72-Story Twin Towers Proposed on Yonge Street Toronto’s main thoroughfare, Yonge Street, continues to bustle as Northam Realty seeks rezoning to pave the way for construction of a pair of 72-story, 233-m-tall residential towers at the northeast corner of Yonge and Carlton streets, Urban Toronto reported. Designed by IBI Group Architects, the silvery, modern structures…
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Majority Stake Acquired in Spanish Company KONE has acquired a majority stake in Citylift, S.A., a Spanish company providing elevator installation, maintenance and modernization. Citylift has more than 5,000 elevators in service and 111 employees in 25 locations across Spain. Pierre Liautaud, KONE executive vice president and area director for South Europe, Middle East and…
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Companies refocus, purchase others, open facilities and more around the world. Toshiba Shifts Focus from Speed to Capacity With elevators theoretically reaching their maximum possible speeds, Toshiba Elevator is shifting its focus to capacity, the Nikkei Asian Review reported. From 2004 until this year, Toshiba held the world’s fastest elevator title with a pair of…
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Durandet Named Managing Director of Wittur Europe Wittur has named Geoffroy Durandet managing director of Europe. In this role, he is responsible for European Sales and Operations and for driving Wittur growth across the continent. Prior to joining Wittur, Durandet held various senior positions with Otis, including managing director in Luxembourg, Canada, the U.K., Ireland…
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Japanese Hotelier Has Eye on LIC Japanese hotel operator Toyoko Inn Co. has applied to build its first U.S. hotel at 24-09 Jackson Avenue in Long Island City (LIC). The structure would stand 50 stories and 514 ft., and house more than 1,250 rooms, as well as 260,000 sq. ft. of commercial space. Hotel Architect…
Read More Despite size concerns, developer SunCal of Irvine, California, is proposing a major mixed-use project that includes a pair of 58-story towers in the heart of Los Angeles’ Arts District at 6th and Alameda streets, the Los Angeles Times reported. If built, what is being called 6AM would transform the formerly down-on-its-luck neighborhood with approximately 1,730…
Read More International residential elevator manufacturer Stiltz Lifts has expanded its U.S. operation in Pennsylvania, relocating from Allentown to Bethlehem. “Following rapid growth,” the company reported, Stiltz Lifts USA has more than doubled the size of its previous offices. The move will help it increase its inventories and deliver more of its range of home elevators and…
Read More Lewis Leading Eklund’s Western Region Eklund’s, Inc. has named Ryan Lewis director of Business Development — Western Region, which encompasses California, Arizona, Nevada, Washington, Oregon, Utah, Idaho, New Mexico, Colorado and Hawaii. He will work with elevator companies, property managers/owners, general contractors, architects and elevator consultants throughout the region to grow Eklund’s custom-cab interior business.…
Read More Remember when your mother used to say, “Close the door” (because you were letting flies in — or air-conditioning out). It is appropriate for the December editorial that we are closing the door on a year of extreme highs and lows — and stress. I am writting this on U.S. election day, and I can…
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Evolution of the Lift Engineering program at UoN Following the introduction of the first edition of the European standard EN 81-1:1977 in 1977 (introduced in the U.K. as BS 5655-1:1979), the U.K. lift industry needed a wide ranging re-education of its workforce in both design and field service. The need to update the workforce was…
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