Residential and commercial solar energy firm Real Goods Solar Inc. has signed a deal to merge with Wilton, CT-based Alteris Renewables Inc., a solar energy and wind power installer that serves the Northeast. The deal, subject to Real Goods Solar’s shareholder approval, is expected to close in the third quarter.   Photo Courtesy of Real Goods Solar Inc. Based in Boulder, Colo., Real Goods Solar serves the Colorado and California markets and the deal gives it a foothold in the growing Northeast market. Alteris has been on the acquisition trail in recent years, acquiring renewable energy firm ISI Solar, New

Total construction starts in the New York City region grew 14% last year to reach $29.1 billion but are expected to pull back in 2011, partly due to the sluggish economy but also because 2010 received a boost from several large projects, says Robert Murray, vice president of economic affairs at McGraw-Hill Construction. Full-year NYC starts are forecast to recede 11% to $25.9 billion. Total U.S. construction starts are forecast to reach $422.5 billion for full-year 2011, a slight dip from 2010’s $423.7 billion, he adds. Gains in the multifamily housing, manufacturing buildings, and electric utilities sectors are expected to

Key unions in New York City, including laborers and structural trades, agreed to a 20% wage cut yesterday, June 15 for work on Gotham West, a residential development on Manhattan’s West Side that will consist of four buildings and about 1,240 residential units, according to a recent article in Crain’s New York Business. About 500 of the units, located between West 44th and West 45th streets and 10th and 11th avenues, will be deemed affordable housing. Gotham Organization Inc., the building’s Manhattan-based developer, did not respond for comment by ENR New York press time. “I’m not surprised by this,” said Richard T.

The Yonkers Industrial Development Agency approved a hearing to negotiate an economic development incentive package for a $40 million expansion of the Empire City Casino at Yonkers Raceway that is expected to create 179 construction jobs and 100 permanent jobs. If an agreement is reached, the new expansion would protect the raceway’s competitiveness with Aqueduct by creating a new 60,000-sq-ft east wing with 30,000 sq ft to be used for new gaming space including 400 new gaming tables and 350 Video Lottery Terminal machines, 20,000 sq ft of new food and beverage space and 10,000 sq ft of office and

The Dept. of Environmental Protection announced the 15 winning projects of its 2011 Green Infrastructure Grant Program and awarded $3.8 million to fund the building of green infrastructure projects designed to reduce sewer overflows and improve water quality in New York Harbor including green roofs, blue roofs, porous concrete, and bioswales. The 15 winners were selected out of 52 applications by a panel that included experts from the city’s Depts of Transportation, Design and Construction, Parks and Recreation, the DEP, the mayor’s office of Long Term Planning and Sustainability and the New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation. Together the

The Fire Dept. of New York started construction on a two-story, 12,400-sq-ft Emergency Medical Service Station located on Metropolitan Avenue near Bedford Street in Brooklyn’s Greenpoint section. div id="articleExtrasA" div id="articleExtrasB" div id="articleExtras" The new station, designed by Michielli + Wyetzner, New York, is part of the New York City Department of Design and Construction’s design excellence program, which helps the FDNY improve response time to medical emergencies throughout the city. The new station will be divided into four parts, with the first floor designed to store four emergency vehicles, a vehicle support zone and personal protective equipment storage area,

The project is in the design stages with MDSzerbaty Associates Architecture, New York, serving as lead architect. The school will include 21 new classrooms along 17th Street; specialized instructional areas for art, music, science, a library and a multi-purpose room that will look over 6th Avenue from the upper floors; a cafeteria and dance studio on the main floor; a rooftop play area on the second floor; a lecture hall/auditorium on the lower level; and a community room above the main lobby on the second floor, which will also include administrative areas. div id="articleExtrasA" div id="articleExtrasB" div id="articleExtras" The new

BOWMAN Structure Tone, New York, named Ronald H. Bowman Jr. executive vice president of Structure Tone Mission Critical, a division of the company that provides expertise in the development, implementation and management of critical systems and facilities to clients. Bowman will have global responsibility for the division, which is supported by the firm’s technology management group, ST Tech Services. Prior to joining Structure Tone, Bowman was executive vice president for Tishman Technologies. div id="articleExtrasA" div id="articleExtrasB" div id="articleExtras" Modern Spaces, Long Island City, N.Y., hired Craig Axelrod as executive vice president of project marketing for the firm’s new Modern Spaces

New Jersey will receive $161.5 million in federal funding during 2011 for beach replenishment, flood mitigation and harbor maintenance projects. The appropriations were included in the fiscal year 2011 budget continuing resolution, which Congress passed in April. The Army Corps of Engineers will administer the funding. For beach replenishment, $7.5 million will go to Monmouth Beach; $7.6 million will go to Long Beach Island; $11.9 million will go to Atlantic City and Ventnor; $10.3 million will go to Cape May and Lower Township; and $300,000 will go to the Long-Term Beach Nourishment Study to evaluate methods to manage New Jersey’s

Phase one of the long-delayed 62-acre Willets Point redevelopment project in Queens, N.Y., took a step forward with the New York City Economic Development Corp.’s May 9 call for proposal requests. Rendering courtesy of NYCEDC Willets Point The 12.7-acre phase-one plan of the Willets Point project is expected to create 1,800 permanent jobs and 4,600 construction jobs. NYCEDC sent RFPs to a group of 29 developers that answered the agency’s request for qualifications in 2009. NYCEDC asked the group to form teams, create a development proposal and submit it by Aug. 12, 2011. The 12.7-acre phase-one plan includes up to