After an early year decline, the number of construction projects on the backlog have increased, largely fueled by new infrastructure work. In its Construction Backlog Indicator, the Associated Builders and Contractors is reporting an increase from March to April, for an overall reading of 8.9 months. While the commercial and institutional sector continues to report the largest backlog at 9.2 months, slightly down from 9.3 months in March, it’s the infrastructure sector that saw the greatest growth, increasing from 7.1 months in March to 8.0 last month. A third category, heavy industry, saw a decline of 8.8 months to 8.4 months. In surveying the latest figures, Anirban Basu, chief economist for ABC, remarked: “One would not be able to discern that interest rates are high, the nation’s backing sector is in tumult, politicians are arguing over the nation’s debt limit and recession fears remain pervasive.” Continued Basu: “Despite many headwinds and an active news cycle, contractors continue to express confidence in the near term.” The backlog numbers are particularly strong in the South, which has been the case for most of the last year. In April, the South’s backlog stood at 10.7—the largest backlog in the country. The Northeast saw a 9.1-month backlog in April, significantly up from March when the numbers stood at 8.0, while the West saw a backlog increase of 7.9 months in March to 8.4 months in April. The smallest regional increase was recorded in the Midwest, with a March backlog of 7.3 months declining to 7.0 in April. As is usually the case, the larger the firm, the greater the backlog: companies with revenues above the $100 million mark reported an 11.9-month backlog, followed by firms in the $50 million to $100 million range at 13 months. Companies with revenues between $30 million and $50 million, reported an average 6.8-month backlog; while the backlog increased to 8.1 months for companies with revenues of $30 million or less. By Garry Boulard
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Plans have now been announced to renovate a 12-story building in Denver’s Civic Center Park area that houses dozens of city agencies. Located at 201 W. Colfax Avenue, the Wellington E. Webb Municipal Office Building measures around 800,000 square feet and was built in 2002. Changes to the building, which will include upgrading to current Americans with Disabilities Act standards and modernizing the structure’s elevator system, are expected to cost around $133.5 million. An additional upgrade of the building’s dated and worn-out finishes is also a part of the project. In order to accommodate the functions of the various departments with offices in the building, floors will be vacated three at a time to make way for the work, with offices on the other floors remaining in operation. Work is expected to begin later this fall, with an anticipated completion date of September 2025. The Webb building cost $200 million to build. Uniquely, it was built to connect via a four-story atrium with an adjacent four-story historic building. By Garry Boulard A two-year college based in Farmington, New Mexico is receiving more than $2.7 million in state funding for a variety of campus projects. Earlier this year members of the New Mexico State Legislature approved two separate capital outlay projects for San Juan College, which is located at 4601 College Boulevard and has an enrollment of more than 5,800 students. The first outlay of $1.6 million will target work at the Henderson Fine Arts Center, which serves as the home to the school’s fine and performing art departments and houses an 800-seat auditorium. The $1.6 million will go for the planning, design and replace of the building’s roof. A second outlay of $1.1 million will fund general improvements on the school’s south campus, located at 800 S. Hutton Road. Both outlays were signed into law by Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham. Other big-ticket items that were submitted to the legislature by the New Mexico Higher Education Department and subsequently approved by the Governor include the just under $1.1 million for the planning, designing, and construction of infrastructure improvements and upgrades to emergency evacuation routes at Santa Fe Community College. Nearly $1.1 million was approved for the design and construction of a building housing the applied technology program on the Rio Rancho campus of Central New Mexico Community College. Exactly $850,000 was approved for the planning, design, and renovation of the Advanced Technology Center on the main Albuquerque campus of CNM, along with nearly $463,000 to upgrade student services facilities, also on CNM’s main campus. Lujan Grisham additionally approved $800,000 for the campus-wide replacement of heating and air conditioning systems at the Southeast New Mexico College in Carlsbad; along with $750,000 to plan, design and build facilities housing the Allied Health program at Luna Community College in Las Vegas. All the higher education capital outlay funding, by law, is scheduled to be spent between this year and 2027. By Garry Boulard Construction companies should spend more time and energy developing programs for workers who may be suffering from mental health issues, according to a new report. That report is the result of pilot program spearheaded by the National Association of Home Builders, via a funding grant from the Job-Site Safety Institute, studying mental health issues particularly within the residential construction industry. In a press release accompanying the report, Erik Anderson, chairman of the Job-Site Safety Institute, remarked: “Many in our field don’t want to admit that we have difficult challenges in our lives and feel we don’t need to talk to someone to help us.” The program itself, continued Anderson, is designed to provide answers, “so that not only can employees be safe on jobsites, but also have their lives on the right track when they go home to their families.” A variety of reports through the years have emphasized the stress factor in building. “The construction industry has the highest suicide rate of any profession,” the publication EHS Today has noted, adding that “more than 80% of construction workers have experienced stress at work.” At the time of the announcement of the grant, the Job-Site Safety Institute said in a press release that the goals of the pilot program included “improving awareness, facilitating discussion, destigmatizing mental health and addictions, and taking a leadership position moving forward.” That leadership position has meant encouraging construction industry leaders to either share or solicit personal stories of mental health issues, but to do so in a storytelling fashion, which according to the NAHB press release “was shown to be an effective tool in beginning dialogue.” The pilot program focused on an effort undertaken by the North Carolina Home Builders Association that included confidential surveys and screening tools to ascertain mental health and stress issues among builders. Findings from the North Carolina Home Builders program indicated that company outreach programs should focus through both proactive prevention and early intervention on such issues as substance abuse, as well as possible suicides. Simply talking about stress issues, according to the findings of the pilot program, appeared to move things in the direction of preventing tragic outcomes. “We know there is a problem in the home building industry when talking about mental health challenges,” said Alicia Huey, NAHB chairman, in a statement. Huey added that the builders’ association is “looking to lead a shift in our culture that will allow workers who are struggling to find the help they need without fear of ruining their livelihoods.” By Garry Boulard In the wake of an election seeing the voters of Tempe rejecting the proposed construction of a $2.1 billion arena and entertainment district for the Arizona Coyotes hockey team, efforts are underway to build another facility in nearby Mesa. By margins of better than 12%, Tempe voters rejected three separate referendum questions, all of which were related to building a 16,000-seat area and entertainment district that would include the construction of at least two hotels, space for a series of restaurants, a retail center, and medical office campus. In the wake of the election’s results, Xavier Gutierrez, chief executive officer of the Coyotes, remarked that “what is next for the franchise will be evaluated by our owner and the National Hockey League over the coming weeks.” But before any final decision is made, John Giles, the Mayor of Mesa, has suggested that the team should think of moving to his city. Giles noted the availability of private land in Mesa, in particular the site of the former 80-acre Fiesta Mall which was shuttered in 2019 and remains vacant. Opened in 1979, the mall did a thriving business for decades until the establishment of several other regional shopping centers in the late 1990s and 2001, which lead to the eventual exit of a number of tenants at the Fiesta. In a statement in response to speculation that the Coyotes might build a new facility at the Fiesta Mall site, the City of Mesa said it was looking forward to working on proposals that would “bring diverse uses to the Fiesta Mall site.” Because the Fiesta Mall property is privately owned, it is thought that it would not require a public vote to approve construction of a new Coyotes arena. By Garry Boulard Titan Development and HB Construction held a groundbreaking ceremony for a $35 million-dollar multifamily project in Northeast Albuquerque, Tuesday.
Beyond the formality of plunging shovels into the earth with a city official, the design phase of what will be called Allaso Olivine has been completed with the earthwork and grading already in progress since March. The single u-shaped building containing 105 units within three floors, both one and two-bedroom, will rest on a 2.7-acre lot on the northwest corner of Alameda Boulevard and Louisiana Boulevard in Albuquerque. In a press release by Titan Development, it states that the project will have a resort-style pool, fitness center, leasing office and units averaging 904 square feet completed by the end of next summer. “The building permit is with the city right now on second review comments. We’re anticipating that to be stamped and sealed tomorrow or within a couple days,” said Construction Manager with Titan Development Bob Kearney. The design by Dekker Perich Sabatini includes similar characteristics which are novel to multifamily developments in Albuquerque. Allaso Journal is another recent Titan Development property in Northeast Albuquerque. Supply chain delays are one thing Allaso Journal and Allaso Olivine have in common. Kearney said that electrical service panels and breakers have been the culprit here. Much like Allaso Journal, Allaso Olivine will connect tenants through a community-wide wifi network through Comcast and will also share a centralized hot water system through Teal Systems, said Kearney. “Teal is also a product that doesn’t have a foothold in New Mexico. Up until last week, there was nobody in the state doing Teal. Now they have about seven clients right now that are going to deploy Teal,” said Kearney. Kearney explained while on site that the Teal system is classified as high-grade market brand boiler that comes with a controller pack for the operator. Future tenants have already been put on leases and move-ins could start months before final completion, according to Kearney. What the price will be per month, by square foot, is still being evaluated by the operator, Greystar. Justin Stone, Greystar’s regional property manager for the project, said that the price range will be close to the Allaso Journal’s and projected averages. “Right now, Journal Center’s doing an average of about two dollars and eleven cents a square foot, so it would be similar or higher than that depending on the unit breakdown,” said Stone. Based on the Allaso Olivine’s average unit in square feet and Stone’s estimate for the Allaso Journal units, a home here could cost up to $1,907 per month. Partners at Titan Development, Kurt Browning and Josh Peters, made statements alongside Albuquerque City Councilor Brooke Bassan prior to ground breaking. Bassan said that there will be up to 250-300 construction workers employed by HB Construction over the course of the project, in addition to subcontractors like Montano Earthworks LLC. “The relationship that Titan has with the community, with the neighbors, leverages the point that all of the rest of you who are involved in this, can help out and build our economy,” said Bassan. Bassan also announced that the city would be breaking ground on the North Domingo Baca Aquatic Center in the same area later this year. By Dane Vaughn A one-story brick commercial structure built in 1953 in downtown Greeley is on the market for $365,000. The building, measuring just over 2,000 square feet, is located at 909 16th Street on a block of mostly one and two-story commercial buildings, and across the way from the campus of the University of North Colorado. Designated as a Class C Building, the structure is currently the home to the Second Millennium tattoo parlor. In years past it housed the Campus Cleaners dry cleaning service. The property is being listed by the Fort Collins-based real estate company The Group. In recent decades, Greeley has enjoyed an 18% increase in its population, taking it from around 77,000 in 2000 to nearly 109,000 in 2000. Even so, the average price per square foot for office and commercial space in the city has remained fairly steady in the last several years at around $178. The property at 909 16th Street is within that range at $181 per square foot. By Garry Boulard The size of the smart highway market is expected to reach just over $18.5 billion in the next four years—a significant jump from where things stood in 2019 when the figure was just under $7 billion. According to a new report, U.S. Smart Highway Market, published by the research company Report Ocean, the overall market for highways that incorporate electronic technologies has been growing at an impressive annual growth rate of 18.2% in the last four years and is expected to maintain that pace until at least 2026. A separate report, Smart Highways Market Size, published by the company Market Research Future, is anticipating an equally buoyant market, with an annual growth rate of 18.7% heading into the year 2030. And yet a third report, published by Allied Marketing Research, is forecasting an annual growth rate of 17.3% in the smart highway construction market for the next seven years. That report, Smart Highway Construction Market, also notes that the similarly growing smart cities movement has helped to accelerate the smart highways movement. Perhaps a popular catch-all phrase, smart highways comprise dozens of new technologies designed to make traveling smoother and safer. The electronic technologies comprising the smart highway movement see the use of high-tech street lighting and traffic lights, as well as the operation of connected and autonomous vehicles. Smart highway technology has also been used to improve mass transit systems and reduce driving times. In essence, notes the publication Make Use Of : “Just as cars and trucks are getting smarter and more autonomous, we can expect the roads we drive on to get smarter.” And smart highway technology can take many forms: for years highway toll booths would “require you to slow down at a gate and hand bills or coins to an attendant or toss the correct change into a bucket,” writes reporter Susan Meyer in the site The Zebra. “Now, electronic tollways make it easy to maintain a consistent speed while still paying the toll,” continues Meyer, noting that the placement of a small device or sticker on a vehicle’s windshield that’s detected by video imaging treatment or thermal cameras has the potential of “making the entire transaction seamless.” The smart highways movement, experts point out, has been around in at least concept form for decades. In the mid-1990s an experimental smart highway was built on a portion of Interstate 15 in southern California, as authorized by the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficient Act. But funding limited the length of the project. Perhaps the earliest version of the idea was on display in the 1939 World’s Fair in New York. The “Futurama” exhibit showed cars traversing highways guided by radio-controlled electromagnetic fields and operated via roadway magnetized metal spikes. By Garry Boulard A mammoth apartment complex in Scottsdale, carrying a $1 billion price tag, has cleared a final hurdle with the approval of the city’s Development Review Board. The project had been given a green light from the Scottsdale City Council late last year. As envisioned, what is being called the Optima McDowell Mountain Village will see the construction of half a dozen buildings, all 10 stories in height, and housing just over 1,300 apartment and condo units. By any measure, the project off North Scottsdale Road is big: around 20 acres between Mayo Boulevard on the south and Arizona State Route 101 to the north. As developed by Optima Realty Incorporated, which has offices in Scottsdale, the village will include up to 38,000 square feet of commercial space, rooftop swimming pools, both underground parking as well as an underground trash system, and a bicycle/pedestrian path running through the site. One of the most visual facets of the project will see rooftop trees and shrubbery, as well as terraces on each floor of the structures featuring trailing native plants. “From a sustainability perspective,” notes the publication Greater Phoenix In Business, the village will comprise “the largest private rainwater harvesting site in the U.S.” It is expected that work on the Optima Village will begin sometime this summer. Founded in 1978, Optima Realty has had a strong presence in Arizona, having completed projects in the cities of Carefree, Paradise Valley, and Phoenix. By Garry Boulard Work is expected to begin later this fall on the expansion of a pickleball court facility in southeast Albuquerque. That work at the Manzano Mesa Pickleball Complex, located at 501 Elizabeth Street SE, about 11 miles to the southeast of downtown Albuquerque, will see the building of 15 new pickleball courts, as well as a new restroom, and shade facility. It is thought that it will cost at least $3.5 million to build the new courts, which will be an addition to the 15 courts already in existence at the complex. The Manzano facility is in some ways ground zero for pickleball enthusiasts, having opened well over a decade ago as the first pickleball courts in Albuquerque. There are today more than 100 pickleball courts strategically located at sites across the city. Mayor Tim Keller has announced a plan to eventually build an additional 48 courts, with work on eight new courts scheduled to begin later in the year at the Ventana Ranch Park, located at 10000 Universe Boulevard NW. That $1.5 million project will also see the construction of shade structures and new lighting. Some of the new planned facilities will include space for both pickleball and tennis. Pickleball, which sees the use of two or four players hitting a hollow plastic ball over a 36-inch high net with paddles, is regarded as one of the fastest-growing recreational sports in the U.S. Invented in 1965 as a children’s game on Bainbridge Island in the state of Washington, the sport now counts around 10 million people as semi-regular participants, with industry estimates that that number could increase to around 40 million by the year 2030. In just the last month, new pickleball courts have been announced for Tahoe City, California; Waxahachie, Texas; and Paducah, Kentucky, among other cities. An $11.5 million addition to the Steamboat Tennis and Pickleball Center in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, is expected to be completed by early next year. The game’s curious name, according to the Los Angeles Times, is inspired by a Bainbridge Island dog named Pickles who “liked to chase balls on the court and run off with them.” By Garry Boulard |
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