January 3, 2015 12:08 PM

The view from the sixth floor of 10 Hudson Yards on Dec. 19. 2014 (credit: Marla Diamond/WCBS 880)

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) This year should be a busy one at a neighborhood thats being created from scratch.

What were looking at today is the rail yard, so we have a major construction project over the eastern rail yard, explained Michael Samuelian, of Related.

Samuelian was describing the construction going on at 10 Hudson Yards the first building to be put up at the site.

Itsa 52-story office building, were at about the 27th floor right now,Samuelian said.

By this time next year, 10 buildings should be completed, as well as the deck over the rail yard, Haskell reported.

And youll start to see the retail and 30 Hudson Yards, which will ultimately be the fourthtallest office building in New York starting to go vertical,Samuelian said.

Construction at the site will continue for at least 10 more years.

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10 Hudson Yards Beginning To Take Shape

A sharp slowdown in government-built schools and infrastructure caused U.S. construction spending to fall slightly in November.

The Commerce Department said Friday that construction spending slipped 0.3 percent in November, after having climbed an upwardly revised 1.2 percent in October and 0.6 percent in September.

Much of the decline came from a 1.7 percent retreat in government expenditures. Publicly-built school spending fell 2.5 percent, while the transportation, health care and public safety sectors also fell.

Private construction spending rose a modest 0.3 percent in November. Home-building climbed 1 percent in November, offsetting the declines in the office, commercial and health care-related construction.

Total construction spending has improved a mere 2.4 percent from a year ago to $974.9 billion.

Construction activity has lagged broader economic growth for much of 2014, hampered by limited gains in homebuilding. Few potential buyers can afford new homes, a reflection of meager wage growth, tight credit standards and builders focused on pricier housing developments that are beyond the financial reach of most home-seekers.

Residential construction spending declined 0.5 percent over the past 12 months to $352.7 billion, although solid gains in the past two months suggest that homebuilding activity likely helped economic growth in the final quarter of 2014. Analysts at the bank Barclays projects that annualized growth in the October-December quarter will be 2.8 percent, a solid increase but down from an annualized gain of 5 percent in the third quarter.

Modest buying activity has dissuaded builders from breaking ground on more homes. Sales of new homes dropped 1.6 percent in November to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 438,000, the Commerce Department said in a recent report. That second straight monthly decline leaves home construction significantly below the annual rate of 700,000 that was common in the 1990s.

Still, broader economic growth should help to bolster construction. Employers have added 2.65 million jobs through the first 11 months of 2014, the most in 15 years. Each new paycheck helps to increase consumer spending, even though average wages have yet to meaningfully outpace inflation. The job gains have accompanied faster economic growth during the second and third quarters of 2014.

"As the labor market continues to show improvement and wages increase, especially for young adults, we expect the pace of single-family building to pick up this year," said Anika Kahn, a senior economist at Wells Fargo.

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US Construction Spending Slips 0.3 Pct. in November

Katherine Wei

The China Post

Publication Date : 01-01-2015

Following new Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je's war against illegally constructed housing, the city's Construction Management Office released the positive results of former mayor Hau Lung-bin's term in office: around 80 per cent of illegal structures reported have been torn down.

Barely a week in office, Ko began his own offensive against illegal structures in Taipei after two young girls were burned to death in the extra stories their father built illegally on top of their building.

After inspecting the burned house thoroughly, Ko announced on Tuesday an ultimatum for 226 illegal rooftop additions, saying that the government will be removing the structures if the owners do not do so by March 20.

The owners and tenants' rental issues are included in the deadline as well, and if the problems are unable to be straightened before the appointed day, "then we will tear them down directly, no arguments," said Ko.

According to the Taipei City Construction Management Office, a total of 4,268 illegal structures have been torn down or improved by their owners among the 5,114 reported cases during Hau's last year in office.

An official in the Construction Management Office stated yesterday that the office was only allowed a budget of 8 million new Taiwan dollar (US$252,700) for illegal structure reporting and removal, and there were only 84 people reporting back to the office.

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Taiwan's illegal structure

A new building industry report found that the number of construction jobs rose in 66% of U.S. metropolitan areas for the year that ended Nov. 30, a sign that the economic recovery is spreading to that once hard-hit sector.

The Associated General Contractors of America, the construction industry's largest trade group, said in its report released Tuesday that demand was so strong that some regions had begun to experience labor shortages.

"It is good news that construction employment is now rising in two-thirds of the nation's metro areas," said Ken Simonson, the group's chief economist. "But now that the unemployment rate for construction workers has fallen to a seven-year low, it has become a major challenge to find qualified workers in many fields."

The report found that employment in the industry grew in 224 of 339 metro areas.

The largest gains, by numbers, came in the Houston area, which added 16,200 construction jobs, an increase of 9% over the previous 12-month period.

That was followed by Dallas-Irving-Plano, Texas, with 11,000 more jobs, a 10% rise, greater Chicago, which added 9,100 jobs, or 7%, and Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, Wash., with 8,900 jobs, or 12%.

From a statewide perspective, California added 41,700 construction jobs, a 6% rise, to a total of 697,000, the group said.

The fastest growth came from the Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine area, which added 7,700 construction jobs, a 10% rise, and the Los Angeles-Long-Beach area, which added 6,100 jobs, up 5%.

The mostly positive news in the sector was tempered by the fact that some of the fastest growth during the year came in regions that are heavily dependent on the oil and gas business and thus vulnerable to the recent plunge in oil prices.

Besides the Texas metro areas, some of the fastest growth in construction jobs, relative to the size of the market, came from such oil-dependent regions as Pascagoula, Miss. (24% with 1,500 more jobs); Fargo, N.D. (19%, 1,600 jobs); and York-Hanover, Pa. (18%, 1,700 jobs).

Excerpt from:
Most U.S. metro areas see gains in construction jobs

HAMMOND | A four-story office building is the latest addition to Hammond's Oxbow Landing, a major redevelopment project at Interstate 80/94 and Kennedy Avenue.

Holladay Properties plans to build Hammond River Park, a 60,000-square-foot Class A office building that will be visible from the heavily trafficked interstate and bring more white-collar jobs to Hammond. The South Bend-based developer is also responsible for the business parks AmeriPlex at the Port, in Portage, and AmeriPlex at the Crossroads, in Merrillville.

The project will be high-end. Office space is graded from Class A to Class C, and Class A office space is considered high-quality with state-of-the-art amenities and premier tenants.

Traditionally, much of the new Class A office space in Northwest Indiana has gone up on or near U.S. 30. But Holladay has found success building Class A office space along the Borman in the AmeriPlex at the Port business park, where retailers, restaurants and light manufacturers also are located.

Holladay's new office building adds to Oxbow Landing, which the city of Hammond has been redeveloping since demolishing the crime-plagued River Park Apartments in 2006.

New construction has started to go up. Buffalo Wild Wings recently opened a 7,000-square-foot sit-down restaurant, the first in Northwest Indiana with a new sports stadium design. Byway Brewing Co. also plans to open a microbrewery on the site after Flossmoor Station's plans for a second brewpub there fell through.

Plans for a four-story, 100-room Hampton Inn have also been announced for the 23-acre site on the Little Calumet River.

Holladay Properties is marketing the new Hammond River Park office building, just three miles from the Illinois border, as an alternative to the South Suburbs of Chicago office market and touts the many restaurants nearby.

The multi-tenant building offers spaces between 1,500 square feet and 60,000 square feet at a rate of $16.75 per square foot.

The developer is now pre-leasing. For information, contact Mike O'Connor at (219) 764-3104.

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Four-story office building planned at Hammond's Oxbow Landing

MARK LAMBIEEL PASO TIMES The El Paso County Annex at 301 Manny Martinez will house the county tax office and agriculture department.

The million dollar reconstruction of a 60-year-old armory at Ascarate Park continues as the building is being transformed into a new County Tax Assessor-Collector's office.

The tax assessor-collector is expected to move from its current office at 500 E. Overland Avenue in Downtown to the former U.S. Army Reserve Center building at Ascarate Park, 6900 Delta Drive, by the end of March, said Monique Aguilar, the county's facilities manager.

Early in the year, county officials said they were expecting to complete the renovations by September. That didn't happen. On Monday, Aguilar said the building, which was donated by the federal government to the county, had to undergo major reconstruction because of its age. She said construction crews are replacing the electrical wiring, plumbing and making the building in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Aguilar said the project, which is being done in-house, will cost about $1.3 million. The money is part of the 2012 bond.

The move is part of the county's Master Space Plan which involves the relocation of several county offices, Aguilar said.

County officials have said the renovated facility will also house the county's AgriLife Extension Service office.

Aguilar said once the tax assessor-collector moves, the county's human resources office will move into the building on Overland.

Most recently, the elections department moved from the lower level of the County Courthouse to the third floor, where construction crews also are making room for a new administration and budget office.

Neither County Tax Assessor-Collector Victor Flores nor his chief deputy Frank Ortiz responded to a request for an interview on Monday.

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County continues rebuilding Ascarate Park building

The construction of a multi-million pound office development in Cambridge reached a significant milestone as contractor Wates held a topping out ceremony recently to mark the building having reached its highest point.

The event marked the progress made at Brookgates 22 Station Road scheme, a 33 million, five-storey development of 64,770 sq ft office space.

On completion the development will become home to engineering consultants Mott Macdonald and Birketts Solicitors. Just 5,400 sq ft remains to be let.

Construction work on the new building commenced at the end of last year, forming part of Brookgates CB1 masterplan to extensively regenerate the area around Cambridge railway station.

The programme comprises the creation of a mixed-use development of commercial, leisure and residential spaces alongside new public areas and extensive improvements to the public transport infrastructure.

Construction at 22 Station Road is expected to reach completion in summer next year. Wates and Brookgate have made a joint commitment to create a host of training and employment opportunities, including the appointment of on-site apprentices.

Wates role in the CB1 scheme is also seeing the contractor deliver an 11-week programme of demolition works for Brookgates new speculative 140,000 sq ft office scheme, One The Square, with construction set to begin next year.

Phil Shortman, for Wates Construction said: The ambitious CB1 development will significantly enhance the already thriving business district in Cambridge, a scheme in which Wates is extremely proud to be playing a part having already delivered key parts of the CB1 project a headquarters building for Microsoft Research and 500 student rooms.

This milestone is a reminder of the pace at which this exceptional scheme is being brought to life as the citys commercial marketplace continues to evolve.

Sven Topel, chief executive of Brookgate added: The topping out of 22 Station Road highlights the momentum gathering in the delivery of CB1, Cambridge's most exciting new regeneration scheme. The fact that the building is already nearly completely let demonstrates the need for top quality office space to serve the region's fast-expanding business community.

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33m Cambridge office building on track

By Kenn Stark DCNN Correspondent

Chester Heights Borough Council unanimously approved the proposed expansion of Wawa Corporations Red Roof headquarters at a sparsely-attended public hearing Dec. 22. The hearing was the first official business conducted in the newly-renovated Chester Heights municipal office.

Three borough ordinances were amended to allow construction of four buildings on the 26-acre corporate campus. The new structures will include an 11,260-square foot two-story storage building, a 1,500-square foot salt shed, a multi-level parking garage, and the Annex 5 office building.

The recent acquisition of the 4.3-acre Robinson property on the east side of the campus will lead to demolition of the existing residence and garage, then construction of the storage building and salt shed. The Robinson property will also be utilized for storm water management and on-site septic disposal purposes.

The new parking garage will have two underground levels and three above ground. Of the total of 557 parking spaces, 525 will be dedicated to employees, while the rest will be handicapped- or van-accessible. The garage will have multiple access points, including a skywalk connecting to Annex 5.

Sitting atop the parking garage will be a new innovation and design center, which will include a test kitchen. The design center will feature a glass curtain wall to utilize natural sunlight.

The 98,000-square foot Annex 5 office building will be directly behind the Red Roof mansion and next to Annex 1 and 2. The height of both Annex 5 and the parking garage/design center will not exceed the height of the Red Roof mansion.

The additional office space will allow 212 Wawa employees, who are now occupying rented space at the old Franklin Mint complex, to join the rest of the Red Roof staff. The influx of employees will bump the number of Red Roof employees from the current 515 to over 700. By the end of build-out in 2024, Wawa expects the total Red Roof headcount to be closer to 900.

According to Wawas traffic Engineer Matthew Hammond, the additional workers on site should generate about 150 more vehicles at the Red Roof Drive entrance on Baltimore Pike at peak traffic hours.

To accommodate the additional cars, Wawa is petitioning PennDOT to extend the southbound Route 1 left-turn stacking lane from its current 85-foot length to 225 feet, while re-timing the traffic signal to give employees more time. PennDOT will not need to take property or additional right-of-way along the pike to make the requested turn-lane extension, Hammond noted.

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Wawa garners approval for Red Roof expansion

BUILDING PERMITS

PMT2014-04569 1205 Sumac Ave.; $350,000.00; Ida Tally; CDC Development/Porchfront Homes; New single-family residence on crawl space with 770-square-foot garage, 1,240-square-foot first floor, 1,136-square-foot second floor, 803-square-foot covered porches, and 770-square-foot attached garage.

PMT2014-04571 1235 Sumac Ave.; $365,000; Ida Tally; CDC Development/Porchfront Homes; New single-family dwelling residence on crawl space with 504-square-foot attached garage, 1,564-square-foot first floor, 1,046-square-fot second floor, and 208 square feet of covered porches.

PMT2014-04573 1265 Sumac Ave.; $360,000; Ida Tally; CDC Development/Porchfront Homes; New 2,627-square-foot single-family dwelling with 484-square-foot t attached garage. Crawl space, 591 square feet covered porches. Includes associated MEPs.

PMT2014-04667 1920 Bluebell Ave.; $500,000; De Lange; 641 West Design; New single-family dwelling. First and second floors are 2,996 square feet and the attached garage is 773 square feet For a total square footage of 3,769 square feet Scope of work includes associated MEPs and a gas fireplace and some stucco finishes and a flat roof.

PMT2014-04801 3686 19th St.; $20,000; Prescott Bailey; C-Corporation; Installation of trellis, outdoor gas firepit and wet bar on existing rooftop deck installed through separate permit PMT2014-02277. (Trellis removed from scope of work; see resubmittal documents DT 11/5/2014)

PMT2014-04910 1005 Gilbert St.; $54,500; Ellos LLC; Integrity Pool Builders; New "in-ground" swimming pool. See PMT2014-00206 for house permit and PMT2014-00207 for detached garage/pool house, and PMT2014-01511 for retaining wall. Scope of work includes mechanical and electrical. Fence permit by separate permit and separate review.

PMT2014-05032 2195 Dartmouth Ave.; $200,000; Raymond and Adele Sparkman; Sobo Design & Build; Remodel 528 square feet of existing single-family dwelling, including the kitchen, master suite, mechanical room, and reconfiguration of a staircase. Scope also includes demo of 544 square feet of existing finished basement to be finished under separate permit. Also included is a 145-square-foot main level addition to master suite and the demolition of the existing 128-square-foot deck and replacing with a new 340-square-foot deck.

PMT2014-05092 1810 30th St.; $250,000; Boulder Health; Retail Resources, Inc; Tenant interior remodel to an existing one story building for an exercise studio(The Dailey Method). Scope includes creation of office and studio spaces, entry and reception, and new restrooms. Includes associated MEPs.

PMT2014-05159 715 Juniper Ave.; $500,000.00; Glen Davis; Field West Construction, LLC; Interior remodel of residence including enlarged dormer on second floor above garage, remodel of main level and second floor areas including siding and windows. Scope of work to include associated electrical, mechanical and plumbing work

The rest is here:
Boulder building permits: Dec. 29, 2014

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This section contains the VA Signage Design Guide. The PDF files located here contain visual illustrations and specifications for signs that are used at VA facilities, and are inherently graphical in nature. Please visit our FTP site if you have trouble downloading these large files, where single section files as well as a 45MB compressed file containing all sections are located.

The VA Hospital Building System (VAHBS) has been used successfully on many VA projects over the years. Certain elements of this system have evolved; steel structures, instead of concrete, are often used, and minor changes in the organization and an increase in the number and overall height of sub zones for various disciplines have been implemented. The original study was completed in 1972 and revised in 1977. Each file may be downloaded separately, or the entire study may be downloaded via compressed file (22MB).To receive a copy, please download from our FTP site at http://downloads.va.gov/files/CFM-TIL/vahbs/

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