Patrick Greene, a partner with Peckar & Abramson, indicates that a 2009 change in the state law now allows state colleges to partner with private developers to build and maintain dormitories. He anticipates as developers develop confidence in the program that several projects may start within the 18-month window of opportunity the legislature created.

“Colleges have been lobbying for something like this for a long time,” Kenny adds. “It makes economic sense and gets work out on the street. However, there are interests, such as contractor groups, that see this as undermining the public-bidding system.”

James indicates there are some opportunities for small, multifamily infill projects in densely populated areas, perhaps close to mass transportation, that can be financed by smaller banks willing to lend to experienced developers with a solid business plan.

“There is a certain amount of pent-up demand for multifamily,” James says. Much of the region’s existing apartment inventory was built in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, yet, he adds, people want newer amenities, with green features and wireless capabilities, as long as it is not much more expensive to rent.

GREGORY JAMES

PATRICK GREENE

CHARLES KENNY

Sterling Properties of Livingston, N.J., is self-performing construction on The Avenue at South Orange, a 79-unit, three-story residential condominium project in South Orange, near a New Jersey Transit train station. The developer broke ground about two years ago and plans to start marketing the units this spring.

“This is a convenient location, so we decided to do some urban renewal,” says Rosanne Brooks, director of sales and marketing for Sterling.

Tucker Development Corp. of Fort Lee, N.J., announced plans for a 150-room Courtyard by Marriott, with ground-floor retail next to the Prudential Center in Newark.

Stadiums wrap up Hunter Roberts Construction Group in Newark recently completed the 25,000-sq-ft Red Bull Arena in Harrison.

Skanska substantially completed the $1 billion, 2.2-million-sq-ft 82,500-seat, design-build New Meadowlands Stadium, future home of the New York Jets and New York Giants in December, and the owner planned events for April. The Jets Development and Giant Stadium privately financed in a 50-50 joint venture the total $1.6 billion project cost. At peak, 1,700 people were working on site.

“There was an enormous amount of labor put to work there over a two-plus year period,” says Tom Webb, senior vice president of Skanska USA Building in New York. Minority and women-owned firms received more than 30% of the contracts, he adds.

Structural engineer Thornton Tomasetti of New York and Skanska used Autodesk Revit on the New Meadowlands project, which helped speed steel procurement, shaving several months off the schedule.

“The stadium has a complex, radial geometry and very little repetition or symetry, so we benefit from 3-D software, like Revit, that help us visualize that complex geometry and to document better,” says Armindo Guimaraes Monteiro, vice president of Thornton Tomasetti. He described the cantilevers and sloped rakers, which structurally support...