The Elevator Consultants (TEC,) a leading global elevator consulting firm, has issued a call to building owners in the wake of dozens of elevator and escalator-related incidents in recent years, to take a hard look at the maintenance of their equipment and take action to mitigate their own risk. Elevators and other vertical transportation equipment are…
Commercial
Elevator Safety Issues with Advice for Building Owners
Elizabeth City to Receive Funds for Downtown Revitalization
The City of Elizabeth City will receive $200,000 to support a downtown revitalization project from the Main Street Solutions Fund, the North Carolina Department of Commerce announced today. Elizabeth City’s award will help preserve a historic building and create a new event space for the community. Restoring and filling vacant and blighted buildings is a…
Commercial Real Estate Development and Operations Supports 8.3 Million Jobs, Contributes $1 Trillion to the Economy
New development and ongoing operations of existing commercial real estate buildings in the United States – office, industrial, warehouse and retail – generates significant economic growth at the state and national levels. The combined impact of these property types supported 8.3 million American jobs and contributed $1 trillion to U.S. GDP in 2018. The study…
BOMA and BOMI to Launch New Property Management Certification and Education Partnership
The Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) International and BOMI International, the Independent Institute for Property and Facility Management Education, announced plans to create a new “early-career” certification for commercial property managers and to partner together to produce and market online education for the commercial real estate industry. The announcement was made at BOMA International’s…
Distribution / Warehouse
A M King Completes Expansion for Cheney Brothers, Inc. in Statesville, NC
A M King, a fully integrated Design-Build firm, has completed a large-scale expansion project for Cheney Brothers, Inc.’s distribution center located on a 30-acre site within the Statesville (N.C.) Business Park. The 169,338-square-foot cold storage addition, which brings the total building size to 265,000 square feet, allows Cheney Brothers to expand its refrigeration capabilities in…
Industrial Demand to Remain Level as Economy Steadies
According to the NAIOP Industrial Space Demand Forecast, First Quarter 2019 the forecast for net industrial space demand will remain steady in 2019 at approximately 57 million square feet per quarter for 2019. Dr. Hany Guirguis of Manhattan College and Dr. Joshua Harris of New York University report that industrial demand will be off to…
Self-Storage New Construction on the Rise in 2017
New construction of self-storage facilities is on the rise, with approximately 900 facilities expected to be constructed in 2017 – a 50% increase on the 600 new projects constructed last year, according to the latest research from CBRE. Dallas is expected to see the most new construction this year, with an estimated 49 projects and…
Amazon’s Announces Renewable Energy Plans
Amazon today announced a new initiative to generate clean energy by installing solar panels on its fulfillment facilities around the world. The company plans to deploy large-scale solar systems on rooftops of more than 15 fulfillment and sortation centers in the U.S. this year and is planning to deploy solar systems on 50 fulfillment and…
Government Facilities
Corvias Renovates 480 on-Base Houses at North Carolina Military Base
Corvias, a partner to the U.S. military for the construction and management of on-base housing, nears completion of renovating 480 homes at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base. Renovations are expected to be completed this summer. “We are in the final stretch of renovations with just 10 homes remaining,” said John G. Picerne, Founder and CEO…
Turning Old in to New In Durham, NC
The new Durham County Administration Building will be the central location for Durham County’s management and administrative functions. Once home to the Durham County Judicial Building (constructed in 1978) the newly renovated structure will house nine county departments, community meeting spaces, a fitness center, TV studio, and two-ground floor retail tenants. The design had to…
Update on State Government Complex Buildings Impacted by Raleigh Fire
Several State Government Complex buildings were impacted by the five-alarm fire in downtown Raleigh on the night of March 16. Affected buildings are expected to resume normal operations on Monday, March 20. The Department of Administration’s Facility Management Division today conducted walk-through inspections of each state government building in the vicinity of the fire to…
CFMA Presentation of The Release of a Report on an Analysis of Construction Projects with Federal Agencies and the Cause of Disputes
The Construction Financial Management Association (CFMA) held a press conference in Washington, DC, to release the findings of their report, which examines the extent to which courts attribute fault to contractors as opposed to government agencies when disputes arise and are adjudicated. Public opinion often concludes that cost overruns and chronic delays are frequently the…
Health Care
Robins & Morton Projects Recognized for Excellence in Construction
Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) announced Robins & Morton as the 2019 National Excellence in Construction Pyramid Award winner for two projects at the 29th Annual Excellence in Construction Gala on March 27 in Long Beach, California. Robins & Morton’s Pyramid Award winners include: AdventHealth Carrollwood: Healthcare, $25 million to $100 million category. Located in…
Construction Complete on Award-Winning, Ambulatory, Pediatric Dental Surgery Center in Charlotte
Charlotte, NC — A M King and The Keith Corporation (TKC) announces the completion of a single specialty, dental-only ambulatory surgery center in the University area of Charlotte. The 11,000-square-foot facility is located directly behind Novant University Medical Plaza at the intersection of Medical Plaza Drive and W.T. Harris Boulevard. Carolinas Center for Ambulatory Dentistry…
Mashburn Begins Construction on 5-Story Tilt-Up Building, First of its Kind in South Carolina
Columbia, S.C. — On February 6, Mashburn Construction announced the construction of the first 5-story tilt-up building in South Carolina. HCP, Inc. and its partner, Grand Strand Medical Center (HCA), announced a new medical office building would be built adjacent to the existing hospital in Myrtle Beach. Mashburn Construction was awarded the project in late…
Clemson Project Recognized for Conceptual Design Excellence at Healthcare Design Expo
A Clemson University project integrating research and design to develop a safer, more ergonomic operating room received two awards for conceptual design excellence at the Healthcare Design Expo + Conference in Orlando. The Healthcare Environment Awards, sponsored by Contract magazine and The Center for Health Design, selected the Realizing Improved Patient Care Through Human-Centered Design…
Hotels / Hospitality
Robins & Morton Projects Recognized for Excellence in Construction
Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) announced Robins & Morton as the 2019 National Excellence in Construction Pyramid Award winner for two projects at the 29th Annual Excellence in Construction Gala on March 27 in Long Beach, California. Robins & Morton’s Pyramid Award winners include: AdventHealth Carrollwood: Healthcare, $25 million to $100 million category. Located in…
Tindall’s South Carolina Division to Provide Precast Concrete for Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort Parking Deck
Tindall Corporation’s South Carolina Division announced that it will provide precast concrete components for a new parking structure that adjoins the new 725 room hotel and convention center expansion at Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort in Cherokee, North Carolina. The project is set to begin in March 2019. “This structure will provide our convention center, hotel…
Carowinds Makes Bold Strike with Biggest Investment to Date
Carowinds will mark a turning point in its evolution as a destination amusement park when it introduces Copperhead Strike, the Carolinas’ first double launch coaster, for the 2019 season. Copperhead Strike simulates the harrowing chase of getaway cars racing through rolling farmland, sending riders on two launches through a relentless winding ride over half a…
Industrial
Lookheed Martin to Build F-16 in South Carolina
Lockheed Martin, a leading government contractor, announced that it will build its new F-16 production line in Greenville, SC. The company relocated equipment from its facility in Fort Worth, TX to Greenville. “This is an exciting time as we celebrate another important milestone for the F-16 ‒ the world’s most successful, combat-proven 4th generation fighter,”…
NC Pet Food Manufacturer Announces $55 Million Expansion
Chewy, an online pet supply retailer, has selected Rowan County for its new fulfillment center, creating 1,200 new jobs and investing $55 million, Governor Roy Cooper announced today. The company will locate in Salisbury, N.C. “Chewy selected North Carolina because from our infrastructure to our workforce, we have everything businesses need to succeed,” Gov….
Plastics Manufacturer Announces NC Expansion
Superior Plastics Extrusion Company, Inc., known as Impact Plastics, will expand its manufacturing operations in Richmond County and create 13 jobs, Governor Roy Cooper announced today. The company will invest $5.3 million in Hamlet. “This announcement is just the latest example of a manufacturer finding success in North Carolina and deciding to expand their footprint…
German Pharmaceutical Company Completes $100 million Expansion in Wilson, NC
Fresenius Kabi, a global health care company based in Germany, hosted a topping off ceremony last week to celebrate the $100 million expansion of its pharmaceutical manufacturing campus in Wilson, North Carolina. The topping off ceremony was a traditional celebration of construction projects upon the installation of the topmost structural member – in this case,…
Mission Critical / Data Centers
Google Plans South Carolina Data Center Expansion
Google recently announced plans to make significant capital investments thought out the U.S., including at its data center in South Carolina. Google CEO Sundar Pichai wrote on his blog that the technology company was planing to invest over $13 billion in new facilities and expansions. “Today we’re announcing over $13 billion in investments throughout 2019…
Multi-Family Residential
Armada Hoffler Properties Announces Investment in New Development Project in Charleston, SC
Armada Hoffler Properties, Inc. (NYSE: AHH) announced today that it will invest in Nexton Square, a new open-air lifestyle center currently under construction in Summerville, South Carolina. Located at the entrance to a new 4,500 acre master-planned community, Nexton Square will serve as the retail gateway to over 10,000 new single-family and multifamily residential units…
South Carolina Housing Hall of Fame inducts two new members: Michael P. Nieri and J. Coleman Shouse
The South Carolina Housing Hall of Fame trustees inducted Michael P. Nieri from Columbia, S.C. and J. Coleman Shouse from Greenville, S.C. into the prestigious honor society last week for their work in and support of South Carolina’s home building industry. Both men were presented the trademark medallion and plaque during a ceremony on July…
Report Finds 9.5% Premium for High Performance Homes in North Carolina
North Carolina Building Performance Association (NCBPA), the state’s trade association for building performance companies and professionals, announced today the release of its third annual energy efficient, green and high-performance home and building report. The report identifies 34,152 high-performance homes and buildings being built or retrofitted in the state in 2016 and finds a 9.5% price…
Zillow Predicts Suburban Sprawl to Return in 2018
Those hoping for relief from the ongoing inventory crisis won’t find it in 2018. Next year, current homeowners will look to remodel their homes rather than sell, further limiting inventory, and with limited space to add new homes in city centers, suburban sprawl will make a return. Newly built homes will be designed with both…
Office Buildings
Elevator Safety Issues with Advice for Building Owners
The Elevator Consultants (TEC,) a leading global elevator consulting firm, has issued a call to building owners in the wake of dozens of elevator and escalator-related incidents in recent years, to take a hard look at the maintenance of their equipment and take action to mitigate their own risk. Elevators and other vertical transportation equipment are…
‘101 Ways to Build Smarter’ eBook, Featuring Ideas from Skender, Corporate Real Estate Executives and Developers to Offset Rapidly Escalating Construction Prices
Construction costs have been consistently rising just when the industry can least afford it. Today, a new report from Skender offers “101 Ways to Build Smarter.” The 18-page eBook, available for download at www.skender.com/buildsmarter/, is a resource filled with quality-enhancing and value-optimizing possibilities for building owners, developers, architects, brokers, contractors, corporate real estate and workplace…
Report Finds 9.5% Premium for High Performance Homes in North Carolina
North Carolina Building Performance Association (NCBPA), the state’s trade association for building performance companies and professionals, announced today the release of its third annual energy efficient, green and high-performance home and building report. The report identifies 34,152 high-performance homes and buildings being built or retrofitted in the state in 2016 and finds a 9.5% price…
Corporate Real Estate Managers Embrace Co-working
Co-working, the style of work marked by open shared spaces among workers of different companies and popularized by “solopreneurs” and tech workers, is quickly being embraced by those who manage real estate needs for large corporations. The trend is explored in a new whitepaper, The Evolution of Co-working and Impact on CRE, released by CoreNet…
Power / Energy
Duke Energy Renewables completes acquisition of 150-MW North Rosamond solar project from Clearway Energy Group
Duke Energy Renewables, a subsidiary of Duke Energy, announced it has acquired the 150-megawatt (MW) North Rosamond solar project in Kern County, California from Clearway Energy Group. The North Rosamond solar project is Duke Energy Renewables’ sixth solar generation facility in Kern County. “North Rosamond is a great addition to our growing solar portfolio,” said…
Competitive Process Yields Carolinas’ Biggest One-day Collection of Solar Projects
Bringing more cost-effective solar energy to the Carolinas, 14 utility-scale projects have been selected during an independently judged bidding process – part of a 2017 comprehensive renewable energy law. Based on an independent evaluation process, Duke Energy will produce or purchase a total of 602 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy from projects under the North Carolina’s Competitive…
U.S. DOE Extends AECOM-led JV Contract at the Savannah River Site
ECOM (NYSE:ACM), a premier, fully integrated global infrastructure firm, announced today that the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Savannah River Operations Office in Aiken, South Carolina, extended the current liquid waste management contract with AECOM-led Savannah River Remediation LLC. The approximate US$750 million extension will run from April 1, 2019, to September 30, 2020. The…
Analyses Show Duke Energy’s Plan to Keep Uneconomic Coal Plants Will Burden North Carolina’s Customers
A coalition of clean energy advocates have filed expert analyses with North Carolina utility regulators finding that the Duke Energy’s long-range plans would cost customers too much money by keeping aging, inefficient coal plants online, building new power plants that are not needed to meet electricity demand, and by failing to tap the full potential of…
Retail / Shopping Centers
Carowinds Makes Bold Strike with Biggest Investment to Date
Carowinds will mark a turning point in its evolution as a destination amusement park when it introduces Copperhead Strike, the Carolinas’ first double launch coaster, for the 2019 season. Copperhead Strike simulates the harrowing chase of getaway cars racing through rolling farmland, sending riders on two launches through a relentless winding ride over half a…
BB&T Reinforces Commitment to Eastern North Carolina
BB&T Corporation (NYSE : BBT ) announced it will build an approximately 95,000-square-foot office facility on Pine Street in downtown Wilson, N.C. The new $35 million building will accommodate 650 BB&T associates who are currently working in the twin buildings at 223 West Nash St. or elsewhere in Wilson. BB&T expects to begin site work on…
SG Blocks Selected to Design and Construct 6,000-Square-Foot Container-Based Food and Beverage Venue in Greenville, SC
SG Blocks, Inc. (NASDAQ: SGBX), a leading designer, innovator and fabricator of container-based structures, has secured a 6,000-square-foot retail project with Gather GVL, an eco-friendly food and beverage venue in Greenville, South Carolina. SG Blocks will be designing, fabricating and delivering 23 modules, utilizing six containers and 17 purpose-built Intermodal Container Framing Systems. The modules…
Renovations Complete at Circle Seven
Construction of Circle Seven at Garden & Gun, an interior retail build-out in the historic Cigar Factory in downtown Charleston, S.C. has been completed, according to Frampton Construction Company, LLC, a regional full-service construction firm providing planning and design support, preconstruction, and construction services, Renovations included improvements to the existing space consistent with a boutique retail…
Roads, Bridges and Highways
CAGC NC Highway-Heavy/Government Relations Director to Retire
Carolinas AGC (CAGC) announces the retirement of Berry Jenkins, who served as CAGC’s North Carolina Highway-Heavy/Government Relations Director for 22 years. Among Berry’s many accomplishments include helping secure billions of dollars in infrastructure funding as well as improving and maintaining the interactive relationships with the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NC DOT) on multiple levels…
North Carolina Construction Project Awarded to Subsidiaries of Salini Impregilo and Vinci’s Eurovia
The design-build contract for the NC 540 – Triangle Expressway Southeast Extension in Raleigh, NC was awarded to a joint venture of Salini’s Lane Construction and Eurovia’s Blythe Construction. The project will extend the existing Triangle Expressway from US 401 to I-40 and is part of the larger Complete 540 project, designed to improve the…
New ASCE Manual of Practice Focuses on Infrastructure Resilience in a Changing Climate
ASCE’s new book, Climate-Resilient Infrastructure: Adaptive Design and Risk Management, MOP 140, provides guidance for and contributes to the developing or enhancing of methods for infrastructure analysis and design in a world in which risk profiles are changing and can be projected with varying degrees of uncertainty requiring a new design philosophy to meet this…
Americans Willing to Pay Higher Tolls and Taxes for Infrastructure Improvements
Survey shows Americans believe congestion has increased over the past year Across the nation, Americans say congestion on their roads and highways has continued to worsen since last year, according to a new HNTB Corporation America THINKS national public opinion survey. The survey, “Funding Congestion Solutions-2018” found 61 percent of Americans believe traffic congestion is…
Schools (K-12 and Higher Education)
THS Constructors Awarded Construction of The Citadel’s New Business School
GREENVILLE, S.C. – (March 7, 2019) – THS Constructors, Inc., one of the Southeast’s leading design-build, construction management, and general contracting companies, today announced it was selected by The Citadel for the construction of Bastin Hall, home to the Tommy and Victoria Baker School of Business. The 45,000-square-foot facility will be the newest addition to The…
Power UP Workshop Gives Five-Year-Olds a Glimpse of Construction Technology
Power UP, Inc. founder Dr. Mittie Cannon believes it’s never too early to start paving the way for a possible career in engineering and construction. Just before the December 2018 holiday break, Don Wilcher, Director of Manufacturing and Technology at Jefferson State Community College, led a Power UP workshop for very young children at Robinson…
Clemson University Kicks Off 2019 Tennis Season in All-New Facility
Clemson University’s tennis teams played their first matches of 2019 last weekend inside the school’s all-new Duckworth Family Tennis Facility located in the center of Clemson’s ever-growing campus. The University held a formal ribbon-cutting ceremony in early November 2018 and the Tigers began holding practice in the new facility shortly thereafter. The new Duckworth Family…
School Safety Commission Report Supports AIA Member Design Recommendations
Report recommends establishing a federal clearinghouse for best practices to include school designs. The American Institute of Architects’ (AIA) 2019 President William Bates, FAIA, issued the following statement regarding findings from the Federal Commission on School Safety’s new report: “While the AIA can only evaluate design-related aspects of the commission’s report, the Institute believes its…
Transportation / Ports
Why Public Transit is a Key Economic Issue for Growing cities
We’d love to take our daily commute for granted. Except, we can’t. It is essential that we continue to make public transportation as efficient as possible for commuters. Over the decades, as a nation we have put investing in our transportation infrastructure, particularly our bus and rail systems, on the back burner. The result: Today’s…
Study: South Carolina’s Logistics Industry has $32.9 Billion Impact
The logistics industry cluster is one of the largest in South Carolina according to a study released by the South Carolina Council on Competitiveness. Authored by Dr. Joseph Von Nessen, the study finds that there are more than 600 logistics companies operating in the state, from transportation, to air freight providers, to warehouse and distribution…
SC Ports Board Approves $69.5 Million Crane Purchase
The South Carolina Ports Authority Board of Directors approved a $69.5 million contract for the purchase of six new ship-to-shore (STS) cranes to serve growing container volumes and big ships calling the Port of Charleston. “As the largest crane purchase in our history, the contract approved today is an important part of our overall investment…
McMaster Announces Interim Appointment of SCDOT Commissioner
South Carolinas Governor Henry McMaster announced the interim appointment of Tony K. Cox to the state Department of Transportation Commission representing the seventh congressional district. The appointment follows the Thursday resignation of former commissioner Mike Wooten. “Tony is a highly respected leader in our state’s business community and his service to our state will…
