Construction recently began on an $8.7 billion New York to New Jersey tunnel, the largest U.S. transportation project that is expected to double the number of rail commuters traveling between New Jersey and Manhattan. Related Links: Upper West Side Mandell School Expands, Goes Green Empire Merchants North HQ Seeks LEED Cert. Skanska Starts UN Headquarters Remodeling Nation's Greenest Resid. Development Planned Hudson Scenic Studio Expansion Moves Forward NYCEDC Sells Property to Support Expansion Village Green Targets LEED Gold Certification Work to Begin on Long-Delayed Louis Kahn Park Brooklyn Arts District Plods Ahead Groundbreaking at Cornell Could Mark the End of

New York City Economic Development Corporation recently announced that it has sold a 10,000-sq-ft piece of city-owned land to Comfort Bedding, a mattress manufacturer based in Brownsville, Brooklyn in order to help the company construct a 10,000-sq-ft industrial building to expand its operations. Related Links: Construction Begins on NY-NJ Tunnel Upper West Side Mandell School Expands, Goes Green Empire Merchants North HQ Seeks LEED Cert. Skanska Starts UN Headquarters Remodeling Nation's Greenest Resid. Development Planned Hudson Scenic Studio Expansion Moves Forward Village Green Targets LEED Gold Certification Work to Begin on Long-Delayed Louis Kahn Park Brooklyn Arts District Plods Ahead

Skanska USA Building, selected by the United Nations in July 2007 to serve as construction manager for the UN’s Capital Master Plan, is set to start another phase for renovation and upgrading of the international agency’s headquarters in New York City. Related Links: Construction Begins on NY-NJ Tunnel Upper West Side Mandell School Expands, Goes Green Empire Merchants North HQ Seeks LEED Cert. Nation's Greenest Resid. Development Planned Hudson Scenic Studio Expansion Moves Forward NYCEDC Sells Property to Support Expansion Village Green Targets LEED Gold Certification Work to Begin on Long-Delayed Louis Kahn Park Brooklyn Arts District Plods Ahead Groundbreaking

311 E11: Village Green, designed by Michael and Izak Namer of New York City in order to define environmentally responsible 21st century living is currently under construction in the East Village, and targeting LEED Gold certification. Village Green is one of only two condominium sites in the East Village that is moving ahead at this time designed with sustainable approaches to energy efficiency. Rendering courtesy of Harriet Weintraub Public Relations. Related Links: Construction Begins on NY-NJ Tunnel Upper West Side Mandell School Expands, Goes Green Empire Merchants North HQ Seeks LEED Cert. Skanska Starts UN Headquarters Remodeling Nation's Greenest Resid.

Balfour Beatty plc, the U.K.-based global construction giant, announced Sept. 17 that it would acquire US engineering stalwart Parsons Brinckerhoff, New York City, for $626 million. The deal, which officials say would keep 13,000-employee PB in tact as a wholly-owned subsidiary, is still subject to approval by shareholders of both firms. Ian Tyler, CEO of Balfour Beatty The acquisition, to be financed mainly by Balfour Beatty selling its owns shares to existing investors, is due for completion late next month. PB's 75 shareholders are set to vote on it Oct. 21. The deal fills business gaps for both firms. It

Featured Product   September 2009 World's First Hybrid Bulldozer Keeps Up With the Bigger Cats The world’s first hybrid dozer will cost about $100,000 more, or 20%, than a comparable non-hybrid of the same size but will do more work and pay for itself in about two and a half years, says Caterpillar Inc. Performance is tracking well in field trials, said Cat managers on June 23, as Cat rolled out the machine for press evaluation at the firm’s training facility in Edwards, Ill. The D7E starts production in October and carries a list price of $600,000, says David E. Nicoll,

When the New York State Dept. of Transportation put together a needs analysis in early 2008, it based its projections on inflation rates from prior projects. Photo: put photo credit here The New York School Construction Authority has seen the number of bids skyrocket on projects like the Mott Haven School Project in the Bronx. “We had seen rapid escalations in construction costs that were averaging about 20%,” says Stanley Gee, NYS DOT acting commissioner. But during 2008 the department started noticing a difference. “The bids were only going up 7% above our estimates last year,” Gee says. “And this

Just north from the Museum of the City of New York, Hill International is wrapping up work on a smaller, but no less prominent project: the renovation of El Museo del Barrio. The museum is one of several tenants in the 1921 Beaux Arts building on Fifth Avenue between 104th and 105th streets, and is undergoing a facelift to celebrate the Latino cultural institution's 40th anniversary. Related Links: A Museum Worthy of Its Name New York’s Gruzen Samton Architects won the competition for the renovation in 2000, but between then and 2006, the project grew in scope several times from

Twenty years ago, New York-area firms working overseas were drawing plans by hand and sending them across the world by courier. And “instant” communication was by fax and telephone, says Eugene Kohn, chairman of Kohn Pedersen Fox, a New York-based architect that first took its practice abroad in the late 1980s. Related Links: World View See the World But today, working globally is a whole new ball game. Mobile communications, Web-driven databases, e-mail, digital photography, file transferring, scanning, video conferencing, and other advancements have transformed not only how often, how fast, and how effectively professionals can communicate with colleagues, partners,

New York City’s official chronicler on Fifth Avenue and 103rd Street was originally designed in 1929 as a grand mansion suitable for its subject matter. Image: Polshek Partnership Architects At $80 million and covering three phases, the renovation and expansion of the museum will see the reworking of 90,000 sq ft and the addition of 23,000 sq ft of space. Related Links: El Museo del Barrio The city’s wealthiest residents funded the construction of the five-story Museum of the City of New York in Georgian Revival style, with a grand entrance facing the world’s most famous city park. Mayor James