Despite an increase in the cost of supplies and an ongoing shortage of labor, market conditions in 2018 are generally regarded as positive by the nation’s contractors and architects.
According to a survey just released by the Palo Alto, California-based Houzz, an industry website and online community, some 72 percent of all respondents in a survey of more than 400 architects, 809 remodelers, and 415 design-build firms classified the 2018 business climate as either “very good” or “good.” Such optimistic attitudes contradict predictions among those same respondents regarding material costs and labor shortages, with 59 percent of the design-build firms and 60 percent of the remodelers surveyed saying they thought the cost of materials will continue to increase this year. More than half of remodelers and design-build firms also indicated that they think labor availability will continue to be a problem for the rest of the year. In response, two in five construction-related companies said they are hiring this year, with 83 percent of all respondents in every category either already expanding their staffs or planning to. The survey, entitled 2018 Houzz U.S. State of the Industry, also revealed that respondents are anticipating business growth rates of anywhere from 7 to 12 percent for the rest of the year, with up to 70 percent of those same respondents saying they expect to see an increased demand for their services. By Garry Boulard
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A highly-debated proposal to build a full-service truck stop in Santa Fe has won, in concept, the approval of the Santa Fe County Commission. But the part of the plan allowing for semitrailer trucks to park at the site in question was rejected by those same commissioners who said area land use rules prohibit such use. For the last year, the Knoxville, Tennessee-based Pilot Flying J company has been trying to secure the county’s approval to build a combined truck stop and travel center at the interchange of Interstate 25 and Cerrillos Road in southwest Santa Fe. A conceptual plan submitted several months ago to the commission said the project would encompass 26 acres, with 10 of those acres being given over to the truck stop itself, while the remaining 16 acres would see the later development of two hotels, and retail space. In response, area residents have packed both County Commission and Planning Commission meetings, saying that the project is too large for the immediate vicinity and would create too much noise and traffic. In a series of votes, members of the County Commission agreed that the overall plan to develop the 26-acre site was in keeping with county land use requirements. But commission members also voted in opposition to the truck stop aspect of the project, which would include a gas station, and 13,600 square-foot building housing restaurants, restrooms, and a convenience store, saying such developments were prohibited under the Santa Fe County’s Sustainable Growth Management Plan. It is not certain if this most recent commission action will mark the end of Pilot Flying J’s effort to build at the site. Although representatives of the Pilot Flying J have not yet indicated what course of action will be taken in the wake of the commission decision, the company could appeal that decision before the First Judicial District Court in Santa Fe. By Garry Boulard The construction of traditional townhouses that face streets and have front porches, front windows, and front pedestrian doors is expected to soon increase inside the city limits of Denver.
That’s because the Denver City Council has now approved a code change defining what a townhouse should look like, a change that will also govern how tall such structures can be, as well as the dimensions of any courtyards or driveways that may be a part of a given project. The unanimous council vote comes in response to complaints from neighborhood residents and homeowners regarding a phenomenon known as the slot house. Such multi-unit buildings, which are typically built as block-like two and three-story structures with front doors facing out to a courtyard and the side of the buildings fronting the street, have been likened by some detractors to looking like prison complexes. The sideways design nature of the slot houses have proven popular with developers because they allow for the construction of more units on a given site, with many of those units going for $500,000 and up. But in March, the council unanimously approved imposing a moratorium on the submission of all new slot home development plans. The new council action, also on a unanimous vote, outright prohibits the construction of any new slot home projects, while also reaffirming the city’s code requirement that new townhouse projects must have design elements that better blend in with the surrounding neighborhood. By Garry Boulard The number of new office construction projects measuring more than 100,000 square feet may be in decline, but that doesn’t mean that companies aren’t thinking of new and innovative ways to build out the work space they already have.
That is one of the observations offered during a panel discussion sponsored by the Urban Land Institute at its spring meeting in Detroit. The trend away from building massive office space has declined with the advent of cloud-based applications and wireless communications allowing increasingly larger number of employees to work off-site. Mark Kapicak, program manager for IBM’s Real Estate Strategy and Operations, told the panelists that the company’s office space challenge is now centered on what tasks those employees who are still at the work site may be doing. “It’s really about thinking differently about doing the work in that space,” Kapicak said. Other panelists talked about encouraging employees to customize their own workspace needs, a trend that has seen some companies, in response, building food courts, coffee bars, and even exterior walking trails. The notion of building what is being called “flexible space” is regarded as a new growth industry in office design and re-adaptation, noted several experts, with such space expected to comprise nearly 30 percent of the country’s total office space in the next decade. In December the Chicago-based JLL, a commercial real estate services company, reported that the creation of flexible space has been growing at an average rate of 23 percent in recent years, accounting for more than 18 million square feet in just the last two years alone. By Garry Boulard Plans are in the works for the construction of a modern three-story student housing complex on the main Crownpoint campus of Navajo Technical University in northwestern New Mexico. Money for the project is coming from several sources, including most prominently the Sihasin Fund, which is giving the school $14.3 million to put up the structure. The Sihasin Fund money was approved unanimously as part of the Crownpoint Student Housing Expenditure Plan by members of the Navajo Nation Council. Other funding includes the Navajo Housing Authority, which is providing some $9.3 million, and the university itself, with $4 million. The new building will measure 95,338 square feet and will include 144 rooms. Of that total, 126 rooms will be designed for double occupancy, with the remaining 18 dedicated to single room space. Work on the new building is expected to launch this fall, with a 2020 completion date. Navajo Technical University already has two dormitories and just over 30 individual housing units, all of which are fully occupied. The school, with an enrollment of nearly 2,000 students, was established in 1979 as the Navajo Skill Center and officially named the Navajo Technical University three years ago. Last fall, the school announced that it was opening a new 38-acre campus in Chinle, Arizona, 130 miles to the west of the Crownpoint campus, building a 6,000 square foot general education building that is expected to be completed this summer. By Garry Boulard One of the most culturally important structures in Mesa, Arizona is expected to see the beginning of renovations and upgrading this summer.
The Mesa Arizona Temple in central Mesa in the 100 block of Main Street was completed in the fall of 1927 and opened as one of the first Church of Latter Day Saints temples in Arizona. Officials with the Mesa Temple have long wanted to upgrade both the 120,000 square foot main building, as well as refigure the 20-acre site it sits on. An important part of that site work includes plans to demolish nine smaller structures, as well as a visitors’ center that sits to the front of the temple on Main Street. But Mesa preservationists say some of those structures are historically significant. So far, the City of Mesa has rejected applications by a company called Property Reserve, the LDS’s property group, to demolish three of those buildings. LDS officials say the multi-million temple renovation project has been a long time coming. The last time that structure saw any work was in 1975 when some 17,000 square feet was added to the building. By Garry Boulard study predicts abandonment of nafta will increase the cost of goods, equipment, and materials5/9/2018 A U.S. exit from the North American Free Trade Agreement could result in up to $5.3 billion in additional annual expenses for American shippers and producers.
So predicts a report conducted by the Chicago-based global management consulting firm A.T. Kearney, which says that up to $182 billion in goods every year crosses the borders between the U.S., Canada, and Mexico as a result of NAFTA. NAFTA became official in 1994 and today represents the largest free trade agreement in the world, comprising some 28 percent of the world’s gross domestic product. Commissioned by the National Retail Federation, the Food Marketing Institute, and the Retail Industry Leaders Association, the report, entitled How NAFTA Affects US Retail, also forecasts possible individual product price increases should the trade agreement become a thing of the past. Noting that U.S. retailers imported $128 billion in goods from Mexico in 2017 and $54 billion in goods from Canada, the report also says abandoning NAFTA could result in a $390 million increase in products that could impact the construction industry with equipment and electronics, as well as another $250 million increase in automotive parts. Responding to the report, Matthew Shay, the president of the National Retail Federation, said in a statement that “It’s clear NAFTA must be modernized, but we can’t lose sight of the fact that this agreement helps ensure that American families have access to products they need at prices they can afford.” Trade representatives from the U.S., Canada, and Mexico are currently in the process of negotiating a revamping of NAFTA. By Garry Boulard Work building a $2.5 million visitors center at the San Jacinto Plaza in downtown El Paso may begin later this year, now that the project has been approved as part of a larger citywide capital improvement plan. On a 5 to 3 vote, members of the El Paso City Council have given a green light to some $94 million in capital improvement projects that will be partially funded through the issuance of certificates of obligation. Those certificates will bring with them a 1 percent increase in city property taxes. The rest of the projects will be funded by about $150 million in Quality of Life bonds approved by El Paso voters in 2012, with another $30 million coming from existing capital improvement money. Besides the highly visible San Jacinto visitors center project, upcoming El Paso capital improvement projects include $12 million for the site preparation and building of both a media studio and conference center at the site of the Cohen Stadium. That stadium is slated to be demolished to make way for a new mixed-use entertainment district. Plans are also in the works for the $5.2 million construction of what is being called the Westside Conference Center in the city’s Council District 1; along with $1.5 million for the Alameda Recreation Center field at 7330 Alameda Avenue on the southeast side of the city. The largest chunk of money, more than $64 million, will go for improvements to what are regarded as the most-travelled roads in various parts of El Paso. The debt incurred as part of El Paso’s capital improvement plan will be absorbed into the 2019 fiscal year budget, with other sources of funding for the various projects to come from the city’s lodging tax and possible public/private investment. By Garry Boulard More than two decades in the making, a master-planned community in fast-growing town of Gilbert, Arizona could soon see the construction of 408 additional residential units.
Cooley Station, built on one-time farmland in the Southeast Valley of metropolitan Phoenix, has already seen the construction of dozens of luxury one- and two-story homes off of Williams Field Road on the southeast side of Gilbert. Those homes list on average for between $250,000 and $350,000. Now plans have been announced for the additional development of what is regarded as a village community with an emphasis on tree-lined streets, green space, and homes with interior courtyards. Designed by the Phoenix-based architectural firm of Whitneybell Perry, the new addition to the development is being called the Crossing at Cooley Station and will go up on some 25 acres. As planned, the project will also include a club house, dog park, two swimming pools, and multiple courts for volleyball, pickleball, and tennis. The larger master-planned community encompasses around 800 acres and could ultimately see the construction over time of more than 1,000 homes. Plans for the Crossing at Cooley Station are currently under review by the Town of Gilbert. By Garry Boulard A new report just issued by the Associated General Contractors of America shows that the seasonally adjusted annual rate of construction spending dipped to $1.285 trillion in March.
That number is based on figures compiled by the U.S. Census and analyzed by AGC. Even though the March numbers were 1.7 percent lower than what was recorded in February, overall construction spending is still up by 3.6 percent from March of 2017 when spending stood at $1.240 trillion. The decline was particularly noted in the lodging, healthcare, manufacturing, and commercial construction segments. One of the reasons for the decline in spending, said Stephen Sandherr, chief executive officer of the AGC, in a statement, was due to the Trump Administration’s announcement that it was increasing tariffs for both steel and aluminum imports. “Not only are contractors getting squeezed by higher prices for steel and aluminum products, but it seems many private sector developers are rethinking some investments amid growing fears of a trade war,” said Sandherr. While the AGC has praised the administration’s moves to exempt some countries from the higher tariffs, the organization nevertheless maintains that “continued uncertainty about whether and how long those exemptions will remain in place are contributing to continued price increases for steel and aluminum products that many contractors have to absorb.” By Garry Boulard |
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