New construction starts in July climbed 6% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $588.8 billion, according to McGraw Hill Construction, a division of McGraw Hill Financial. Nonresidential building continued to advance, supported by yet another robust month for manufacturing plant projects as well as improvement for commercial building. The nonbuilding construction sector (public works and electric utilities) also advanced, helped by the start of a large mass transit rail project. At the same time, residential building was unchanged from its pace in June. For the first seven months of 2014, total construction starts on an unadjusted basis were reported
New government data show the uneven nature of the construction industry’s recovery, as the sector added 22,000 jobs in July but suffered a pullback in spending in June, according to a recent analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America. “Construction employment and spending are both rising at a moderate year-over-year clip, but there have been some setbacks,” said Ken Simonson, the association’s chief economist. “While prospects for private construction remain largely favorable, inadequate public investment still threatens to keep too many workers idle.”Construction employment totaled 6,041,000 in July, the highest total since May 2009, while the industry’s unemployment rate
The Credit Managers’ Index (CMI) from the National Association of Credit Management (NACM) improved to 56.8 from 56.1 in July. The readings for the favorable and unfavorable factor indices improved, from 62.4 to 63.7 for the favorable factor index, marking the highest point in over four years, and from 52.0 to 52.2 for the unfavorable factor index. The latter is below marks set earlier in the year but is trending in direction. “The overall sense is that real progress in economic recovery is being made and the future looks brighter,” said NACM Economist Chris Kuehl, about the July CMI report.
The Aspen Art Museum reopened to the public on August 9 in a 24-hour-long celebration in its new building located downtown at Spring Street and Hyman Avenue. The museum, which attracts 35,000 visitors a year from around the world, had outgrown its old facility. Rendering by Shigeru Ban Architects/Cottle, Carr and Yaw Architects The museum features an iconic woven-wood exterior. Rendering by Shigeru Ban Architects/Cottle, Carr and Yaw Architects The museum's sweeping interior grand staircase. The $45-million, 33,000-sq-ft building, funded entirely by private donations, features a striking glass exterior screened in criss-crossed wooden strips to resemble a giant woven basket.
Nonresidential fixed investment expanded 5.5% and residential fixed investment expanded 7.5% during the second quarter of 2014, according to a July 30 release by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Overall, real gross domestic product (GDP) increased 4% (seasonally adjusted annual rate) during the second quarter of 2014 following a 2.1% decrease (revised from -2.9%) in the first quarter.“The robust second quarter growth was primarily driven by higher consumer and business spending,” said Associated Builders and Contractors Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “The 4% reading on second quarter GDP blew away consensus expectations of 3%, and the first quarter wasn’t quite as
Nonresidential construction spending fell during June after posting significant gains the previous two months, but remains 4.6% higher than a year ago, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Spending for June totaled $588.8 billion on a seasonally adjusted, annualized basis, a 2.8% drop from the upwardly revised $605.6 billion in nonresidential construction spending from the previous report. “The monthly decline in spending should not be cause for significant alarm,” said Associated Builders and Contractors Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “The impact of a brutal winter continues to manifest itself in the data. A considerable volume of construction was postponed during the
Courtesy Tony Illia The new control tower at McCarran Airport in Las Vegas, Nev., looks to be delayed for one-year due to "construction issues," according to the FAA. The new 352-ft.-tall federal air traffic control tower at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas faces at least a one-year delay for repairs after an antimicrobial coating flaked from ductwork and became airborne, say project officials.A spray chemical was applied to dry building walls, ducts and subfloors, curbing a potentially toxic black mold called stachybotrys chartarum, which previously shutdown local buildings in the 1990s and 2000s. When the coating was placed in
By Jason Fifield Sun Devil Stadium in the midst of work to remove more than 5,00 seats from the north end zone. A little more than 55 years after it was originally constructed — and more than five years since the renovations were deemed necessary — Arizona State University announced on Thursday that Hunt Construction and Sundt Construction, Inc. will be the construction manager at-risk for the project.The university also announced that Arizona-based Gould Evans and national stadium design experts HNTB Corporation will handle design duties. Costs and details will be refined over the next year and construction is slated
Tesla inched closer to selecting a site outside of Reno, Nev., for its $4 to $5 billion factory to produce lithium batteries for electric vehicles on Thursday, confirming a 600-acre site has undergone some pre-construction work, but fell short of committing to the site over unidentified candidates in Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas.In a conference call with shareholders Thursday, Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk said the same type of work that has been completed at the recently-paused site 17 miles east of Sparks, Nev., will be duplicated at other sites before a final decision is made. The completed factory
The interior of Denver’s renovated Union Station officially reopened to the public on July 26. The historic train station was closed for extensive renovations on December 2, 2012. The $54-million project was focused on preserving significant features of the 1914 Beaux-Arts building. Photo by Ellen Jaskol The upper floors of the north and south wings of the station house the 112-room Crawford Hotel, named for Colorado preservationist Dana Crawford. Photo by Ellen Jaskol The $54-million interior renovation was focused on preserving significant features of the 1914 Beaux-Arts building. It has now returned to its origins as a multi-modal transit hub and
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