With Thanksgiving in the rearview mirror and 2015 inching ever closer on the horizon contractors nationwide are working diligently to ensure that their projects enter into 2015 on schedule or ahead. There should be a special pep in the step of all the contractors under the age of 40 as we prepare to name the top 20 industry professionals under the age of 40 for 2014. Until then, however, we have another edition of the Southwest Roundup, some news and notes about the construction industry in Arizona, New Mexico and Nevada.

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In Tucson, Ariz. the Goldwater Institute recently won a lawsuit against the City of Tucson and their local preference law. The law was put into place in 2012 to give local vendors preference in bids on city contracts.

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In Las Vegas ten teams that turned in proposals for judgment in the Strong Cities Strong Communities Las Vegas competition. A first place cash prize of $60,000 was awarded to “Build a Vibrant Las Vegas,” a local multi-disciplinary team of professionals that developed a proposal to create an unmanned aerial and robotics resource center at Cashman Center; a second place cash prize of $30,000 was awarded to a team of professionals from Gensler, a global integrated architecture and design firm with offices in Las Vegas, which developed a proposal for Cashman Center to become a geographic center for sustainability that will attract and establish sustainable businesses; and a third place cash prize of $10,000 was awarded to Strain/Stalk, a team comprised of local architect Eric Strain and community developer Arnold Stalk, for their plan to develop a mixed-use Mid-Strip/Main Street project.

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In Phoenix, the General Services Administration Public Building Services has issued a pre-solicitation notice on the lease of as much as 20,475 square feet of office space. It was posted on Nov. 25 with a response date of Dec. 11.

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PCL Construction recently announced the firm has donated $160,000 to food assistance programs nationwide. With its most recent donation, PCL has donated more than $880,000 to food programs since 2009. The money donated by PCL has provided nearly 8 million meals to those who otherwise would have went hungry.

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In Tempe, Ariz., Marina Heights near Tempe Town Lake, was just named the number one construction project on the Phoenix Business Journal’s Valley’s Construction Projects list. The 2 million square foot property is the future home of State Farm Insurance’s regional headquarters, and has a budget of $600 million. No. 2 is the Terminal 3 modernization program at Sky Harbor International Airport, No. 3 is Metro Light Rail transit extension, No. 4 is the University of Arizona Cancer Center, and No. 5 is San Travesia, a residential project in Scottsdale. The list is limited to projects that began in 2013 and will run $25 million or more.

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Senior Housing News has announced their nominees for the second annual Architecture & Design Awards and three of them are from right here in the Southwest. Generations of Agritopia in Gilbert, Ariz., Peoria Memory Care Community in Peoria Ariz., and Grandview Healthcare Center Memory Care in Sun City West, Ariz., were all recognized in the top 50, and will be finalists for the top prize.