Eighty-six shipping containers make up the new Travelodge Hotel in Uxbridge, England. (Photo: Courtesy of Travelodge)

Sushil Cheema reports:

Most people would not consider a shipping container to be a comfortable place to spend the night, but a new Travelodge hotel in England thinks it has found a way to make it appealing.

Located in a suburb of London called Uxbridge, the new hotel contains 120 rooms and was constructed in about four months on site, said Greg Dawson, a spokesman for Travelodge. That time included laying the foundations for the building. If constructed using traditional methods, the entire project would have taken about 15 months to two years to complete, he said. The hotel opened on August 15.

The modified steel shipping containers were fitted with hotel fixtures in Shenzen, China and then transported to England by boat, Travelodge said in a statement. The 86 individual containers then were stacked together “like giant Lego blocks” on the actual site in about 20 days.

The shipping containers were fitted with fixtures in China before being sent to England. (Photo: Courtesy of Travelodge)

The building method is very efficient and makes it possible to build in tricky locations, Dawson said. He noted that the location of the Uxbridge hotel at a former bus station in a busy shopping district probably could not have supported traditional building methods because of limited access.

The building style is also cheaper than traditional methods, Dawson said. The rates at the hotel currently match those at conventionally-built ones. But Dawson said the savings from the lower building costs get passed on to the consumer because they will allow the company to keep prices at the same rate even as utility prices and other costs continue to rise. The rooms at the hotel are about £20 (about $37) if booked online and £40-50 (about $73-$92) for walk-in guests, Dawson said.

Verbus Systems, a U.K. contractor, approached Travelodge with the idea, Dawson said. The hotel company currently has plans to open a new hotel in the U.K. every week for the next ten years, Dawson said, and the shipping container building method that Verbus proposed would help the company keep up with its target rate of growth. Travelodge has opened about 100 hotels in the last four years.

Travelodge is exploring the idea of building more shipping container hotels in the U.K. A similar project of 310 rooms is already under construction near Heathrow airport and will likely open in December, Dawson said.

Readers, what do you think of this building method?

(Getty Images)

Sushil Cheema reports:

In the current housing slump, construction has slowed significantly, and homebuilder confidence remains low.

The number of building permits for units of privately-owned housing built by a corporate developer fell nearly 18 percent in July from the month before, according to new residential construction data released yesterday by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Only 937,000 permits were issued compared with about 1,138,000 in June. The number of permits issued in July was also more than 32 percent lower than those issued in July 2007.

The number of privately-owned houses that began construction in July also fell from June by about 11 percent. That was a nearly 30 percent drop from the same month the year before. The number of homes completed in July also decreased by 11 percent since June and nearly 30 percent since July 2007.

The data for single-family housing—one-unit residences built by a private owner or contractor—also showed decreases across the board. Permits issued in July fell by more than five percent from June, housing starts fell by nearly 3 percent and completed homes fell by more than 7 percent.

Faced with those numbers, it comes as no surprise that homebuilders have low confidence in the current state of the industry as measured by the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Market Index. A rating below 50 on this index indicates that negative responses outweighed positive ones. The NAHB reported Monday that the index in August was at 16, the same recordlow it reached in July. Traffic of prospective buyers remained at a steady low of 12, meaning that builders were reporting low interest in properties.

Single family home sales did, however, see a slight improvement over last month, with the index increasing one point to 16. Projections for sales for the next months saw the most improvement with a two point jump since last month to 25. Though these numbers have increased since June, builder confidence in these areas is still relatively low, as the ratings below 50 show that negative responses were predominant.

The passage of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 that included a $7,500 tax credit for first-time home buyers could have resulted in the improvement in the sales projection, said Sandy Dunn, the president of the National Association of Home Builders and a home builder in West Virginia, in a statement. “Builders are anticipating the stimulative effects of this legislation and are optimistic that the tax credit will give those buyers who’ve been sitting on the fence the reason they need to jump back into the market.”

The data comes from builders’ ratings of current single-family home sales and from ratings on projected sales for the next six months. The association has conducted the survey monthly for the last 20 years.

The John Laing Homes’ Belle Cliff neighborhood overlooks the Pacific Ocean in San Juan Capistrano, California. (Photo: Courtesy of John Laing Homes)

Sushil Cheema reports:

Builders are competing with the glut of foreclosed homes to attract buyers. Now, one builder, Irvine, California-based John Laing Homes has taken the unusual step of pointing out the pitfalls associated with buying a foreclosed home in order to keep customers interested in new homes.

“A foreclosure may appear to offer the best deal on a home, but there are numerous hidden costs,” said Linda Mamet, the company’s vice president of sales and marketing for the Southern California Region, in a statement. “A foreclosed house is sold ‘as-is.’ At times there will be a lot of time and skill involved to undertake a major renovation as well as financial costs, which should be considered if you value your leisure time.”

The company was hearing stories from prospective buyers about the problems they had when considering foreclosed homes, Mamet said in an interview. “People were looking at homes for three or four months and would get frustrated because they didn’t understand the process” of foreclosures, Mamet said. “We think people should be informed.”

John Laing Homes sells about two to four homes in each of its neighborhoods per month, Mamet said. The company operates in South California, Northern California, Colorado, Phoenix and Houston.

About 40 to 100 prospective buyers visit John Laing’s showrooms every month, Mamet said. About 10 percent of them also were considering buying foreclosed homes, she said. “Most foreclosure sales in Southern California are in the lower price ranges,” Mamet said. A new John Lang home ranges from $300,000 to about $8 million, with an average three-bedroom home selling for about $500,000, she said.

The WSJ’s Wendy Bounds reports:

Reporting today’s column about solar energy for the home, I asked why sun technology disappeared from the horizon after its 1970s surge. Some solar experts blamed Reagan for not renewing lucrative tax credits. They mentioned how he took solar panels off the White House for roof repair and never put them back.

Photo by mysza831 @ flickr.com

But mostly they said, “Oil prices dropped and consumers didn’t care anymore.”

Could that happen again? Is America’s newfound obsession with solar, geothermal, and wind power just a flirtation until the energy bills lighten again? Make that if they lighten again. Or have we, as one hopeful green real-estate developer put it, “fundamentally turned a corner” in our attitudes about renewable energy alternatives — and more specifically, our willingness to spend our own money on them.

No doubt we want a reprieve. The average homeowner will shell out 33% more to warm their home this year. If you use oil like I do in the Northeast, expect an average heating bill of just over $2900. Already some polls say public sentiment is moving toward favoring more domestic drilling. And oil companies are scrambling to squeeze oil from anywhere, like shale rock buried beneath federal lands.

On the other side is Al Gore calling for the U.S. to move toward “zero-carbon” electricity as well as other non-fossil fuel dependent technologies. To him and other renewable energy champions, simply drilling for more oil is like plugging a gaping wound with loose Band-Aid. Invest more now in alternatives, they say, reap the benefits later.

Who will prevail? I’m looking at a roughly $23,000 price tag to get my home’s power and hot water partly juiced from the sun. The payback for the various systems is anywhere from 5 to 15 years. Feels longish, but one solar expert put it this way: “Did you ask about the payback of your new granite countertops?” (It’s a hypothetical; I used concrete, but OK, point taken.)

Meantime, here are 10 other ways to improve your home’s energy efficiency. (There are more resources in my story.) Let us know if you’ve got other tips:

It’s getting tough to compete with all those foreclosed homes on the market. Elevated housing inventory, weak demand and rising foreclosures will continue to hurt home builders over the next several quarters, according to a report released by JPMorgan following its 3rd Annual Basics and Industrials Conference. (See full report.)

Some takeaways from the report:

Texas is slowing down: After noting the by-now familiar housing trouble spots of California, Arizona and Phoenix, home builder Centex Corp. says that the Texas market is slowing down. Pulte Homes Inc. notes that orders were down in Houston, despite a relatively solid job market and strong energy sector. JPMorgan’s report says that this confirms its own prediction about slow growth in the Lone Star state — pointing to “material weakness in Austin, highly elevated inventory in Dallas and softening conditions in San Antonio.”

Baltimore and Denver doing “relatively well”: This is from home builder Ryland Group Inc., which notes also that sales in Charleston, S.C., and Indianapolis were up year-over-year.

Higher raw material costs: In particular several builders pointed to higher costs for oil-based materials, including asphalt and PVC pipe. Steel is also costing more.

Meanwhile, housing supply is starting to level off — at high levels not seen since 1985 — according to data from ZipRealty provided to the WSJ and reported by James R. Hagerty. (See housing supply data for several major metro areas.)

The figures probably understate the supply of homes because not all foreclosed properties that lenders are trying to sell are listed on multiple-listing services, the article quotes Thomas Lawler, a housing economist in Leesburg, Va., as saying.

Lenders and investors in mortgages owned 660,000 foreclosed homes in April, up from 493,000 in January and 231,000 in January 2007, according to an estimate from First American CoreLogic. –Emily Friedlander

Michael Corkery reports:

Home builders Hovnanian Enterprises and Toll Brothers Inc. have had a tough week, reporting quarterly losses amid the suburban housing slump. But home builder Lennar Corp. was granted a gift from San Francisco voters on Tuesday night.

City voters soundly supported a measure that will allow the Miami-based builder to develop a sprawling, 770-acre property into housing, retail shops, offices and possibly a new stadium for the San Francisco 49ers (rendering at left). About 61% of the voters approved the Lennar project, (See local coverage on SFGATE.com) which will give the builder a massive foothold in the still robust San Francisco housing market.

What’s sweet for Lennar is that the builder is getting the land, which includes the former Hunters Point Navy shipyard (pictured at right), from the city for a nominal fee. (See “Lennar Plans are a Tough Sell in San Francisco.”) That means the company can tie up the property at a relatively low cost until it’s ready to start building houses. In exchange, the builder has agreed to provide thousands of affordable rental and for-sale homes as well as develop parks on the property, infrastructure and a site for the football stadium. The builder estimates such requirements will cost it about $1.2 billion over the 10-year project.

Lennar took some lumps from opponents to the project and spent more than $3 million campaigning to win over San Francisco voters. Voters shot down a competing measure on the ballot which would have required that 50% of the housing would be affordable. Lennar called that measure a “poison pill,” but has agreed to set aside 32% of the units for low and moderate income residents.

But a more difficult task may lay ahead for Lennar, as it raises financing for a project, which is described as one of the largest ever proposed for San Francisco. A Lennar official says when the builder is ready to start financing a big phase of the project in 2010, the credit markets will likely have improved.

Michael Corkery reports:

New York City officials say that the crane that collapsed on the Upper East Side this morning, killing one construction worker and seriously injuring two others, had been properly inspected. (Although there have been several complaints about the construction site in recent months, according to Curbed).

But Jeff York, an independent crane inspector, says that local building inspectors are ill-equipped to spot problems with the way a tower crane, like this one, has been assembled at a job site.

“It takes many years to be able to understand what you are looking at; knowing how to check bolts on a tower crane for tightness,’’ says Mr. York, himself a licensed crane operator in San Leandro, Calif., who is president of Signal-Rite, LLC, a San Leandro, Calif.-based company that provides inspection and training services to the crane industry.

The other problem, Mr. York says, is the lack of training of the workers who operate, assemble and dismantle the cranes. “A crane operator gets less training to operate a crane than a hairdresser,’’ says Mr. York, who added that it takes about a week to prepare for a written test to become a crane operator. The average wage for a tower crane operator in New York City is about $62 an hour; an operator San Francisco makes 34-35 dollars an hour, he says.

Mr. York has developed a new system of commands for crane operators to communicate with workers on the ground. He says that miscommunication over a radio is contributing to some accidents. For example, the word “stop” can sounds like “up’’ if a radio cuts outs, he says.

There were 72 crane fatalities in 2006 across the U.S., according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, but these include not only large tower cranes, but mobile units used in smaller building projects. In all, there were 1,239 deaths on private construction projects in 2006, up 4% from 2005.

The crane that collapsed today had been used in constructing the Azure, a condominium/cooperative (dubbed a “crondo condop”) that was slated to open in Spring 2009 — with studios priced from $605,800.

Why bother greening the next room you remodel? Three words and we’re not talking “save the trees”: Higher resale value.

A recent study of real-estate listings in Seattle found certified green homes sold for an 11% premium per square foot and sat on the market a quarter less time. Granted, it’s one city and one that’s particularly eco-oriented. But as much as 20% of all new construction is expected to be green by 2012. Existing homes must keep up, particularly as resale value of home improvements in general slides.

This weekend I chronicled my journey to an entirely eco-kitchen. But you don’t have to go all out to make a difference. There are plenty of small steps that can squeeze more value out of a remodel and make your home healthier and more efficient.

Here are five:

Low Voc Paint: Most major brands of paint and home improvement stores now sell paint with low no volatile organic compounds (gaseous pollutants). It costs a few more dollars, but you don’t get headaches from the smell.

Insulation: Any time a wall is down, add layers. It’ll cut back energy bills and make room temperature more comfortable year-round. Here are four types of insulation considered particularly “green.”

Appliances: When you replace, look for the Energy Star label. These appliances use technologies that consume 10–50% less energy and water than standard models. Nearly every major maker at every price point has an Energy Star make.

Cabinets: In addition to smaller eco-lines like Neil Kelly and Breathe Easy there are at least 107 mainstream kitchen cabinet makers who incorporate a good number of health and eco features. Here’s a list.

Light: Light-emitting diodes; compact fluorescents; halogens. Put what you can on dimmers. Read more about the technology here.

If there are any green remodeling tricks you’ve learned, let us know here. –Gwendolyn Bounds

Image via WikipediaIn the U.S., the mortgage mess and credit crunch has slowed and often halted commercial and residential building. But in India, it’s a shortage of skilled labors that is holding builders back. As India grows rapidly, it is building thousands of new homes, offices, malls, airports, roads, ports, power plants and industrial parks, according to an article on the front page of today’s Journal. With so many projects underway, laborers are in shortly supply.

The Persian Gulf region is also going through a building boom, according to the article, triggered by soaring oil prices. Construction is raging in Dubai–though scandal threatens to squash investor exuberance, as Margaret Coker wrote in a Journal article on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, in Inner Mongolia, architects from around the world are designing million-dollar homes to be built essentially in the sand, according to a piece in today’s New York Times. A local businessman, Cai Jiang, commissioned 100 firms to design houses in Ordos, China, as part of a “cultural district” he is building there. The article explains that until recently, Ordos residents were living in yurts, but now with a population of 1.5 million, many are living in “homes that would make New Yorkers jealous.” Which means what, we wonder, spaces larger than 250 square feet? (Read the full story.) –Emily Friedlander

Bruce Ratner at a press conference in Brooklyn in 2006 (Credit: Associated Press)

In today’s Journal, Michael Corkery looks at how the mortgage mess is affecting small home builders. One builder Mr. Corkery focuses on has drained his personal savings of $2 million to keep his company going.

The NY Times reports on fallout in the commercial sector: Bruce Ratner’s ambitious and controversial Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn, N.Y., is now imperiled. The project, which was anchored to a new stadium for Mr. Ratner’s New Jersey Nets, and grew to include 8 million square feet of apartments, eight acres of open space and office space, including a showcase, Frank Gehry-designed office tower named Miss Brooklyn. Now it looks like the construction on the stadium will proceed as planned, while the rest will be delayed.

Proposed Gehry building

“Mr. Ratner faces the same stiff challenges that are suddenly hobbling other developers after a 10-year boom: an economy teetering at the edge of recession, a credit market that has all but closed for large-scale real estate projects and a lack of tax-exempt financing for housing,” according to the Times article.

The article remarks that Mr. Ratner’s project is one of several that have stalled recently: Ian Bruce Eichner’s $3.9 billion Cosmopolitan Resort Casino, a condo-hotel complex in Las Vegas, is facing foreclosure after he failed to finalize a deal for financing. Developer Cameron Kuhn has defaulted on loans related to projects in Orlando and Jacksonville, Fla. And in Los Angeles, a number of residential projects have been delayed or abandoned.

Economic slowdowns and ambitious housing projects don’t typically mix well. As the Times points out: A developer for the redevelopment of Times Square was selected in 1984, but work did not begin for 12 years — with a different developer — largely because of a recession, as well as 47 lawsuits.

The economy also can slow the pace of filling new office space: Both the Empire State Building and World Trade Center faced difficulties finding tenants once they were completed. –Emily Friedlander