On Friday, August 23, Clark County District Judge Elizabeth Gonzalez approved CityCenter's motion to raze the 26-story, $275 million Harmon Hotel tower following a fourth round of destructive testing. Officials will immediately start planning for the demolition, which could happen within a year, despite a pending February 2014 lawsuit filed by Tutor Perini Building Corp. over $191 million in disputed unpaid bills.Harmon Hotel was part of the $8.5-billion, 18-million-sq-ft CityCenter complex, which opened in Dec. 2009 on the Las Vegas Strip.In the past, Tutor Perini has blamed problems in the building on a faulty design. The firm has also fought
Related Links: Practical Uses of Expert Witnesses in Construction Defects Cases Insurance Exclusions May Surprise Contractors The problem of meritless lawsuits against design professionals continues to grow. Until recently, there have been no checks on the filing of these claims. In states without safeguards, people can sue anyone involved in a project if they perceive construction defects. Design professionals are often named in these suits.States without legislation to safeguard against meritless claims are also seeing an increase in the costs of insurance and construction. Design professionals have difficulty getting adequate insurance, and other project parties affected by the designers’ errors
According to data recently released by the Associated General Contractors, Phoenix leads Southwest metropolitan areas in construction hiring, followed by Albuquerque and Las Vegas. The momentum created by the Phoenix metro area’s construction job growth pushed the state of Arizona to 9 percent construction-job growth from June 2012 to June 2013.Other states that also saw 9 percent growth year-over-year are Mississippi, Louisiana and Wyoming. Nevada and New Mexico both saw increases of 3 percent.Link to June 2013 AGC Construction Employment By Southwest State ranked by growth“Although construction activity remains extremely spotty, with strong residential activity offsetting lackluster private nonresidential investment
The largest highway interchange in Arizona—a five-tiered structure soaring more than 90 ft into the desert sky—is being constructed by Pulice Construction along the fringe of the Phoenix metropolitan area between Interstate 10 and the Loop 303. Related Links: Wide Load: Highway Contractors Go to Great Lengths on I-17 Widening New Loop 303 Freeway Over Virgin Land a Once in a Lifetime Opportunity But the height isn't the primary reason that the project is considered to be big. In fact, the height of the columns is comparable to most other five-tier traffic interchanges. It's the project's footprint, including frontage roads,
Sean Miller has been hired by McGough Construction as director of health care for the Southwest. Based in the firm's Phoenix office, Miller is LEED accredited and holds degrees from Southern Nazarene University and Oklahoma State University. Earlier stops in his construction career included stints at HBE Corp. and JE Dunn Construction. Related Links: Upload Your Firm's People Announcements to ENR Southwest's People Gallery View Past ENR Southwest People Articles Norm Dianda, founder of Q&D Construction in Reno, is continuing a succession to his two sons, Chris and Mike Dianda. The elder Dianda will continue to serve as chairman of
The last several years have been a mixed bag for most construction companies operating in Arizona, Nevada and New Mexico. But after tentative improvement in 2011, the following year brought generally better news to the Southwest construction industry. In fact, seven of the top 10 firms responding to ENR Southwest's annual survey of general contractors reported an increase in revenue during 2012 compared with the previous year. Related Links: ENR Southwest Rankings Index ENR Southwest Top Contractors 2013 Rankings ENR Southwest Top Contractors 2013 by Market Sectors Success May Bring ChallengesFirms operating in many different construction sectors expressed a positive
Kitchell is a name synonymous with the growth of Arizona and the West; its projects have dotted the regional landscape since the firm was founded in 1950. From hospitals to prisons and everything in between, the company has built virtually every building type in a wide variety of locales and keeps its focus on building long-term client relationships, fostering internal talent and driving innovation. Related Links: Gila River Opens Kitchell-built Wild Horse Pass Kitchell Leads Healthcare Construction Resurgence Much of the culture within Phoenix-based Kitchell and its core contracting business, Kitchell Contractors Inc., was embedded in the firm's DNA by
The long-awaited Marina Heights development along Tempe Town Lake has taken another step towards groundbreaking, according to a statement released Friday by the City of Tempe. If development deals are finalized by the City Council in June, the 2 million-sq-ft, 20-acre project will be the largest office development deal in Arizona history. Related Links: New 10-Story Office Tower Plans Announced at Tempe Town Lake Pedestrian Bridge Echoes Undulating Shapes of Tempe Environment Ryan Companies US Inc. of Phoenix, and Sunbelt Holdings, Scottsdale, Ariz., will develop the site owned by Arizona State University, adjacent to the Hayden Ferry Lakeside development completed
With some of the Southwest's larger design firms experiencing flat or slight growth in 2012, several mid-size firms found an opening to expand dramatically. But both groups, in responding to this year's top design firms survey, are hopeful that economic conditions will continue to improve in 2013 and beyond. Related Links: View All of ENR Southwest's Annual Top Lists Design Firm of the Year: Dekker/Perich/Sabatini "The commercial lending market seems more willing to put their liquidity to work, which in turn has spurred construction projects which would not have been considered a couple of years ago," says Jason Bush, principal
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