Los Angeles developer Wood Partners is moving ahead with the type of construction project that has virtually disappeared in the past few years – a luxury apartment community. General contractor WP West Builders LP, Los Angeles, will break ground on the $75-million Warner Park project in Warner Center during the week of Aug. 15. Construction time is estimated at 22 months with the first units to be available in early 2013.The designer of the project is Architects Orange, Orange.The four-acre site sits adjacent to Warner Center, a thriving mixed-use hub that is home to more than 50,000 jobs and millions
The U.S. Senate last week approved a Federal Aviation Administration stopgap bill that keeps the agency funded through Sept. 16, prompting a return of contractors to construction sites in Oakland and Palm Springs. The bill is the measure that passed the House on July 20 and includes a controversial rider that trims the Essential Air Service (EAS) program, which subsidizes flights to rural airports.Passage of the bill ends a congressional stalemate—at least for now—that had forced the FAA to issue stop-work orders on more than 200 airport projects, including a number of construction and engineering projects, and furloughing 4,000 workers.
Six years ago, the American Society of Civil Engineers’ San Francisco Bay Area’s Infrastructure Report Card gave the region an overall grade of “C-.” The newest report card gave it a straight “C,” but “improvement” might not be a proper description. According to the ASCE San Francisco section committee’s reevaluation of the various infrastructure categories in 2011, several categories scored a “D+” grade. The committee says that bringing all the categories up to a “B” grade would cost in the neighborhood of $2.83 billion annually, up from the annual investment need forecasted in 2005 by $1.8 billion dollars. The need
While construction employment increased in 149 out of 337 metropolitan areas nationally between June 2010 and June 2011, according to the latest employment data released by the Associated General Contractors of America, cities in California are still grappling with persistent unemployment. The AGC says besides the Las Vegas-Paradise, Nev., area, which recorded a loss of 7,000 construction jobs (or -15%) over the past year, the second largest loss occurred in the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale region, with 5,400 job losses (-5%).In addition, Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario recorded a loss of 3,900 jobs in the same period (or -6%).Losing the highest percentage of jobs
SnapShot August 1, 2011 Submitted By: Cupertino Electric Inc., San Jose This photograph of the Northern California Power Agency’s 296-MW Lodi Energy Center power generation facility was taken by Cupertino Electric to document the project’s progress. The photo was snapped as linemen were performing cooling tower replacement on the main circuit breakers at the site. When complete in 2012, the center will feature a natural gas-fired turbine generator and seven-cell cooling tower.Photographer: Hoa Tran Marketing coordinator
On The Scene August 1, 2011 Associated General Contractors of California and Hilti North America A partnership of Associated General Contractors of California and Hilti North America held two statewide seminars that provided nearly 150 construction industry professionals and 90 companies with important information and training about the latest regulatory measures, legal climate and potential jobsite dust-control options. Speakers and presenters during the seminar in Oakland included, from left, Wayne Benedict, Hilti senior vice president of business development; Bob Barish, Cal/OSHA Research and Standards; Jerry Shupe, Hensel Phelps Construction Co.; Bill Koponen, Syblon Reid; Marcus Oden, Hilti senior vice president;
BOEKAMPPatti Boekamp was named principal program manager/associate vice president for T.Y. Lin International's San Diego office and the southwest district. Boekamp brings more than 27 years of in-depth transportation and capital improvement project delivery experience to the post, with more than 20 of those years spent with the city of San Diego, where she served in various positions, including director of the engineering and capital projects department. She is a registered traffic engineer and has had leading roles with numerous professional organizations, including serving as a founding board member of the California Alliance for Advanced Transportation Systems and an officer
It may not be back to business as usual in the California construction industry—due to lingering economic uncertainties and owners' resulting reluctance to proceed with projects—but major contractors see some silver linings in upcoming project opportunities, especially in health care, transportation and other infrastructure. In this year's Top Contractors ranking, total revenue at the top 10 firms dropped 10.3% to $8.1 billion from $9.1 billion a year ago. But many contractors anticipated the slowdown and diversified into new market sectors and that helped stem the recessionary tide. Moreover, the growth of technology firms in the San Francisco Bay Area has
While the recent shutdown of an 11-mile stretch of the Interstate 405 in Los Angeles proved to be more “Carma-good” than “Carmageddon,” Southern California transportation officials are quick to point out the operation didn’t go smoothly by accident.
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