It’s shaping up to be one bummer of a summer for Marina City, where some residents have been banned from their balconies.

City inspectors discovered trouble with nearly 2,000 balcony railings [...] While crews work to fix 1,920 handrail posts, 1,300 balusters and 1,020 bottom rails, some residents have been banned from using the balconies for four months or longer. [...]

“What’s worse is that we’re not allowed to open the door to the balcony to let the breeze in.” — DNAinfo

The future of London’s proposed garden bridge has been called into further question after the city’s new mayor, Sadiq Khan, halted preparatory work on the structure over fears this could involve more public money being spent.

The Garden Bridge Trust says the bridge from South Bank to Temple, featuring 270 trees and thousands of plants, will be a “tiara” for London, being both an iconic landmark and a vital pedestrian bridge. — The Guardian

Brokers say the very top of the market — consisting of eight- and nine-figure homes — is faring the worst as slowing economies overseas and volatile stock markets have spooked buyers. The supply of homes for the rich exploded as builders aimed at the high end after the financial crisis. — NYT

The city of Los Angeles has selected HDR to serve as program manager for the next three years for its robust Sidewalk Repair Program. The 30-year, $1.4 billion program aims to repair sidewalks to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act and ensure universal access for all Angelenos. The second largest city in the U.S., Los Angeles is home to roughly 11,000 miles of sidewalks, many of which hinder passage because of cracks, buckles and bulging tree roots. — hdrinc.com

The couple claims the firm Pereiras Architects Ubiquitous and property owners Daniella and Ari Schwartz accessed their exclusive plans in property records last August through the Lawrence buildings department — without their permission.

“There is no doubt that you have accessed and intentionally copied the plans of the Fortgang residence intending to create a replica of our clients’ home and distinctive exterior,” the Fortgang’s lawyer Steven Stern wrote in a cease-and-desist letter — nypost.com

A top businessman has offered to help restore the home of [Thomas Blake Glover] a Scottish pioneer who became one of the most famous merchants in Japan [...]

If anything can be done to restore Glover House we will be prepared to do it and we have made an offer to contribute to the house reopening in his memory [...]

the building would be turned into an “ideas hub”, which could be used to strengthen business links with Japan - with a particular focus on the oil and gas industry. — The Scotsman

[...] during a visit some months before the Brexit vote, I armed myself with a detailed map and trolled all over South and Southeast London — a conglomeration of formerly independent villages, boroughs, towns and green spaces that have long since been incorporated into London

[...] the neighborhoods that make up the great London patchwork quilt are ephemeral, especially now, as the immigrant communities of London wonder what the post-Brexit future will bring. — The New York Times

Bowie hated it. Peep Show besmirched it. The London suburb may get a bad rap in popular culture, but now there is the chance to see a different side. [...]

Watson is helping to organise tours of Croydon taking in architectural highlights such as NLA House (now No 1 Croydon), sometimes known as the ‘threepenny bit’; [...]

The National Trust is turning to Croydon after its successful tours of London’s brutalist concrete buildings, places it argues should be cherished as much as Croydon’s towers. — The Guardian

Property funds worth £18 billion have stopped trading after Brexit sent a chill through the commercial property market. [...]

The fear was that too many property investors would try to take their money out at once, forcing fund managers to sell properties at a loss. [...]

The Bank of England has warned that the share prices of UK real estate investment trusts have fallen sharply following the referendum. — Independent

The phenomenon is propelled largely by the same factors that are making it more difficult for artists themselves to live and work in the city: a concentration of global wealth with its eyes trained on real estate and luxury developers trying to stand out to attract a piece of that wealth. — NYT