around the site.

3/1/11 – We anticipate that demolition activities will begin on 3/1/11 or shortly thereafter.  It all depends on how quickly PG&E removes our gas and power services.  During the demolition please anticipate some additional noise from the machinery we will use to pull down the structures.  Every reasonable effort will be made to reduce the dust from this activity.

3/28/11 – We anticipate beginning the grading activities by the final week of March, weather permitting.  Please anticipate some increased truck traffic on West Evelyn, additional noise and dust from excavators.  Every reasonable effort will be made to reduce the dust from the excavation and grading activities.