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February 26, 2009
Construction's Role in Picking Up the Pieces
The Epoch Times
By Charlotte Cuthbertson
“The stimulus bill will certainly be shaping construction this year,” said Robert Murray, vice president of economic affairs at McGraw-Hill Construction. As a result, the public works sector will be the “saving grace of construction” in 2009 and 2010, Murray said. Murray spoke at the McGraw-Hill “Managing Construction’s Financial Crisis” Conference in New York Feb. 24-25.
Interestingly, when the current state of the construction industry is talked about, Bruce Ratner's flagging Atlantic Yards megaproject tops the list:
Commercial building has been hit hard by the credit crunch. Large projects nationwide such as Atlantic Yards in New York, the Chicago Spire, and the Echelon Resort in Las Vegas have been put on hold.
[OK, so this list is in alphabetical order; however, industry leaders are keeping an eye on what's happening to the largest single-source private development project in NYC history.]
Construction industry leaders are bracing for another rise in costs:
Material costs could be shooting up again by 2010, driven by demand and transportation costs, said economist Simonson.
“By 2010, if economies like China and other developing nations get going again, they're going to add to that demand of materials that we need here for construction” and anytime there's a surge in shipping costs, or fuel surcharges, “you feel it on the construction site,” Simonson said.
NoLandGrab: It's worth noting that stimulus money spent on construction is going to create construction-industry jobs.
Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz and developer Bruce Ratner are telling anyone who will listen that some of this money must be spent on Atlantic Yards in order to create jobs, but clearly these jobs would be at the expense of other jobs created by more essential projects.
Posted by lumi at February 26, 2009 4:11 AM