The 234 Apartment

Granite countertops and stainless steel appliances have been installed in the first Portofino Apartments on 34th Street, just west of Milwaukee Avenue, before the grand opening July 19 .  Sara Fierro, director of operations for Asken Properties , said five buildings are scheduled to open for residents to begin moving in July 15. The clubhouse, a 3,500-square-foot building, will also be ready for the office staff to move in by that time. Up to and through the grand opening event , those who sign a lease at Portofino will be given a free iPad Mini , Fierro said. Door prizes will also be given out during the grand opening event July 19 in the Portofino clubhouse. In December, she hopes 210 apartments will be ready for rental. “We’re opening up five buildings July 15 , which is about 35 apartments. But every two weeks after that, we’ll keep opening up another couple of buildings,” Fierro said. Units in Portofino won’t be the cheapest in town, Fierro said, but she believes they are compe...

Fish, most of them the length of an outstretched hand outstretched , seem to know Tea Hoffmann. They form a school at the sound of footsteps on her dock. They wait in the shallows for morsels of cereal or bread. And shallower and shallower they are. “I’m all for people selling their property, making money and all of that,” said Hoffmann, one of six homeowners with docks on a small cove off Mill Creek. “I do not want them just clearing everything and making this cove fill up with dirt.” Hoffmann moved to the area five years ago, but she hadn’t seen anything like what she did Monday. Rain fell, and water began rushing from a construction site at the head of the cove. Only it wasn’t just water. Hoffmann photographed and videoed muddy water pouring into the lake. “That’s the first day that it happened,” Hoffmann said. “It even stained the rocks, it was so bad.” Apartments have been under construction just beside Senator Road for a few months. When it rains, water runs into the lake. But...