Manhattan added about 20 million sq ft of new office space from 2001 to 2010 but is not expected to add any significantly sized office towers this year, according to a new New York Building Congress report. The exception is a 33,700-sq-ft tower at 2 Allen Street that is expected to be completed late this year. Growth may be ahead, however, with several planned major projects set for mid-decade completion, the trade group says. Despite the forecast, there is still reason for cautious optimism, says Louis Coletti, president and CEO of the Building Trades Employers' Association. "When you look at
Residential and commercial solar energy firm Real Goods Solar Inc. has signed a deal to merge with Wilton, CT-based Alteris Renewables Inc., a solar energy and wind power installer that serves the Northeast. The deal, subject to Real Goods Solar’s shareholder approval, is expected to close in the third quarter. Photo Courtesy of Real Goods Solar Inc. Based in Boulder, Colo., Real Goods Solar serves the Colorado and California markets and the deal gives it a foothold in the growing Northeast market. Alteris has been on the acquisition trail in recent years, acquiring renewable energy firm ISI Solar, New
Total construction starts in the New York City region grew 14% last year to reach $29.1 billion but are expected to pull back in 2011, partly due to the sluggish economy but also because 2010 received a boost from several large projects, says Robert Murray, vice president of economic affairs at McGraw-Hill Construction. Full-year NYC starts are forecast to recede 11% to $25.9 billion. Total U.S. construction starts are forecast to reach $422.5 billion for full-year 2011, a slight dip from 2010’s $423.7 billion, he adds. Gains in the multifamily housing, manufacturing buildings, and electric utilities sectors are expected to
Key unions in New York City, including laborers and structural trades, agreed to a 20% wage cut yesterday, June 15 for work on Gotham West, a residential development on Manhattan’s West Side that will consist of four buildings and about 1,240 residential units, according to a recent article in Crain’s New York Business. About 500 of the units, located between West 44th and West 45th streets and 10th and 11th avenues, will be deemed affordable housing. Gotham Organization Inc., the building’s Manhattan-based developer, did not respond for comment by ENR New York press time. “I’m not surprised by this,” said Richard T.
The Yonkers Industrial Development Agency approved a hearing to negotiate an economic development incentive package for a $40 million expansion of the Empire City Casino at Yonkers Raceway that is expected to create 179 construction jobs and 100 permanent jobs. If an agreement is reached, the new expansion would protect the raceway’s competitiveness with Aqueduct by creating a new 60,000-sq-ft east wing with 30,000 sq ft to be used for new gaming space including 400 new gaming tables and 350 Video Lottery Terminal machines, 20,000 sq ft of new food and beverage space and 10,000 sq ft of office and
The Dept. of Environmental Protection announced the 15 winning projects of its 2011 Green Infrastructure Grant Program and awarded $3.8 million to fund the building of green infrastructure projects designed to reduce sewer overflows and improve water quality in New York Harbor including green roofs, blue roofs, porous concrete, and bioswales. The 15 winners were selected out of 52 applications by a panel that included experts from the city’s Depts of Transportation, Design and Construction, Parks and Recreation, the DEP, the mayor’s office of Long Term Planning and Sustainability and the New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation. Together the
Queens Rendering Courtesy of NYCEDC Willets Point The 12.7-acre phase-one plan of the Willets Point project is expected to create 1,800 permanent jobs and 4,600 construction jobs. Rendering Courtesy of MDSzerbaty Associates Architecture PS 340 The school will occupy the lower six floors of the 14-story building. Construction is scheduled to begin in the summer of 2012. NYCEDC Issues RFPs for Willets Point ProjectPhase one of the long-delayed 62-acre Willets Point redevelopment project in Queens, N.Y., took a step forward with the New York City Economic Development Corp.'s May 9 call for proposal requests.NYCEDC sent RFPs to a group of
ArtBridge, an organization that helps transform scaffolding or sidewalk bridges into temporary outdoor art exhibits, announced a call for entries for its Brooklyn installation, Works in Progress. Artists can submit visual art that will be enlarged and displayed on the 400-ft sidewalk bridge on Flatbush Avenue on the South Side of the Atlantic Yards Development.ArtBridge installations aim to give up-and-coming artists exposure and to liven up the nearly 1-million linear ft of scaffolding across New York City. Brooklyn-based artists have up to one month to submit visual work that somehow references the artistic process. A team of curators will then
Salmar Properties, New York was selected to develop Federal Building #2, a vacant, 1.1 million-sq-ft warehouse building in Sunset Park, into a state-of-the-art industrial center. The selection was announced by the New York City Economic Development Corporation, along with Congressman Jerrold Nadler and Congresswoman Nydia M. Velázquez. Map Courtesy of NYCEDC The project will be consistent with the Sunset Park Waterfront Vision Plan for a modern industrial waterfront that is also environmentally sustainable and is expected to create 1,300 permanent industrial jobs and 400 construction jobs. The federal building development project is also part of Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s Waterfront Vision
THE IMPACT of the recession on marketing departments within the A/E/C industry has been profound. A bad economy is the time when marketing your firm is more important than everyet, as an overhead department, its one of the first in a firm to face budget cuts and staff layoffs. This is the worst thing a firm can do in a bad economy, and the successful firms avoid it. Photo courtesy of WSP Flack + Kurtz Caption: Beyond budgets, firms have adopted a broad range of strategies for how to market through a recession. Some departments have made wrong turns, while
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