Opportunity is a word close to Loretta Rosenmayer's heart. From the day in 1988 when she assumed ownership of a small northeastern Illinois trenching and landscaping enterprise named Trench-It to assist in supporting her family, all she has desired is an opportunity to compete and demonstrate her capabilities and those of her colleagues.
Although the Midwest construction industry gained momentum in 2014-advancing prospects for designers and contractors alike-many of the region's specialty contractors failed to keep pace, circumstances some economists conjecture may have been due to a lack of sufficient workers to bid on larger projects.
On a day in late January 2012, as members of Plymouth, Minn.-based Dominium Development gathered outside the 116-year-old brick and terra cotta Chemical Building, an empty St. Louis high-rise they were considering converting to housing, one of them eyed another empty, historic high-rise across the street, the gothic-styled Arcade Building, a 16-story brick and terra cotta clad structure built in 1913.
After faltering in June, construction employment in Illinois showed signs of improvement in July, adding 2,000 jobs, a 1% increase, in month-to-month comparisons, according to data compiled by Arlington, Va.-based Associated General Contractors of America (AGC).
A preservation group indicated it is has withdrawn a lawsuit seeking to block construction of a 44-story apartment building on Milwaukee's lakefront, paving the way for construction of $122-million Couture, a project under development for years.
Plans to revive Chicago's McCormick Place, the city's largest convention center, with a surrounding entertainment district took a major step forward this week when city officials gathered to break ground on the Marriott Marquis Chicago Hotel, a $390-million,1,206-room facility that will put conventioneers in closer proximity to the venue, located miles south of the Loop.
A pair of planned high rises are set to join downtown's Chicago's seemingly inexhaustible apartment tower boom, which is due to add 3,000 new units to the market this year and 5,000 in 2016.
Construction employment plummeted in Illinois between May and June, the state's 4,700 job losses the worst in the nation for the period, according to data compiled by Arlington, Va.-based Associated General Contractors of America (AGC).
If gains among the Midwest’s largest contractors weren’t as sweeping as those for the region’s major design firms in 2014, key indicators nevertheless suggest regional builders are emerging from the deep economic hole that engulfed them for years.
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