As I noted in my previous blog, Southeast Construction has a new newswire feed, with stories from "other sources" such as AP and dozens of metropolitan dailies in the region now among the mix available to our website visitors.
Here's a quick look at the week that was, Aug. 3-7: As seems to be the case lately, South Florida was the source of some good news and bad news. The good news was that a $60-million contract for the Florida Marlins' new ballpark's retractable roof was rolling forward ... as was a plan to renovate the crumbling Broward County Courthouse. Unfortunately, the Broward County commissioners who voted unanimously to move forward on the $328-million project admitted they don't really know how they're going to pay for it. Seriously. (Though they're hoping for stimulus funds.) ... Meanwhile, South Florida's bad vibes are being felt all the way to Chicago, as Corus Bankshares announced it may fail, partly because of nearly $1 billion in bad South Florida construction loans it holds.
More trouble related to financing was reported in Columbia, S.C., where the University of South Carolina fired the Michigan-based developer it had hired to privately fund and build a portion of a downtown campus research project. The company had failed to land financing for the project.
Alas, there was some positive news. A manufacturer of lithium-ion batteries received a $95.5-million grant to help fund construction of a new manufacturing plant in Jacksonville, Fla.... The College of Coastal Georgia broke ground on a health and science building.... And the North Carolina Senate approved the development of large-scale wind farms along the state's coastal regions, but only small-scale in the mountain areas.
Sorry, no football-related items this week. But the season is still a few weeks away. So hope springs eternal. See you next week with the latest.
