Luxury retailer Coach, Inc. will become the first tenant in a tower that developers Related Companies and Oxford Properties Group, both of New York, plan to build on Midtown Manhattan’s West Side. Coach will occupy more than 600,000 square feet, or more than one-third of the initial tower of the Eastern Rail Yards, part of the 26-acre, mixed-use Hudson Yards site that the city hopes to develop. The 1.7-million-sq-ft, 51-story tower will generate more than 20,000 construction jobs, according to NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg’s office. When completed in 2015, the tower will be the largest commercial building in New York

The New York construction market next year is likely to mirror that of the national market, which McGraw-Hill Construction recently forecast as flat at about $412 billion in starts. McGraw-Hill Construction, the parent company of ENR New York, expects 2011 total starts to hit $410 billion, a 4% drop over 2010. The company cites slow economic growth, diminished federal and state funding, and "pervasive uncertainty." Next year "the top-line numbers are not expected to show much change, but there will be variation within the major construction sectors, with some gains predicted for housing and commercial building, assuming the U.S. economy

Consultancy Turner & Townsend, London, continues its geographic expansion with the acquisition of Ferzan Robbins & Associates, a N.Y.-based project management and services firm that will be merged with Turner & Townsend’s New York office. Terms were not disclosed. Turner & Townsend says the deal is part of its previously announced strategy to boost its U.S. presence and will provide the critical mass needed to support U.S. clients. Ferzan Robbins & Associates provides “a team with deep experience, an outstanding reputation, and a client list boasting many Fortune 500 companies across a wide range of sectors including banking, media/communications and

Gov. Andrew Cuomo has recommended Patrick J. Foye to become executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and has called for consolidation of the Moynihan Station Development Corp. and the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. operations into PANYNJ. Foye currently serves as the governor’s deputy secretary of economic development and oversees the Empire State Development Corp. There is no fiscal impact to PANYNJ as a result of these actions, he says.   “Too many different agencies doing the same or closely related work makes little sense,” Gov. Cuomo said in a statement. “The Port Authority is

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

Following in the well-trod path of Match.com and other online dating services, the American Institute of Architects thinks it has found a way to attract investors to the thousands of industry projects put on hold—send the potential suitors to cyberspace for a database of the good-lookers. That is, the AIA is compiling a list of stalled projects nationwide that “make sense” to move forward but for lack of financing, and a list of the types of projects that financial entities specialize in.   “It’s the Match.com for projects,” says Clark Manus, AIA president.   Clark believes AIA’s initiative will help

The New Jersey construction industry got an early Christmas present late last month: state funding for a program aimed at helping military veterans transition out of active duty into the building and construction trades. The $195,000 grant will be available under the state's Dept. of Labor and Workforce Development agency in partnership with the New Jersey Building and Construction Trades Council's chapter of the national Helmets to Hardhats program. The initiative will provide many veterans with jobs in the building trades, which has posted employment gains in six of the past seven months, the state says. But while industry executives

NYC officials are investigating why part of a building undergoing demolition collapsed this morning causing scaffolding to fall onto an MTA bus, resulting in minor injuries to 18 people. Part of the structure, at 301 West 125th Street, is still standing although “a large amount of it did fall down,” says a Fire Department spokesperson. The incident is thought to have occurred just before 9:26 a.m. and was brought under control at about 3 p.m., the spokesperson says.  The Dept. of Buildings received a complaint about the site on September 7, but its inspectors did not find any conditions that

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has awarded Skanska USA and its joint venture partners awards on two of New York City’s major transit extensions. The 70-30 JV of Skanska USA and Traylor Bros. Inc. has won the deal to excavate the cavern that will house the Second Avenue Subway’s 86th Street Station. Separately, the 75-25 JV of Skanska and Railworks Corp. has signed a contract to furnish and install finishes and systems at the No. 7 Line subway extension from Times Square to West 25th Street and 11th Avenue in Manhattan. Rendering Courtesy of the MTA Work is set to begin

The American Automobile Association (AAA) has asked the Dept. of Transportation to oppose the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey's recently approved toll and fare hikes, saying that revenues from the increases should not be diverted to projects outside of the PANYNJ's transportation network, including the World Trade Center. The group says it is evaluating legal and other steps to contest the increases, which are set to take effect on Hudson River crossings September 18. In a letter to Ray LaHood, DOT secretary, AAA New York says that increasing tolls to pay for cost overruns stemming from real