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Hundreds of Apartments Are Being Built on Top of a Costco

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A first-of-its-kind Costco with 800 apartment units above it is coming to Baldwin Hills, a neighborhood in South Los Angeles that Census Reporter finds has a poverty rate 25% higher than the national average.

The complex includes 184 apartments for low-income households, with the rest of the units offered as a mix of unsubsidized, affordable, and workforce housing. It will also have a rooftop pool and fitness center.

The Costco downstairs will have 185,000 square feet of space and two levels of underground parking. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the average size of a Costco in the U.S. is 146,000 square feet, placing this Costco above average.

Related: This 43-Year-Old Started a Side Hustle at a Farmer’s Market — Then She Quit Her Job and Built an 8-Figure Brand Sold in Costco

Real estate developer Thrive Living is preparing to start constructing the apartment-Costco property in early 2025, according to a report published earlier this month by the Wall Street Journal. When constructed, the complex will be the first residential development in the country with a Costco right downstairs.

Photo Credit: Thrive Living

Thrive Living’s founder Ben Shaoul told the WSJ that Costco will pay rent for the space and the income will help Thrive Living rely less on government subsidies for the complex’s affordable housing units.

If the model works, Shaoul says he wants to use the same concepts to build “thousands and thousands of apartments every year, not hundreds.”

Related: A Popular Costco Section May Disappear in January

The Costco apartment complex will cost $425 million to construct, with work expected to conclude in 2027.

According to a Thrive Living press release, constructing the complex will create thousands of jobs, and opening the Costco will create up to 400 new jobs.

The project is the first to receive approval under Assembly Bill 2011 or the Affordable Housing and High Road Jobs Act. The California law, which went into effect throughout the state on July 1, 2023, speeds up the approval process for projects that meet affordability and labor criteria.

Related: Costco Is Raising Hourly Wages for Employees, According to an Internal Memo from the CEO



This story originally appeared on Entrepreneur

Powerful Tibet earthquake near Nepal kills at least nine By Reuters

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BEIJING (Reuters) – A magnitude 6.8 earthquake rocked the northern foothills of the Himalayas near one of Tibet’s holiest cities on Tuesday, killing at least nine people and shaking buildings in neighbouring Nepal, Bhutan and India.

The quake hit at 9:05 a.m. (0105 GMT), with its epicentre located in Tingri, a rural county known as the northern gateway to the Everest region, at a depth of 10 km (6.2 miles), according to the China Earthquake Networks Centre.

At least nine people had been killed on the Tibetan side, national television broadcaster CCTV reported.

The impact of the temblor was felt across the region of 800,000 people, which is administered by Shigatse, the traditional seat of the Panchen Lama, one of the most important figures in Tibetan Buddhism.

Villages in Tingri reported strong shaking during the quake, which was followed by numerous aftershocks with magnitudes of up to 4.4.

Crumbled shop fronts could be seen in a video on social media showing the aftermath from the nearby town of Lhatse, with debris spilling out onto the road.

Reuters was able to confirm the location from nearby buildings, windows, road layout, and signage that match satellite and street view imagery.

A magnitude 6.8 quake is considered strong and is capable of causing severe damage.

Local government officials were liaising with nearby towns to gauge the impact of the quake and check for casualties, China’s state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

Tremors were also felt in Nepal’s capital Kathmandu some 400 km (250 miles) away, where residents ran from their houses.

“We felt a very strong earthquake. So far we have not received any report of injuries or physical loss,” said Anoj Raj Ghimire, chief district officer of Solukhumbu district in Nepal, at the foot of Mount Everest, the world’s highest mountain.

“We have mobilised police and other security forces as well as locals to collect information about the damage,” he added.

The quake also jolted Thimphu, the capital of Bhutan, and in the northern Indian state of Bihar which borders Nepal.

So far, no reports of any damage or loss to property have been received, officials in India said.

Southwestern parts of China, Nepal and Northern India are frequently hit by earthquakes caused by the collision of the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates.

A huge quake in China’s Sichuan province in 2008 killed almost 70,000 people, while a magnitude 7.8 tremor struck near Kathmandu in 2015, killing about 9,000 people and injuring thousands in Nepal’s worst ever earthquake.




This story originally appeared on Investing

Party City to auction off leases to all 695 US stores as it goes out of business

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Party City will be auctioning off the leases for all of its 695 stores in the US ahead of the retail company’s nationwide closure.

In late December, the party store mainstay announced that it would be shuttering its doors after 40 years in the states due to high inflation that it couldn’t keep up with that drove customers elsewhere.

Party City will be selling all of its United States store location leases ahead of its nationwide closure. AP

Of the retail company’s 850 outlets, a staggering 695 are in the US. The remaining 155 stores are spread throughout Canada, Puerto Rico, and Mexico.

There will be one last party to bring the four decades of fun to a close by auctioning off all the stores in the US.

Party City has 695 stores in the United States and 155 across Canada, Puerto Rico, and Mexico. ZUMAPRESS.com

“Turn-key spaces ready for immediate occupancy, strategically located in established retail corridors [with] favorable lease terms [and] opportunities in both urban and suburban retail markets,” said a public auction listing published by A&G Real Estate Partners.

A&G, the real estate adviser to Party City that is organizing the auctions, deemed each site to be a “sought-after retail location” and noted that the bidding deadline would likely be sometime in early February.

“This is a large and diverse store portfolio, with good real estate and a great many stores located in high-traffic shopping centers. This auction represents an extraordinary opportunity for expanding operators in what marks the end of an era in the retail industry,” Emilio Amendola, co-president of A&G, wrote in a press release.

Bids for the upcoming auction will close sometime in early February. ZUMAPRESS.com

As Party City starts to sundown, many have turned to mourn the loss of a childhood shopping staple.

With many sad to see it go, the former owner of Modell’s Sporting Goods has taken a unique approach and suggested that he would be interested in purchasing Party City alongside bankrupt Big Lots so he could give it to his sons and dub them co-presidents.



This story originally appeared on NYPost

Forget Biden’s drilling ban — energy is Trump’s superpower

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Rarely has there been a more concerted effort by a country’s leadership to eliminate a source of national strength than the Biden administration’s war on fossil fuels.

As President Biden prepares to shuffle off the stage, he’s attempting to burnish his tarnished legacy with last-minute administrative actions. 

To that end, he has just banned new offshore drilling along an enormous swath of the US coastline as part of — as a White House statement put it — “the most ambitious climate and conservation agenda in our country’s history.”

“Ambitious” is one word for it; “perverse” is a better one.  

As the US has sprinted ahead the rest of the world economically, in part thanks to revolutionary advances in oil and gas production, the Biden administration has worked to fasten around our neck the same green albatross dragging down EU economies. 

If you think Germany, an increasingly sclerotic economy enfeebled by self-imposed high energy costs, is a model, the Biden agenda should have a lot of appeal. 

If, on the other hand, you are grateful that God gave the US cheap and abundant energy, and want to keep it that way, Biden can’t depart soon enough. 

The offshore ban is an attempt by Biden, in the sad twilight of his presidency, to impose his policy going forward.

It’s not a trifling matter; the act affects 625 million acres, a greater area than the Louisiana Purchase, which clocked in at 530 million.

Biden is exploiting the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act of 1953.

The contention is that the law provides the president a power to ban oil and gas leasing from federal waters, without a subsequent president having the power to go back and revoke the prohibition.

In other words: “unilateral action for me, but not for thee.”

This would be a strange way for the law to work, although one federal judge upheld this interpretation during the first Trump administration. 

Offshore drilling is an important part of our energy picture, accounting for 14% of our crude oil production.

Trump should enlist Congress to reverse the Biden ban. 

We shouldn’t be denying ourselves any potential resources, since the story of recent years is technological advances opening up vistas no one would have predicted.

Ohio and Pennsylvania as natural-gas powerhouses? North Dakota as a major oil producer? Texas production increasing by more than 100% over the last decade?

These are the things that human ingenuity has wrought. 

Thankfully, there are limits to how much the federal government can crimp oil and gas production.

Although Biden never talked about it, the country has actually been producing slightly more crude oil than it did at the peak during Trump’s first term. 

Our fossil-fuel production has been a boon. Writing about how the US has outgrown other advanced economies, The Economist noted, “The shale-oil revolution has driven perhaps a tenth of its economic growth since the early 2000s.”

The booming production has drastically diminished the influence of OPEC, an achievement that would have been celebrated by both political parties at any time over the last 50 years. 

Now, Trump, who has been building an exemplary energy team, is in position to double down on a national strength.

He’ll need to work to repeal the Inflation Reduction Act’s green subsidies that are distorting electricity markets; make it easier to build pipelines and associated infrastructure; loosen up on permitting restrictions; and roll back the archipelago of rules meant to phase out gas-powered cars and force electric vehicles on the public.

The incoming administration should also push back forcefully against the green ideology that Europe has embraced to its detriment, confident that — in pushing a common-sensical energy policy — the US is the one that is truly on the right side of history. 

America is an oil and gas superpower.

It should be unapologetic about it, and leverage every last drop for our economic and geopolitical advantage. 

Twitter: @RichLowry



This story originally appeared on NYPost

Top 10 Most Expensive Electric Bicycles Ever Sold

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Electric bikes (e-bikes) have become increasingly popular, offering a blend of eco-friendly transportation and assisted pedaling. However, some e-bikes go beyond practicality and delve into the realm of luxury and exclusivity, boasting top-of-the-line technology, premium materials, and eye-catching designs, leading to staggering price tags.

Top 10 Most Expensive Electric Bicycles Ever Sold

Top 10 Most Expensive Electric Bicycles Ever Sold

Here, we explore the top 10 most expensive electric bikes ever sold:

1. Blacktrail Bt-01 ($80,000): This futuristic creation from Germany boasts a lightweight, fully-carbon fiber frame and a powerful electric motor capable of reaching speeds of up to 60 mph (96.5 kph). Its minimalist design and focus on speed set it apart and contribute to its hefty price tag. However, some experts question its practicality and safety.

2. Hanebrink Hustler ($17,000 – $30,000): Built for speed and designed to resemble a motorcycle, the Hanebrink Hustler features a powerful electric motor capable of reaching speeds of up to 80 mph (129 kph). It offers a hidden pedal system to comply with e-bike regulations, blurring the line between bicycle and motorcycle.

3. Aurumania Gold Edition ($114,000): This limited-edition e-bike features a 24-karat gold-plated frame adorned with over 600 Swarovski crystals, making it a true statement piece. While its functionality might be overshadowed by its opulent design, it caters to a niche market of luxury-seeking e-bike enthusiasts.

4. Kervelo Rouvida RED XPLR AXS ($10,660): This high-performance e-bike from Cervelo combines advanced technology with a lightweight and responsive carbon fiber frame. It boasts a powerful Fazua electric motor and premium components, making it a desirable choice for discerning riders seeking a luxurious and technologically advanced e-bike experience.

5. Santa Cruz Heckler ($13,000): This e-mountain bike from Santa Cruz features a Fazua electric motor seamlessly integrated into the frame, maintaining the bike’s sleek design and off-road capabilities. It offers exceptional performance and top-of-the-line components, justifying its premium price tag for dedicated mountain bikers seeking an assisted advantage.

6. Specialized S-Works Turbo Kenevo SL ($10,000): Another high-performance e-mountain bike, the Specialized S-Works Turbo Kenevo SL, boasts a lightweight frame, powerful motor, and top-of-the-line components. It prioritizes both power and handling, making it a popular choice for serious mountain bike enthusiasts seeking an electric boost.

7. Wilier Filante SLR 2022 ($8,600): This Italian-made e-road bike features a sleek carbon fiber frame and a Fazua electric motor known for its smooth and natural ride feel. It offers a balance of performance, comfort, and aesthetics, appealing to cyclists seeking a luxurious and technologically advanced e-road experience.

8. Mondraker Crafty Carbon RR SL (£11,744, approximately $14,150): This high-end e-mountain bike from Mondraker combines a lightweight and responsive carbon fiber frame with a powerful Bosch motor and high-performance components. Its focus on both power and handling appeals to riders seeking a premium e-mountain bike experience on challenging terrain.

9. Trek Rail 9 X01 AXS (£11,500, approximately $13,750): This top-of-the-line e-mountain bike from Trek features a lightweight and durable carbon fiber frame, a powerful Bosch motor, and top-of-the-line components. It offers exceptional performance and advanced technology, justifying its high price tag for riders seeking the best in e-mountain bike technology.

10. The Drifter by Valkyrie (Price unavailable): This vintage-inspired e-bike designed and built in Australia features a powerful electric motor hidden within a classic motorcycle-style frame. While lacking a readily available price, its unique design, high-quality materials, and focus on aesthetics contribute to its luxury status.

These ten e-bikes showcase the convergence of luxury, technology, and performance in the e-bike world. While their prices might place them out of reach for many, they represent the cutting edge of e-bike design and cater to a niche market of enthusiasts seeking the ultimate electric cycling experience.



This story originally appeared on Mostexpensivething

Nvidia’s Project DIGITS puts AI supercomputing chips on the desktop – Computerworld

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Microsoft’s Link has 8GB of RAM, no local data storage, and an unspecified Intel processor with no special AI capabilities: If you want to use Windows’ Copilot features they — like everything else — will run in the cloud. Link will sell for around $350 when it goes on sale in April.

One wall outlet, one petaflop

Project DIGITS, on the other hand, will cost upwards of $3,000 when it arrives in May. For that money, buyers will get 4TB of NVMe storage, 128GB of unified Low-Power DDR5X system memory, and a new GB10 Grace Blackwell Superchip; it comes with 20 ARM cores in the Grace CPU and a mix of CUDA cores, RT cores and fifth-generation tensor cores in the Blackwell GPU. 

Together, those cores offer up to 1 petaflop of AI processing capability — enough, said Bourgoyne, to work with a 200-billion-parameter model at “FP4” accuracy locally, with no need for the cloud. By connecting two Project DIGITS devices together via their built-in ConnectX networking chips, it’s possible to work with 400-billion-parameter models, he said.



This story originally appeared on Computerworld

The ASUS ROG Flow Z13 is starting to make more sense as a gaming tablet

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The original was always a bit of an odd machine. It felt like the strange lovechild between a Surface Pro and a traditional gaming laptop. But at CES 2025, ASUS is giving the tablet a much needed refresh that includes a massive performance boost thanks to the company’s updated XG Mobile graphics dock.

One of the biggest departures from the previous model is that this time instead of relying on a CPU/GPU solution from Intel and NVIDIA, ASUS is going with an all-AMD configuration. The ROG Flow Z13 features up to a Ryzen AI Max+ 395 APU with unified memory that tops out at a whopping 128GB (though ASUS’ spec sheet suggests it actually maxes out with 32GB of RAM). Also, by using a chip with an increased emphasis on power efficiency and combining that with a larger 70Whr battery (up from 56Whr), ASUS says the Z13 should deliver improved longevity of up to 10 hours on a charge. Meanwhile, the system remains rather svelte, weighing just 2.6 pounds and measuring just half an inch thick. This means it should be an excellent choice for portable gaming and productivity.

The Z13’s screen is also pretty impressive, because even though it’s not an OLED, its Nebula Display is powered by a vivid IPS panel with a 180Hz refresh rate, up to 500 nits of brightness and 100 percent coverage of the DCI-P3 spectrum. I also appreciate that even on a system this sleek, ASUS still found room for a full-size HDMI 2.1 jack in addition to two USB 4 ports, one USB-A, 3.5mm audio and even a microSD card reader.



This story originally appeared on Engadget

Donald Trump Thinks Merrick Garland Is An Idiot

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In a letter to AG Merrick Garland, Trump’s lawyers wrote in part:

Preparing a report and releasing it to the public would violate the Presidential Transition Act and the Presidential immunity doctrine. The Act prohibits all officers and those acting as such, including the Attorney General and Smith, at least in his view of himself, from interfering with the ongoing transition process. Presidential immunity, which Smith conceded required pre-inauguration dismissal of his prosecutions, likewise prohibits criminal processes, including disclosures of any prosecutorial reports or statements, that would exacerbate stigma and public opprobrium surrounding the chief Executive and otherwise divert from the time and attention that is necessary to complete the transition and run the County.

Accordingly, releasing a report regarding Smith’s failed and abandoned election-interference efforts would violate the Act and Presidential immunity.

Finally, the release of any confidential report prepared by this out-of-control private citizen unconstitutionally posing as a prosecutor would be nothing more than a lawless political stunt designed to politically harm President Trump and justify the huge sums of taxpayer money Smith unconstitutionally spent on his failed and dismissed cases.

Under such circumstances, releasing Smith’s report is obviously not in the public interest—particularly in light of President Trump’s commanding victory in the election and the sensitive nature of the ongoing transition process. Accordingly, because Smith has proposed an unlawful course of action, you must countermand his plan and remove him promptly. If Smith is not removed, then the handling of his report should be deferred to President Trump’s incoming attorney general, consistent with the expressed will of the People.

In the view of many, Attorney General Garland bungled the entire Trump prosecution by waiting years to investigate Trump’s conduct surrounding and on 1/6, but Garland is not a moron, and only a fool would fall for the arguments that Trump’s lawyers offered in their letter.

The Trump argument that Jack Smith is not a legitimate prosecutor was based on a ruling by his number one fan, Judge Aileen Cannon. There are no other rulings to support Trump’s claim.

Trump’s arguments for withholding the report have no merit, and given Trump’s plans for the Department of Justice, it is urgent that Smith’s report and his evidence be made public.

Donald Trump could still face charges for his actions on 1/6 after his presidency ends if he lives to see the end of his presidency.

It is vital that there be a public record of what Trump is accused of doing.

The president-elect seems very worried about the release of Smith’s report. If he were innocent, there would be no reason for his concern.

1/6 will follow Trump wherever he goes, even back into the Oval Office.

Donald Trump can’t erase history, and he can’t escape 1/6.

What do you think of Trump’s efforts to block Jack Smith’s 1/6 report? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Leave a comment



This story originally appeared on Politicususa

HISTORY IS MADE: Today, Democrats Didn’t Object to Certifying a Republican Victory for the First Time Since 1988 | The Gateway Pundit

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For all of their talk about ‘our democracy’ Democrats have a horrible track record when it comes to certifying Republican wins. They usually object and that’s what everyone expected today.

Surprisingly, that didn’t happen today, and it was the first time since 1988. Can you believe it?

Here’s an important flashback:

Everything was different this time.

WJLA News reported:

Congress certifies Trump’s election victory with no objections

Lawmakers in Congress quickly certified President-elect Donald Trump’s November election victory over Vice President Kamala Harris in an objection-free ceremony that sets the stage for him to return to the White House in two weeks.

The largely ceremonial event inched the country one step closer to the culmination of Trump’s return to power after leaving office in defeat following the Capitol riot four years ago that had some Republicans questioning whether to find a new person to lead the party forward.

Congress quickly certified Trump’s 312-226 Electoral College victory over Harris with no objections, two weeks before Trump returns to the White House on Jan. 20 and become the country’s 47th president…

The certification was overseen by Harris, who is constitutionally obligated to preside over the joint session of Congress to formally count the Electoral College votes, another blunt reminder of her election loss to Trump. She has mostly stayed out of public view since losing the election as she weighs what the future holds for her, including another potential presidential run.

People noted the historic aspect on Twitter/x.

It truly was ‘too big to rig’ this time and everyone seems to know it.




This story originally appeared on TheGateWayPundit

Nine people dead after strong earthquake in China | World News

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At least nine people have died in a strong earthquake in China.

The 6.8 magnitude earthquake struck in a mountainous area in the autonomous Tibet region, near the border with Nepal, shortly after 9.05am on Tuesday, according to the China Earthquake Networks Centre.

The US Geological Survey (USGS) said it had recorded a 7.1 magnitude earthquake, centred in the Tibet region.

State broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) cited the Ministry of Emergency Management for the number of dead, but did not say what caused their deaths.

The broadcaster said the epicentre was in the Tingri region, around 380 kilometres (240 miles) from Tibet’s capital Lhasa and about 23 kilometres (14 miles) from the region’s second-largest city of Shigatse – also known as Xigaze.

Tremors were also felt In Nepal’s capital, Kathmandu, as well as Bhutan and northern India.

Image:
The epicentre was reportedly about 23 kilometres (14 miles) from Shigatse – also known as Xigaze

The earthquake struck in an area where the Indian and Eurasian plates clash, causing uplifts which form the Himalayan mountains.

There have been 10 earthquakes of at least magnitude 6 in the area where Tuesday’s quake hit over the past century, the USGS said.

A 7.8 magnitude earthquake killed some 9,000 people and damaged about 1 million structures in Nepal in 2015.

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This story originally appeared on Skynews