New Jersey’s Sheraton Parsippany Hotel is set to begin a $15-million renovation of its seven floors on Nov. 1. First Finish, Columbia, Md., is the general contractor on the project, which is part of the Sheraton brand’s $6-billion globalization revitalization efforts, and AIOA, Annapolis, Md., is the architect. The renovation is scheduled to be completed by April 2012. The renovation includes a lobby-based connectivity hub, newly designed seating, an interactive check-in area, enhanced lighting, and a club lounge. It will also feature a new 20,000-sq-ft facility including indoor and outdoor pools, racquetball and spa services, work that is also
With the possibility of Indian Point Energy Center closing and the potential for 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 but that 1,000 megawatts of capacity needs to be added between 2014 and 2016, in addition to projects currently in the works to meet future
L&T Construction, Richmondville, N.Y. has won the bid for a three-mile-long highway construction project in Binghamton, N.Y., known as the Prospect Mountain Phase I. L&T made the lowest bid at about $135 million, beating out 10 other companies whose bids reached as high as $157 million, says the New York State Dept. of Transportation. The project includes the convergence of Route 17 and Interstate 81 with I-88. The project will also help bring up to interstate standards an eight-mile section of Route 17 that was designed in the mid-1960s to handle 35,000 vehicles but now handles twice that amount, NYSDOT
Project labor agreements that incorporate community workforce agreements are on the rise nationwide and are becoming more comprehensive than they were prior to 2004, according to a new study by Cornell University's Industrial and Labor Relations School. CWAs, which typically include training and apprenticeships, help in job creation and career development, particularly for disadvantaged communities, says Kimberly Freeman Brown, executive director of the Washington-based American Rights at Work, a pro-union advocacy group that commissioned the study. This is an especially welcome development at a time when frustration over the nation's high unemployment rate and lack of job creation mounts as
The Dormitory Authority of the State of New York has awarded Skanska USA a $373-million contract for the final phase of the City University of New York Advanced Science Research Campus at City College in Manhattan. Work is scheduled to begin this month, with completion expected in the fall of 2014. Rendering Courtesy of Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates PC The project includes the interior fit-out of about 40,000 sq ft as well as construction of a four-story City College of New York building, a five-story science and research building and a shared ground floor and plaza area to be built
Construction costs in New York City, which started to increase in 2010, are continuing to rise, according to a review of multiple surveys made by the New York Building Congress. This comes after a decline in 2009. NYBC reviewed a series of surveys including Engineering News-Record’s Building Cost Index, which shows that construction costs in New York City have risen 3.55% so far in 2011 and 2.42% in 2010, after falling 1.94% in 2009.Separately, a survey by Rider Levett Bucknall of the New York metropolitan region finds that New York City construction costs have so far increased by 2.13% in
The American Automobile Association of New York and the AAA of New Jersey filed a federal lawsuit yesterday against the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey’s approved toll and fare hikes. The lawsuit follows a request made by AAA on Sept. 15 to investigate the authority’s act as a violation of the Federal Bridge Act and is an attempt to stop the toll hikes from being collected on the authority’s six bridges and tunnels connecting New York and New Jersey. In addition to the lawsuit, AAA has asked the authority to “turn over the capital plan that stands
The District Council of Carpenters is continuing contract talks with the New York Building Contractors Association and, separately, the Contractors’ Association of Greater New York, says Louis J. Coletti, president of the Building Trades Employers’ Association of New York. The two contracts are the last of the 22 union contracts that expired on June 30. Related Links: Carpenters, NYBCA Likely to Extend Talks Past Midnight Deadline “If an agreement is reached with the BCA, CAGNY will accept the same agreement,” Coletti says.The union reached agreements with the Association of Wall-Ceiling & Carpentry and the Greater Floor Coverers Association on September
The Metallic Lathers and Reinforcing Ironworkers Union Local 46 and the Mason Tenders District Council of New York City filed a multimillion-dollar racketeering lawsuit yesterday against two developers and a bankrupt construction manager regarding Manhattan and Brooklyn projects. Lalezarian Developers and JMH Development allegedly conspired with construction manager HRH Construction to perform millions of dollars of work under a bogus non-union company, Leviathan Construction Management, the unions say. The suit was filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court of the Southern District of New York, says Tom Kennedy, attorney at New York-based Kennedy, Jennik and Murray, who is representing the unions.
Associated Builders and Contractors, Washington, D.C. and the construction unit of insurer CNA, Chicago, plan to launch a three-year partnership in January 2012 to advance best practices in the construction safety sector. CNA’s construction unit provides insurance offerings to construction contractors including insurance coverages and claim and risk control services. Under the partnership, CNA will provide ABC with access to its safety resources library, safety experts, and help to enhance the value of ABC’s Safety Training Evaluation Process, ABC says. CNA will also sponsor ABC’s annual National Safety Excellence Awards as well as the safety management track at ABC’s EdCon