Topping Out In January, Balfour Beatty Construction topped out its 396 Alhambra Circle project in Coral Gables, Fla. The $130-million project includes remodeling a seven-story building and constructing a 15-story, 189,000-sq-ft office tower, which is precertified LEED Gold.

Photo Courtesy Of Balfour Beatty Construction

2011 Outlook On Feb. 1, McGraw-Hill Construction welcomed contractors and other industry players to a regional 2011 Construction Outlook event in Fort Myers, Fla. Tom Boisvert of McGraw-Hill Construction talked about the year�s upcoming business prospects, which are forecast to improve compared with prospects in 2010. Boisvert noted that, on a national basis, after four consecutive years of declines construction starts are expected to finally increase. McGraw-Hill is predicting a 5% increase in 2011, for a total of $439 billion in new starts. The company�s prediction for Florida is a 9% overall gain, with 2011 contracts forecast to total $26.3 billion. The Fort Myers-Cape Coral region is expected to see a 17% uptick in new starts, with about $686.7 million in contracts moving forward. The area�s biggest market, residential, should grow by 10% in 2011 and total $325.3 million. Sectors projected to have the greatest percentage increases include education, health care and water.

Photo By Scott Judy