CT Construction Digest July 23, 2014

Link to this Friday's Bond Agenda


Construction Employment: Where are the jobs

Construction firms added jobs in 38 states and the District of Columbia over the past 12 months, but they reduced headcount in 27 states between May and June, according to an analysis July 18 of Labor Department data by the Associated General Contractors of America. Association officials said the employment gains help, but that construction employment remains below peak levels in every location except North Dakota. "The overall trend in construction employment remains favorable, with three-fourths of states adding jobs on a year-over-year basis," said Ken Simonson, the association's chief economist. "But the recovery remains choppy, not steady. In June, monthly gains occurred in fewer than half the states and the nation added just 6,000 construction jobs."
Florida led all states in percentage and total gains in construction employment (11.5 percent, 41,700 jobs) between June 2013 and June 2014. Other states adding a high percentage of new construction jobs for the past 12 months included Nevada (10.5 percent, 5,900 jobs), Utah (9.3 percent, 6,800 jobs), North Dakota (7.9 percent, 2,600 jobs) and Minnesota (7,900 jobs, 7.8 percent). Other states adding a high total of new construction jobs during the past year included California (29,800 jobs, 4.7 percent), Texas (19,100 jobs, 3.1 percent), Pennsylvania (13,000 jobs, 5.8 percent) and Minnesota. CLICK ON TITLE TO CONTINUE

Costco plan faces new roadblock

NEW BRITAIN — The three-year saga of Costco added another chapter Tuesday when the co-owner of the company that manages the Target store property at the Hartford Road site emailed the city’s Common Council to say that Costco should not be offered a tax abatement.

James Basile of Basile Enterprise Inc., West Hartford, wrote that “If . . . it is determined that the Costco deal is an absolute necessity and the only way to facilitate it is to provide a tax abatement, then, rather than reward a new company, why not reallocate that savings to NB-BTMC, LLC [Basile’s parent company] in return for a shared-access project that provides a greater benefit to all?”
Alluding to the city’s request for a $865,000 state grant for off-site improvements, Basile suggested the state keep some of its grant money or reallocate it “to more important projects where the funding is actually necessary to improve the City of New Britain.” Basile added that he never assumed the city would award Costco $2.1 million to pay for increased construction and cost overruns.
Mayor Erin Stewart who supports plans for the warehouse store on Hartford Road, argues that a tax abatement gives Costco a minimal tax break over seven years. CLICK ON TITLE TO CONTINUE


State grant to help fund bridge in Middlefield

MIDDLEFIELD >> The state will send $131,000 to help repair the Miller Road Bridge over the Coginchaug River. In a statement Tuesday, Gov. Dannel Malloy’s office announced $2.4 million in Small Town Economic Assistance Program awards for eight different towns. Of that, the state designated “$131,000 to rehabilitate the Miller Road Bridge over the Coginchaug River. This award would be combined with a 2012 STEAP award to complete the project. The bridge was built in 1936 and in need of the structural repairs to ensure public safety,” wrote David Bednarz, a spokesman for Malloy.  In financial year 2012, the Office of Policy Management granted $250,000 in STEAP money to help repair the bridge. In July of last year, First Selectman Jon Brayshaw met with officials from the Department of Transportation, and they agreed to suspend the repair project until this year. At the time, another nearby bridge on Route 147 was still undergoing construction, and state and town officials did not want to exacerbate possible traffic problems in the area. Brayshaw had emphasized that there was no immediate danger to forestalling the repair work, and that there had simply been “no compelling reason” to embark on construction projects in two locations at the same time. Barkhamsted, Cornwall, Kent, Ledyard, North Stonington, Rocky Hill and Waterford also received awards as part of the $2.4 million package announced Tuesday.

Resurrecting the rock pile

Back in 2008, just before the economy took a major turn for the worst, the Guilford Planning & Zoning Commission (PZC) approved plans for a 149,000-square-foot shopping center to be constructed on the Rockpile, the 26-acre parcel known as Guilford Commons at 1919 Boston Post Road. Almost seven years later, the Ohio-based DDR Corporation was back in front of the Planning & Zoning Commission on July 16, seeking approval once again to build a shopping center on the site.
The commission again voted to approve the project. The only real change in seven years is that the project has been reduced from 149,000 square feet down to 135,000 square feet. Besides the size change, the shopping center project follows an almost identical design plan as the one previously approved with just a few minor tweaks. "There is a period of 15 days after the PZC takes action during which anyone who has a grievance with the decision can appeal," explained Guiford Town Planner George Kral. "I suspect that after the 15 days is up, [DDR] will be looking for building permits soon, and they will start getting to work as soon as possible." DDR is an owner and manager of 546 primarily open-air shopping centers. The company operates a total of 126 million square feet in 41 states, Puerto Rico, and Brazil, concentrated in high barrier-to-entry markets with stable populations and high growth potential. Although the entire shopping center project was approved in the past, a proposal had to once again be brought before the town's Design Review Committee, as well as the PZC to move forward this time around. No specific tenants for the new shopping center have been formally identified, however, the single largest tenant space would occupy a maximum of 25,000 square feet. CLICK ON TITLE TO CONTINUE

Union to picket contractor at Raymond Library job site

 EAST HARTFORD — A Glastonbury contractor with a history of labor law violations is working on the Raymond Memorial Library renovation and expansion project, according to the New England Regional Council of Carpenters. The union is planning to picket the construction site Wednesday morning, even though there is no evidence of violations by Intext Building Systems Inc. at the East Hartford job site, union organizer Dean Pallotti said. "We're just going off their proven track record. Maybe they're not doing it today, but they did it yesterday and the day before," he said. Intext has been issued between four and five "stop work" orders this years on different projects after the state Department of Labor found instances of the company not paying workers, not placing workers on payroll, not paying taxes and not covering employees with workers compensation, said department spokesman Gary Pechie. CLICK ON TITLE TO CONTINUE