TriState Project Updates
Revving Up a Hotel, a Highway & a Fuel Maker
The year-end economic forecast may be dim, but there are signs of life for industry around the tristate region. In New Jersey, the Sheraton Parsippany Hotel has just begun a $15-million renovation of its seven floors. First Finish, Columbia, Md., is the general contractor on the project, which is part of Sheraton's $6-billion global revitalization efforts. AIOA, Annapolis, Md., is the architect.
The project is scheduled to be completed by April 2012 and includes a new 20,000-sq-ft facility with indoor and outdoor pools.
In New York, L&T Construction, Richmondville, N.Y., is about to start work on a three-mile-long highway project in Binghamton known as the Prospect Mountain Phase I. The project includes the convergence of Route 17 and Interstate 81 with I-88. Phase I is scheduled to begin this fall. The second phase, aimed at eliminating weaving movements at the intersection of Route 17 and I-81, is scheduled to begin in 2015.
Guilford, Conn.-based Greenleaf Biofuels has broken ground at the Port of New Haven, Conn., on what it says will be New England's largest biodiesel plant and the first with deepwater and rail access. The cost of the project, which is slated for completion in February 2012, was not disclosed.
Pat Munger Construction of Branford, Conn., won the contract to build the shell of the plant, says Mark McCall, COO of Greenleaf. Innovative Design Engineering Associates of Milford, Conn., and Jatro Diesel of Maimisburg, Ohio, are the process engineers. The plant will have a nameplate capacity of 10 million gallons a year but can be expanded, McCall says.
New York
Study: Electricity Supply at Risk
With the possibility of Indian Point Energy Center closing and at some point, a strong economic recovery, New York City needs to be prepared to add enough electric-generating capacity to prevent blackouts and price spikes, according to a recently released New York Building Congress report.
The report, “Electricity Outlook: Powering New York City Through 2030,” concludes that current in-city generation and transmission capacity is sufficient to meet the city's electrical needs through 2015. The report adds that the city should add 1,000 megawatts of capacity between 2014 and 2016, in addition to projects currently in the works.
The group expects to see 1,100 MW of electric-generating capacity added within the next year, with another 700 MW by 2015. An electrical transmission line that will run under the Hudson River is also expected to be completed by 2013.
However, a separate report issued in April by the New York Independent System Operator says that if demand grows as currently forecast, “it will take at least 10 years for a capacity need to occur, assuming planned additions occur and there are no unplanned retirements.”
John Gilbert, NYBC Energy Committee chairman, says he believes that NYISO's report shows only a best-case scenario and that precautions still need to be taken.
New York
U.K. Firm Buys Ferzan Robbins
London-based consultant Turner & Townsend continues to expand worldwide with the acquisition of Ferzan Robbins & Associates, a New York City-based project management and services firm. The U.S. firm will be merged with Turner & Townsend's New York office. Terms were not disclosed.
Turner & Townsend says the deal is part of its strategy to boost its U.S. presence. Ferzan Robbins' client list includes Fortune 500 firms across several sectors.
Turner & Townsend's other acquisitions in the last 18 months include consultancies Lawler Riik in Frankfurt and cm2r in Toronto, and it has also opened new offices in several locations worldwide.
