An inflatable dam in downtown Tempe, Ariz., burst on July 20, emptying most of the contents of the 1-billion-gal Tempe Town Lake. No one was injured and no property was damaged in the resulting flood, which traveled down the normally dry Salt River through Phoenix. Peak flows were measured at 15,000 cu ft per second, equivalent to an average release during the area�s winter rainy season. Photo: Tony Blei Photography Eight rubber-coated fabric bladders retained 1 billion gal of water in Tempe. The two-mile lake was formed in 1999 using eight flexible, rubber-coated fabric tubes manufactured by Tokyo-based Bridgestone Industrial
The 2010 session of the Colorado legislature passed a law requiring that automobile insurance policies be written in plain language not exceeding 10th-grade reading levels. Rather than doing the same for construction professionals� insurance policies, the legislature, in the very same session, passed laws relating to those complex policies on how they should be interpreted and applied by the courts. The term �construction professionals� means architects, contractors, subcontractors, developers, builders, builder-vendors, engineers and inspectors performing or furnishing the design, supervision, inspection, construction or observation of construction of real property improvements like houses, buildings, etc. Those industry members are commonly insured
What happens to subcontractors when owners can’t pay their general contractors? If their subcontracts have “pay-if-paid” provisions, the subcontractors may be out of luck. Those provisions mean that if the general does not get paid, it does not have to pay its subcontractors. While there are a number of courts in other states that have declared pay-if-paid clauses to be unenforceable, that is not presently the rule in Colorado. The last time the Colorado Supreme Court addressed the question, it suggested that pay-if-paid provisions would be enforceable in Colorado if (1) they clearly state that payment to the general contractor
Merger and acquisition transactions can be a viable alternative for accomplishing a number of strategic objectives in the context of building and realizing value for emerging growth and middle-market companies (those from startup to several hundred million dollars in revenue). Let’s take a high-level view of the buy-side and sell-side processes, and a framework for thinking about and planning each. Exits In many instances, the distinction between selling a company and raising capital is measured by the amount of equity sold and the contractual rights obtained by the buyer. Financing growth raises the issue of long-term shareholder objectives, which many
Construction crews hit water June 30 while tunneling 600-ft below Southern Nevada's drought-racked Lake Mead to create a third straw. The incident required a hasty evacuation, and could delay project progress by months. Water breached a 600-ft underground cavern during construction of Lake Mead's third straw, damaging equipment and potentially delaying construction. A 200-ft-long by 37-ft-high vault breach caused four days of gradual water seepage that eventually made it no longer accessible. Workers were building a 28-ft-dia, 100-ft-long horseshoe-shaped starter tunnel before using a $25 million Herrenknecht 1,500-ton tunnel boring machine when the incident occurred. Vegas Tunnel Constructors LLC �
As the state of the economy remains stagnant and with predictions of even more hard times ahead, the construction industry continues to take a hit. Revenues are down and competition for work is stiffer than ever, which means many contractors are looking at ways to minimize operating costs—including the option of reducing their workforce. Short-term gain versus long-term value We’ve been through tough times before, and we know things will eventually turn around. While Colorado lost more than 31,000 construction jobs last year (almost a quarter of the state’s construction employment), as a small business owner, I know I can’t
Bank financing is beginning a slow return to the commercial real estate market as healthy financial institutions resolve existing credit issues and �right size� their balance sheets. Banks that have worked through their credit issues will re-enter the construction financing market when demand for space demonstrates a renewed need for construction. Those looking for financing will find underwriting standards that reflect banks� lower-risk tolerances. Developers will need to adjust return expectations in response to new underwriting requirements. Healthy banks initiated proactive loan-loss reserves beginning in early 2009. This, in addition to high levels of real estate exposure, created capital issues
The March issue of Multifamily Executive gives an interesting overview of the current multifamily market situation and takes a stab at a prediction for a rebound. According to the article entitled “Groundbreaking Ideas,” “Citing low labor and material costs, recovering fundamentals, and a dire lack of competitive market supply, the progressive multifamily mindset says construction will start now.” Here’s how they plan to pull new developments out of the dirt for delivery in 2011 to 2013. Before the downturn in residential development, Dallas-based Trammell Crow Residential had been producing an average 6,700 units of apartments annually. Last year, the company’s
Arizona officials have enacted new "prompt pay" rules to keep cash flowing to struggling contractors, caught by banks and developers that have been withholding project payments in tough times. Gov. Janice K. Brewer (R) on May 11 signed into law a bill establishing retainage and final-payment timetables for properly completed construction work. Failure to comply results in penalties of 1.5% monthly interest charges. “Retention issues should be dealt with immediately and not be dragged out for cash-flow purposes, ” says Michael F. Markham Sr., president of Markham Contracting Co. Inc., Phoenix. “The banks have been a problem with this. They
UniSource Energy Corp. kicked off construction of the company�s new headquarters building on a two-acre downtown Tucson lot. The nine-story building will provide 170,000 sq ft of office space for more than 425 employees of Tucson Electric Power, the company�s principal subsidiary. The building also will include nearly 11,000 sq ft of ground-floor retail space as well as a conference center, meeting rooms and about 500 parking spaces. Developer and general contractor Ryan Cos. is expected to complete construction before the end of 2011. The building has been designed by DAVIS and Swaim Associates from the ground up to conserve
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