As finances tightened in the construction industry over the past two years, property owners say they experienced a remarkable decrease in the quality of service provided by architects, engineers and construction managers.
A shortage of skilled workers could restrict an expected upturn in the construction industry, a new survey has found.
Intel Corp.a s Tuesday announcement that it will spend up to $8 billion to build a new factory in Oregon and upgrade four existing factories gave the statea s moribund construction industry a critical shot of adrenaline.
Georgia-Pacific Corp. is embarking on a $300 million upgrade of its Port Hudson mill to improve technology and equipment.
This is news landlords have been eagerly waiting for: New York-based research firm Reis Inc. just reported that the vacancy rate for U.S. malls fell for the first time in three years in the third quarter, to 8.8 percent from 9.0 percent the quarter prior. The vacancy rate for strip centers didn’t budge, but neither did it increase. (Here’s a version of the story with a graph, courtesy of Calculated Risk).
Yet Reis researchers caution the retail real estate industry against too much optimism. Many long-term leases are set to expire in the fourth quarter, they say, and it’s likely that in the current subdued retail environment, many tenants will not renew. For more stories on retail and retail real estate, follow the links below:
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The National Retail Federation’s Stores Magazine has just released its list of Top 100 Retailers for 2010. The list doesn’t have too many surprises for retail industry insiders. While the accompanying story notes that brick and mortar chains performed better this year than they have in 2009, the top 10 entries on the list remained virtually unchanged, with Walmart once again taking the number one spot.
Instead, there was a perceptible change in the middle of the list, with several value-oriented retailers climbing up a dozen or so points in the ranking. Many dollar stores, including Dollar General, Family Dollar and Dollar Tree, have climbed up the chart as consumers have held on to their penny-pinching ways. This year, dollar chains are among the fastest growing retailers in the U.S., with the sector scheduled to deliver thousands of new stores to the market.
Here are some other stories about retail and retail real estate from around the Web that you might find interesting:
Standard & Poor's Ratings Service on Monday revised its outlook for D.R. Horton Inc., to "stable" from "negative, saying it expects the homebuilder will be profitable in its fiscal year which ends Sept.
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Construction chiefs are to consider pulling the plug on a pay deal after failing to secure 20% wage cuts for building workers, it was revealed tonight.
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REGINA a ' Saskatchewan's construction industry is forecasting a tight labour market for the next eight years, as the supply of new workers struggles to meet the demands of an industry where employment levels are expected to remain at 30-year highs.
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Corporate America is betting cash - in the form of higher dividend payouts - that the economy is rebounding.
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KB Home said Thursday it has agreed to buy 664 home sites in Southern California and plans to use some of the land parcels to open eight new communities this year.
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In a sure sign that the construction season is underway, the nonresidential construction industry gained 9,200 jobs in April, according to the May 7 employment report by the U.S. Labor Department.
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Construction has a oefallen considerably shorta of the progress hoped for 12 years ago when the ground breaking Rethinking Construction report was published, a leading engineer and promoter of best practice said last week.
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Unfortunately 2009 IBC (in at least the first and second printings) TABLE 2306.3 WOOD STRUCTURAL PANEL SHEAR WALLS unintentionally omits several panel thicknesses (3/8, 7/16, 15/32 and 19/32-inch) from the Sheathing, plywood siding except Group 5 Species panel grade section. This unintentional omission is acknowledged by ICC staff and an errata is in the works.
No. 2 U.S. homebuilder D.R. Horton Inc reported a quarterly profit and a sharp increase in orders on Friday, surprising Wall Street and sending shares up across the sector.
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Logs are piled up at West Fraser Timber in Quesnel, B.C., in this April 21, 2009 photo.
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International Forest Products Ltd. lost $3.4 million or seven cents per share in the quarter ended March 31, compared with a loss of $13.6 million or 29 cents per share a year ago.
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Arizona's unemployment rate inched upward in March as the construction industry slipped again and schools' spring breaks took a toll on local government employment.
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Britain's embattled construction industry grew for the first time since February 2008 last month as the sector ended two years of 'relentless contraction', according to a report today.
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A fledging lumber company is buying Domtar Corp's forest products business, a move that positions EACOM Timber Corp.
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Ainsworth Lumber Co. Ltd. is reporting its unaudited financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2009.
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At this point, the Avenue Specific Plan is just conceptual. But as early as 2013, houses could begin to be built in the former agricultural area in the southern part of the city.
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Here’s a 189-page document from the Congressional Oversight Panel on Commercial Real Estate Losses and the Risk to Financial Stability. FT Alphaville has an excellent post summarizing the report that includes some illustrative charts. Check that out or read the full report for yourself below.
The panel is very worried about the financial system’s ability to absorb coming commercial real estate losses. The worries are not so much about this year as about 2011 and beyond. The government has already done a great deal in attempts to backstop the financial system against losses in commercial real estate portfolios. We have TALF and PPIP. Mark-to-market accounting rules have also been relaxed. There are rumblings that the CMBS market is slowly reviving with the first multi-borrower CMBS in two years in the works. Will the commercial real estate financing machine be mended enough in 2011 and beyond to deal with coming expirations? Or is more government action necessary to deal with the losses the report foresees?
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Climate Group report concludes aggressive federal clean energy policies could generate billions in additional market revenue and create more than 100,000 jobs in a region whose manufacturing sector has been hard hit by the economic recession.
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