Despite ongoing optimism for the Southwest construction market, 2014 hasn't become the boom year that most firms were anticipating. Related Links: Engineering News Record Architectural Record Last year's ENR Southwest Specialty Contractors ranking revealed that eight of the top 10 firms reported higher revenue in 2012. In the current survey, based on 2013 revenue, only five of the top 10 firms showed an increase.But the revenue of those top 10 firms rose to $1.8 billion in 2013 from $925 million in 2012.Specialty contractor of the year Helix Electric of Las Vegas is one of the firms that grew, posting revenue
A little more than 10 years ago, Phoenix lost out to neighboring Glendale as the site for a football-only stadium for the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals. Shortly after that, the idea of putting a biomedical campus in downtown Phoenix was born. Phoenix partnered primarily with the University of Arizona, along with several private and nonprofit medical groups, to develop the Phoenix Biomedical Campus, or PBC. By late 2012, four projects and 640,000 sq ft of the campus had been built, including the Translational Genomics Institute, the University of Arizona Medical School and the 268,000-sq-ft Health Sciences Education Building.Next up for Phoenix
The $54-million College Avenue Commons project on the campus of Arizona State University is in many respects a typical university project. The 130,000-sq-ft steel building, located on College Avenue between 6th and 7th streets in Tempe, connects the city and the university. It has a bookstore and a team shop and provides students with a place to meet and serves as a venue for hosting community meetings. Related Links: Engineering News Record Architectural Record But what is unusual is that the building also happens to be a giant teaching tool for students at the university's Del E. Webb School of
Tesla Motors moved closer to selecting a site outside of Reno, Nev., for its $4-billion to $5-billion factory to produce lithium batteries for electric vehicles. The company confirmed that a 600-acre site has undergone some preconstruction work but fell short of committing to the site because of unidentified candidates in Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas.In a conference call with shareholders on July 31, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the same type of work that has been completed at the recently paused site, located 17 miles east of Sparks, Nev., will be duplicated at other sites before a final decision
By Jason Fifield Sun Devil Stadium in the midst of work to remove more than 5,00 seats from the north end zone. A little more than 55 years after it was originally constructed — and more than five years since the renovations were deemed necessary — Arizona State University announced on Thursday that Hunt Construction and Sundt Construction, Inc. will be the construction manager at-risk for the project.The university also announced that Arizona-based Gould Evans and national stadium design experts HNTB Corporation will handle design duties. Costs and details will be refined over the next year and construction is slated
Tesla inched closer to selecting a site outside of Reno, Nev., for its $4 to $5 billion factory to produce lithium batteries for electric vehicles on Thursday, confirming a 600-acre site has undergone some pre-construction work, but fell short of committing to the site over unidentified candidates in Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas.In a conference call with shareholders Thursday, Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk said the same type of work that has been completed at the recently-paused site 17 miles east of Sparks, Nev., will be duplicated at other sites before a final decision is made. The completed factory
The Tohono O’odham Gaming Enterprise announced Tuesday that it has selected a construction team for the long-embattled, $400 million, 1.2 million-sq-ft West Valley Resort and Casino which prompted U.S. Sens. John McCain and Jeff Flake to introduce a companion bill to an earlier House-passed measure that would prohibit the construction of any new Indian gaming operation on unincorporated land in the metro Phoenix area that is not contiguous to an existing Indian reservation. Courtesy Tohono O'odham Rendering of the proposed West Valley Resort and Casino. According to a press release issued by Tohono O’odham Gaming Enterprise, Hunt Construction Group and
Over the last several years, construction firms performing work throughout the Southwest have been hoping that activity would pick up. For the most part, it has. In fact, six of the top 10 and five of the top seven firms responding to ENR Southwest's annual survey of general contractors reported an increase in revenue during 2013 compared with the prior year. Related Links: Engineering News Record Architectural Record But more than six years since the downturn hit the U.S., it is becoming clear to many construction executives that "recovery" doesn't necessarily mean a return to levels seen in 2006. Industry
McCarthy Building Cos. has had a standout year. From overcoming unique challenges in Las Vegas on the Hakkasan Nightclub and Restaurant to meeting the demands of the unique people-moving Sky Train at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport—and handling a plethora of projects in between—the firm has burnished its reputation and legacy. Related Links: Engineering News Record Architectural Record Due to these reasons and many others, McCarthy has been named ENR Southwest's 2014 Contractor of the Year.The company is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year. Timothy McCarthy began a lumber business in Ann Arbor, Mich., in 1864, and soon thereafter became a
Related Links: Report Blames ExxonMobil's Arkansas Oil Spill on Bad Pipe Pipelines Scrutinized After Yellowstone Spill A flash flood shortly after a late May oil spill in a remote section of eastern Utah hampered cleanup and spill assessment. The accident apparently unleashed thousands of gallons of an oil and water mixed-fluid into a wash on land controlled by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.The fluid is a water and oil mixture at a 2-to-1 ratio, according to Beth Ransel, Moab field manager for the BLM.On May 21, the Bureau of Land Management says, its Moab, Utah, field office was notified