At a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $376.1 billion, new construction starts in May dropped 6% from the previous month, according to McGraw-Hill Construction, a division of The McGraw-Hill Cos. Nonresidential building pulled back after its improved level in March and April, while residential building stayed weak. The nonbuilding construction sector showed moderate growth in May, as a strong gain for electric utilities offset a loss of momentum for public works. During the first five months of 2011, total construction starts on an unadjusted basis came in at $155.2 billion, down 9% from the same period a year ago.The May
Western State College of Colorado broke ground in late June on a $16-million student housing project in Gunnison, Colo. Rendering by Design West Architects The 92,000-sq-ft Pinnacles student apartment complex at Western State College will include 54 apartments and accommodate up to 226 tenants. Courtesy of JE Dunn Construction At the Western State College student housing groundbreaking in Gunnison, left to right: Matt Vineyard, JE Dunn sr. project manager; Sandy Mark, vice chair of the WSC Board of Trustees; Kevin OGara, JE Dunn vice president; Jay Helman, WSC president; Sarah Newberry, WSC Student Government Association president; Gary Pierson, WSC vice
YOUNG Eric Young , EMC Engineers Inc., Lakewood, Colo., will serve as 2011-2012 president of the American Council of Engineering Cos. of Colorado. Other newly elected officers include Michael Ellsberry , Huitt-Zollars Inc., as vice president; and Greg Roush , Leonard Rice Engineers Inc., as secretary/treasurer. Four new directors were also elected to ACEC/CO’s board: John Radcliffe , Nolte Associates Inc.; John Sikora , URS; Elizabeth Stolfus , Stolfus & Associates; and Duane Jansen , Martin/Martin. Morgan Royce is a new project manager in Beaudin Ganze Consulting Engineers’ Albuquerque, N.M., office. Royce’s experience includes design projects for the U.S. Dept.
SnapShot June 27, 2011 Submitted By: Jeff Shneider, President, CSHQA, Boise, Idaho Ling & Louie’s Asian Bar and Grill, which opened this spring in Meridian, Idaho, has earned kudos for its innovative sustainable design, which includes solar shades on windows to prevent direct sunlight, lighting controls geared to room use, an energy-efficient condensing-boiler water heater, low-emission furnaces and an underground seepage bed to filter stormwater before it enters the soil and groundwater. Photo by Idaho Airships Inc. and courtesy of CSHQA, a design collaboration, and ESI Construction
On The Scene June 27, 2011 GE Johnson Construction Co. Mike Harms, left, senior vice president at GE Johnson Construction Co., Denver, with Don White, owner of Denver’s E-Light Electric, Karen White and Bill Caile, former owner of Trautman and Shreve, at the Déjà vu Rendezvous in Denver on May 13. The industry benefit raised $217,000 for the Assistive Technology Partners program at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. ATP supports people with disabilities through innovative technologies and services. More than 650 people attended the annual fundraiser, which has raised nearly $700,000 over four years. “This event was first
The redevelopment of St. Joseph Hospital in central Denver will create 1,400 construction-related jobs annually and contribute $340 million in labor compensation from now until it opens in 2014, Denver city officials said in mid-June.The campus redevelopment, known as the St. Joseph Heritage Project, is also projected to infuse $13.6 million annually to the city of Denver and $8 million annually to the state of Colorado in use taxes. The findings were part of an economic study conducted by Denver-based BBC Research & Consulting for St. Joseph. The hospital will invest a total of more than $700 million in the
Construction employment growth remained sluggish and uneven in May as nearly half of the country—22 states plus the District of Columbia—added jobs over the past year while the remaining states all lost construction jobs, according to a recent analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America of state employment data released by the Labor Department. Association officials said the figures reflect the fact that industry-wide employment has stagnated as the result of tepid demand for most private construction and declines in public construction. “It’s not surprising to see close to an even split between states adding and losing jobs, given
The Urban Land Conservancy has purchased land along Denver’s Southwest light rail corridor that will be developed into an affordable, mixed-use, transit-oriented development. It is the fourth property ULC has acquired using Denver’s Transit-Oriented Development Fund. The development will provide much-needed workforce housing and retail opportunities directly across from the Evans Light Rail Station. ULC purchased the .96-acre property at 2140 S. Delaware St. for $1,197,900 using the TOD fund, which was set up specifically for acquiring and preserving land for workforce housing near existing or future light rail stops and high-frequency bus routes. It is financed in part by
Swedish home furnishings giant IKEA is putting the final touches on its first Colorado store, which will open in late July in Centennial—three months ahead of schedule. The project, which broke ground in May 2010, was originally slated to finish this fall, but IKEA construction manager Doug Wolfe credits the compressed time line to the coordination efforts performed by Centennial-based Saunders Construction.“It was a relatively tight site, and there was a lot going on at any given time,” Wolfe says. “At one point we had seven cranes on site, but everything ran smoothly. It also helped that we had a
Metro West Housing Solutions recently hosted the grand opening of Creekside West in Lakewood, the latest installment to its Creekside Senior Living Campus and MWHS’s greenest community to date. Lakewood Mayor Bob Murphy, accompanied by more than 80 industry leaders, attended the grand opening on May 11 and toured the facility, getting a first-hand look at its eco-friendly features. Courtesy of Metro West Housing Solutions Officials attending the May 11 ribbon-cutting for Creekside West included: Far left -Lakewood Mayor Bob Murphy, Gari Westkott, MWHS Board Commissioner, Tami Fischer, MWHS Executive Director/CEO, and far right - Rick Garcia, Regional Administrator for