Infrastructure backlog jumps 24%, pushing demand to ‘upper end of historic levels’
Construction’s biggest companies are booking more jobs as
federal money accelerates infrastructure work, while firms under $100 million
in annual revenues are having a harder time extending their backlog winning
streak, according to Associated
Builders and Contractors analysis.
A 24.4% upswing in infrastructure backlog in August kept the
overall backlog level 5.7% higher than in August 2022, according to ABC. That
elevated level persists despite tightening credit, high financing costs and
lingering recession fears, said Anirban Basu, ABC chief economist.
“Backlog continues to be at the upper end of historic
levels, with the infrastructure category registering substantial gains in
backlog in August,” said Basu. “That suggests that a growing number of public
works projects is poised to break ground.”
Backlog fell on a monthly basis for companies with revenues
of less than $100 million a year. That mirrors the slight downturn in
monthly numbers from July to August as overall industry backlog, including
private development, dipped 1.1% lower.
But it surged more than 30% for the biggest contractors
— those with sales of $100 million or more — that are most likely to
bid on billion-dollar,
large-scale infrastructure projects. That swing has contractors more
upbeat about the construction outlook, despite the fact that demand for their
services already hovers around historic highs.
Given that environment, even the slightest upward movement
in backlog in the short-term “is remarkable” given the issues facing the wider
economy, such as tight credit, financing costs and recession fears, said
Basu.
“There’s no sign of a construction recession in the near
term,” he said. “If anything, contractors are more upbeat, as policy and
technology shifts, along with economic transformation, are creating substantial
demand for improvements and growth in America’s built environment.”
ABC’s Construction Confidence Index reading for sales, profit margins and staffing levels all moved higher in August, the first time all three categories improved over the month since February. The three readings all sit above the threshold of 50, indicating expectations of more growth over the next six months.
Only the West region posted a lower backlog from a year ago,
while the South remains the region with the highest level of backlog, according
to the analysis.
ABC’s backlog reading measures the work contractors have
booked, but have not yet begun. The association releases the benchmark each
month along with the Construction Confidence Index, which polls construction
executives about their outlook on sales, profit margins and staffing over the
next six months.
New London approves Fort Trumbull apartment, garage projects
John Penney
New London ― The Planning & Zoning Commission gave a New
Haven development company the go-ahead on Wednesday to transform three parcels
of Fort Trumbull land into two apartment complexes with a total of 500 units
and a six-story parking garage.
The commission granted special permit and site plan
approvals to RJ Development + Advisors, LLC, doing business as RJDA Fort
Trumbull AA, LCC, to build two five-story apartment complexes — one on Nameaug
Street and another at 28 Walbach St. — along with a 1,200-space parking garage
at 26 East St.
Ahead of the vote, Attorney Bill Sweeney, representing RJDA,
reminded committee members of the decades of inaction at the Fort Trumbull
site.
“This is a day a lot of us have been waiting for,” he said,
calling the proposed construction a way to transform the peninsula into a
“place of new vibrancy”and “complete the redevelopment of the Fort Trumbull
area.”
Several parcels on the peninsula have been vacant for almost
20 years, the result of a controversial demolition and development push by the
New London Development Corp. that led to the landmark 2005 U.S. Supreme Court
eminent domain decision, Kelo v. New London.
In January, the three city-owned properties totaling 6.28
acres now poised for development were sold to RJ Development for $500,001 through an
agreement with the Renaissance City Development Association, or RCDA, the
city’s development arm.
Both the Nameaug and Walbach street apartment projects call
for a mix of studio and one- and two-bedroom units with on-site property
parking. The proposed East Street garage will house up to 1,200 vehicles and is
expected to be heavily used by employees at the nearby Electric Boat
engineering offices.
The apartments will be market-rate units, Sweeney said, and
will be promoted to a specific demographic of renter. The project does not
include any affordable housing.
“There’s a sizable deficit of housing for people with
disposable income,” Sweeney said.
Tentative plans calls for construction of the Nameaug Street
building to begin in 2024 and last for two years. The Walbach portion of the
work will not start until 2026 while the garage construction could start next
year.
Jason Rudnick, RJDA principal, said he was “thrilled” by the
commission’s votes.
“I look forward to continuing our work with the city of New
London,” he said.
Commission member Ronna Stuller cast the sole “no” votes of
the night, declining to support the Nameaug Street and garage projects.
Other Fort Trumbull project stalled
Wednesday’s votes came almost exactly 21 months after
commission members approved plans for a 104-unit apartment complex and an extended-stay hotel on
the northeast end of the peninsula near the Fort Trumbull Riverwalk.
The Massachusetts-based Optimus Construction Management,
which specializes in senior living facilities, bought 4 acres of city-owned
land in February 2022 for $750,000 for the hotel and apartment building
projects, though no work has yet started at the site.
RCDA Executive Director Peter Davis said he met with Optimus
principals on Tuesday for a project update. He said the supply-chain issues
related to the COVID-19 pandemic have plagued the project much like others
across the country.
“It all kind of fell apart on them, but they have not
abandoned the project,” Davis said on Wednesday. “They were working on
finishing up projects in Maine and Massachusetts and their intention is to move
forward with (the Fort Trumbull) work.”
The Optimus deal represented the first time in two decades
that a private firm became a Fort Trumbull district landowner. Other parcels in
the neighborhood are home to the New London water treatment plant, Fort
Trumbull State Park and an under-construction $40 million city community
center.
Development on the peninsula had been hindered by
restrictions the state’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection
placed on the number of residential units.
In 2000, the state and city established a municipal
development plan with a flood management certificate approved by DEEP that
limited the number of residential units to 84. The certificate was first
modified in 2011 to allow 104 units and then again this year to allow a total
of 604 housing units on the peninsula.
Hartford’s latest effort to dismiss fired ballpark developer’s lawsuit fails
Superior Court Judge Cesar Noble has shot down Hartford’s
latest attempt to end Middletown developer Centerplan Co.’s long-running legal
challenge to its 2016 firing from the development of Dunkin’ Park.
Noble, on Monday, ruled against a city argument that
Centerplan had previously signed away its standing to bring a legal challenge
to its bonding company on the ballpark project, Arch Insurance Co.
“Centerplan will now be allowed to prove the mayor’s
termination of the stadium construction contract in June 2016, which
precipitated this seven-year nightmare for the principals of Centerplan and
DoNo, was wrongful,” said Attorney Louis Pepe, who is representing the
affiliated companies. “The city’s day of reckoning is coming.”
A city motion to dismiss a portion of the legal challenge
holding up blocks of apartment development around the ballfield is still up for
a hearing in October.
After dropping DoNo Hartford LLC as the developer of the
ballpark and surrounding development, the city moved forward with
Stamford-based RMS Cos., which opened its first 270-unit apartment building
last year. RMS’ plan to roll right into a second phase of construction on
nearby properties was stymied after the Connecticut Supreme Court in May 2022
ordered a new trial on prior challenges brought by DoNo and Centerplan.
The city is advancing several arguments, including that a
judge could not reasonably agree with DoNo’s request that it be granted the
right to build on the properties around the ballpark, including the one already
developed. The city is also arguing that a court should not be in the position
of rewriting development agreements and that the city’s relationship with DoNo
is too broken to reasonably pursue a development together.
Pepe, on Tuesday, said he and his clients are “very pleased”
about the court’s decision on the motion against Centerplan, but disappointed
in the city’s lack of interest in negotiating a settlement.
Hartford Corporation Counsel Howard Rifkin said the city has
been, and remains, open to settlement talks.
“With all due respect to Attorney Pepe, the city has never said it is disinterested or will not engage in settlement negotiations,” Rifkin said. “Were we to do that, we would clearly not do that in public settings.”