Related Links: Jefferson County Commissioners Send Refinancing Plan to Alabama Legislature Jefferson County, Ala., Commissioners in Last-Ditch Renegotiations Over Muni Debt Spending on Sewers, Risky Financing Push Alabama County Near Bankruptcy Jefferson County, Ala., commissioners, faced with massive sewer-system debt and loss of a major revenue source, filed for bankruptcy Nov. 9, saying efforts to negotiate with creditors had failed and future talks would not be productive.With $4.1 billion in sewer, school and general obligation debt, the filing would be the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history, outpacing the $1.7 billion bankruptcy by Orange County, Calif., in 1994.Jefferson County, with
Related Links: Online database of stalled projects Stalled Construction Projects and Financing In an effort to try to relieve some of the stress of the recession in construction, the American Institute of Architects is becoming an online matchmaker, of sorts. On Nov. 7, the AIA launched a stalled-projects online database intended to hook up developers, architects and other industry leaders with investors and funders to restart mothballed U.S. building projects. The find-a-business-partner initiative is designed to help architects and their clients find a solution to the “primary issue plaguing the design and construction industry—access to credit,” says the AIA.“The Match.com
Related Links: Jacobs Announces Acquisition of KlingStubbins Jacobs Engineering Group said that it has acquired architect KlingStubbins, a move that boosts the parent’s design capabilities and adds 500 U.S. and Asia-based employees.KlingStubbins, Philadelphia, is No. 111 on ENR’s list of the Top 500 Design Firms, with $98 million in 2010revenue.Avram Fisher, an analyst with BMO Capital Markets, says that the justification for the purchase appears to be a desire to better compete with other big players.Calling the deal "a small, bolt-on acquisition" for Jacobs, Fisher said buying KlingStubbins enables Jacobs, "which is at heart an engineering services firm, to better
Photo by Bruce Buckley Robert Murray, vice president of economic affairs for McGraw-Hill Construction, sees no upswing in construction volume in 2012. Related Links: YouTube Video of McGraw-Hill Construction's Forecast for 2011 A fifth straight year of decline is how 2011 will go into the record books, with no growth likely next year. That's the sobering forecast from McGraw-Hill Construction.In light of the sluggish economy, construction spending continues to limp along in a depressed state with few limited signs of hope on the horizon. McGraw-Hill Construction, the parent of ENR, estimates that 2011 will close out with a 4% drop
Graphic courtesy of NuScale Cross-section diagram of small-scale plant using NuScale reactor. Fluor hopes to build commercial-scale plants with the developer. In a move designed to help the financially strapped developer and give the contractor an entry into the emerging market for small nuclear reactors, engineering, procurement and construction giant Fluor Corp. has taken a majority ownership stake in modular nuclear-reactor designer NuScale Power.Fluor's $30-million investment, announced on Oct. 13, will give the Irving, Texas-based company more than 50% ownership of NuScale, based in Corvallis, Ore. The developer will maintain its separate identity and headquarters, says John Hopkins, Fluor group
Related Links: Jefferson County, Ala., Commissioners in Last-Ditch Renegotiations Over Muni Debt Alabama’s legislature will go into special session in November to enact laws for Jefferson County – its largest and home of Birmingham – to refinance $3.14 billion in sewer debt that threatened the nation’s largest municipal bankruptcy.The Jefferson County Commission voted Sept. 16 to approve a conceptual settlement that will allow it to refinance $2.05 billion, charge single-digit rate hikes for users, mandate sewer hookups for new construction and create a governmental utility service corporation (GUSC) to manage and finance the system until the debt is repaid.GUSC members
Courtesy of Harmon Properties Harmon Corners, a retail property that topped out recently in Las Vegas, is financed with the developer's own money. Related Links: Video Interview with Barclays Analyst on Commercial Mortgage-Backed Securities Tight-Fisted Banks Stall Development (ENR 2009) Goldman-Citi Offering Is Pulled Over Ratings The comeback of the commercial mortgage-backed securities sector, which reached a high of $230 billion in new issues in 2007 but then collapsed in the turmoil that hit financial markets in 2008, has run into big trouble."There are economic headwinds that are causing a slowdown in the pipeline,” says Steve Renna, chief executive officer
Jefferson County, Ala., commissioners named two members to negotiate personally with creditors, bypassing a court-appointed receiver, as they again delayed a Chapter 9 bankruptcy that would be the nation’s largest.In a unanimous vote on Aug. 12, the five commissioners voted for David Carrington, commission president, and James A. "Jimmie" Stephens, finance chairman, to start meeting personally with the creditors, which include J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., to reach a settlement on $3.2 billion in sewer bonds by Sept. 16.County debt for school and general obligation funds would bring a bankruptcy to more than $4.1 billion, about twice as large as
Water Pipelines Fatigue Causes Main Break A Cambridge, Mass., water-main break on June 4 was caused by thermal cycling of underground piping and fatigue in the decade-old water main, says Sam Corda, managing director of the city's Water Dept. The water main cracked at the bell, and an 18-in. triangular piece broke off; however, water pressure was restored within 24 hours, says the Cambridge Dept. of Public Works. Thermal cycling of underground piping caused by changes in water temperature can increase stresses in the metal and casting, Corda says.Dams San Francisco Public Utility OKs Big Dam Replacement Project The San
Construction’s unemployment rate dipped to 16.3% in May, down from April’s 17.8% rate and an improvement over the 20.1% unemployment rate registered in May 2010, according to the latest figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Despite the decline, construction’s unemployment rate is still the highest among all U.S. industries. In the face of a deepening recession, the construction industry only managed to add 2,000 jobs in May, according to the BLS. The overall U.S. unemployment rate for all industries was 9.1% in May.
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