News stories tagged with "housing"

(01/25/12) New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman will lead a new mortgage crisis investigation unit, announced by President Obama in his state of the union last night.

The special unit will investigate wrongdoing by banks related to real estate lending, and how that contributed to the financial collapse and the mortgage crisis. more

(11/21/11) On Friday, the Adirondack Park Agency commission delved deep into the business plan for the proposed Adirondack Club and Resort. The APA will vote in January on whether to approve the massive project, which supporters hope will revitalize the economy in Tupper Lake. The development has been on the drawing table for years, with more than seven hundred condos and mansions, along with a marina, equestrian center and modern ski hill.

One part of the Park Agency's review involves determining whether the project will have negative economic impacts on the community. As Brian Mann reports, that effort is complicated by the fact that there are still a lot of unanswered questions about how the resort will be financed and built. more

(06/22/11) The buildup of Fort Drum near Watertown has made Jefferson County one of the fastest growing places in Upstate New York. But it's also created a shortage of rental houses for military families and for civilians.

The problem hasn't come to a head yet because soldiers are constantly rotating in and out of Iraq and Afghanistan. But as the U.S. draws down troop presence in the Middle East, the military population around Fort Drum is expected to swell.

Officials have been leading a public-private effort to build more housing for years. Joanna Richards reports now is crunch time. more

(06/17/11) Legislators in Albany passed a bill yesterday that would open more private land in the Adirondacks to affordable housing. Governor Cuomo is expected to sign the measure.

The bill was first drafted by the Adirondack Park Agency a couple of years ago and then sponsored by state Senator Betty Little; Brian Mann spoke to Nora Flaherty about it.

(06/15/11) There's just four full days left in the legislative session, and still no agreement on a property tax cap or the renewal of New York City's rent laws, two issues that state lawmakers have tied together. The rent laws expire at the end of the day Wednesday, and time is running out. Karen DeWitt reports. more

(06/07/11) Thousands of soldiers will be back at Fort Drum over the next few months as they rotate out of Afghanistan.

The homecoming is welcome news for those soldiers and their families, but U.S. Congressman Bill Owens said any growth in the area could exacerbate area housing. Nora Flaherty reports. more

(04/22/11) For seven years, developer Michael Foxman has been promising to build a massive new resort in Tupper Lake, worth roughly $500 million.

He's hoping to win final approval for the project from the Adirondack Park Agency this fall.

Many community leaders have embraced his vision as a way to revive a former logging and manufacturing town that lost seven percent of its population over the last decade.

But an investigation by North Country Public Radio, in partnership with the Adirondack Explorer magazine, found that significant doubts remain about the economic viability of Foxman's resort.

Over a period of weeks and dozens of interviews, we found that important questions remain unanswered about how the resort will be financed and marketed.

As Brian Mann reports, it's unclear when the project's elaborate infrastructure and amenities, including those at the Big Tupper ski area, will be built. more

(02/10/11) As the snow piles up across the North Country, homeowners are looking nervously at those deep drifts piling up on their roofs. Snow can also block furnace and drier vents.

Officials say roof collapses are rare, but a few high-profile barn collapses have residents eager to get their roofs shoveled.

That's keeping contractors busy. David Sommerstein spoke with one on a rooftop in Canton yesterday.

(09/10/10) Developers of a new resort in Tupper Lake won a major victory yesterday when a local jury awarded them road access to a 1200-acre parcel of land.

The decision will allow the Adirondack Club and Resort to maintain a short road easement across neighboring property owned by the Adirondack Nature Conservancy.

The company says they needed access in order to move their project forward. The green group says the developers wanted to take their private property rights.

Brian Mann was in Tupper Lake and has our story. more

(08/12/10) The Adirondack Park Agency has won a five year legal battle against a Plattsburgh businessman who built a 10,000-square-foot mansion in Lake Placid in violation of an APA permit. A judge has upheld the APA's enforcement action against Arthur and Margaret Spiegel - a decision that could force the Spiegels to tear down their partially built home in Lake Placid's Fawn Ridge subdivision. Chris Knight reports.