CAMBRIDGE MASSACHUSETTS BUILDING EXPERT
DIRECTORY AND CAPABILITIES

California Reinstates COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave

February 21, 2022 — Jessica L. Daley - Newmeyer Dillion
On February 9, 2022, Governor Newsom signed California Legislature Senate Bill 114 (SB 114), which reinstates supplemental paid sick leave for qualifying reasons relating to COVID-19. Employers may recall SB 95, which expired on September 30, 2021, and was substantially similar to SB 114. Like its predecessor, SB 114 applies to employers with 26 or more employees and provides up to 80 hours of supplemental paid sick leave to full-time employees who are unable to work (including telework) for a reason relating to COVID-19. While this legislation goes into effect on February 19, 2022, it will retroactively apply back to January 1, 2022 and remain in effect until September 30, 2022. REASONS FOR LEAVE – TWO PERIODS Unlike SB 95, SB 114 breaks the total possible 80 hours of COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave (CSPL) for full-time employees into two 40-hour periods. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Jessica L. Daley, Newmeyer Dillion
Ms. Daley may be contacted at jessica.daley@ndlf.com

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NYC Rail Tunnel Cost Jumps and Construction Start Pushed Back

October 10, 2022 — Elise Young - Bloomberg
The cost of the New York City-area Gateway rail tunnel project climbed to $16.1 billion and the expected start of construction was pushed to 2024, its overseer said Wednesday. The plan is to seek more federal aid to cover the rising cost. The new estimate, with finance charges, was 14% higher than last year’s projection to build a passenger rail tunnel between New York and New Jersey, and rehabilitate Amtrak and New Jersey Transit’s only existing link. The start of major construction, once proposed for mid-2023, now is expected in mid-2024, according to a statement from the Gateway Development Commission. The tunnel is anticipated to be in service by 2035. Half the cost was expected to be covered by the federal government, and the rest by New York and New Jersey, with contributions from Amtrak and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. The commission now will seek additional US funding under the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. It expects a full funding grant agreement in early 2024, with construction starting later that year. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Elise Young, Bloomberg

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Massachusetts SJC Clarifies “Strict Compliance” Standard in Construction Contracts

January 02, 2019 — Jacob Goodelman - Gordon & Rees Construction Law Blog
In Massachusetts, it is well established that a contractor cannot recover damages from a construction contract without first showing that the contractor completely and strictly performed on all of the contract’s terms. Recently, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court narrowed the rule by concluding that complete and strict performance is only required for contract terms relating to the design and construction itself. The high Court explained that non-design / non-construction contract terms are governing by “ordinary contract principles, including the traditional Massachusetts materiality rule.” Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Jacob Goodelman, Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani
Mr. Goodelman may be contacted at jgoodelman@grsm.com

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Real Estate & Construction News Round-Up (11/16/22) – Backlog Shifts, Green Battery Storage, and Russia-Ukraine Updates

December 05, 2022 — Pillsbury's Construction & Real Estate Law Team - Gravel2Gavel Construction & Real Estate Law Blog
This week’s round-up explores backlog shifts in the nonresidential construction sector, updates from the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, lithium-ion battery storage issues in New York City, and more.

• According to Associated Builders and Contractors, construction backlog fell back below the reading observed in February 2020, largely due to a decline in the commercial and institutional sector. (Sebastian Obando, Construction Dive)
• Amid celebration after retaking Kherson from retreating Russian troops, the Kremlin targeted critical infrastructure before withdrawing. (Michael Kern, Oil Price)
• Real estate value in the metaverse is rising, given that virtual land can be built upon to create unique branding experiences that lend to advertising, marketing, socializing, and entertainment. (Evan Bourke & Sarah Hedley Hymers, Euronews)

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Reprinted courtesy of Pillsbury's Construction & Real Estate Law Team

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U.S. Construction Value Flat at End of Summer

December 04, 2013 — CDJ STAFF
The Census Bureau has released it numbers for the value of construction put in place for September and October, and while further numbers are forthcoming, this current report shows little change. The value of construction dropped a miniscule 0.3% in September, however, residential construction actually showed a slight increase. October then showed a 0.8% increase, but then private residential construction dropped by 0.5%. In all, however, by the end of October, private residential spending was up 17.8% over the prior year. As with other sectors of public spending, public residential spending dropped 3.4% from the prior year. Read the court decision
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Real Estate & Construction News Roundup (11/8/23) – New Handling of Homelessness, Decline in Investments into ESG Funds, and Shrinking of a Homebuyer’s Dollar

December 11, 2023 — Pillsbury's Construction & Real Estate Law Team - Gravel2Gavel Construction & Real Estate Law Blog
Our latest roundup includes two large flood control projects in New Jersey, how residential REITs could benefit from higher interest rates, how the downfall of WeWork could cause expansive collateral damage, and more!

• The Federal Reserve said the possibility of large losses in the $24 trillion U.S. commercial real estate market poses a top risk to financial stability. (Jim Tyson, CFO Dive)
• According to proptech firm MRI Software, apartment leasing patterns are “reverting to pre-pandemic patterns and becoming more predictable.” (Leslie Shaver, Multifamily Dive)
• Los Angeles has developed a new way to handle homelessness—real estate agents for those without a home. (Jennifer Ludden, NPR)

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Reprinted courtesy of Pillsbury's Construction & Real Estate Law Team

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Supreme Court Upholds Prevailing Wage Statute

August 19, 2024 — Ahlers Cressman & Sleight PLLC
Historically, the prevailing wage was calculated by averaging the wages within a certain industry and county. However, in 2018 the Washington Legislature amended the statute so that the prevailing wage would be assessed based on the highest wage set by collective bargaining agreements in the county. The amendment (RCW 39.12.015(3)) reads as follows: (3)(a)…the industrial statistician shall establish the prevailing rate of wage by adopting the hourly wage, usual benefits, and overtime paid for the geographic jurisdiction established in collective bargaining agreements… (b) For trades and occupations in which there are no collective bargaining agreements in the county, the industrial statistician shall establish the prevailing rate of wage by…conducting wage and hour surveys. So, for example, if union engineers bargain for a wage, that is the wage all engineers in the county must be paid on public projects. The legislature passed this law for the sake of efficiency because it took significant resources for the Industrial Statistician to compute the prevailing wage for every trade and every county, but the law has significant knock-on effects. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Ahlers Cressman & Sleight PLLC

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Five Facts About Housing That Will Make People In New York City and San Francisco Depressed

February 26, 2015 — Flavia Krause-Jackson and Alexandre Tanzi – Bloomberg
If you live in New York or San Francisco, you should spend some time mining the latest crop of home price data -- starting with the Standard & Poor’s Case-Shiller indices. Then, pull out your last rent check. It might be enough to make you move. Here are a few things to get you thinking: 1. What you pay for parking in New York can buy a cheap home in Chicago The cheapest tier of homes in the Windy City were valued at less than $170,368 in November, the Case-Shiller tiered-price indices show (there are three tiers: low, middle and high). That compares to the $136,052 average price tag for parking space in New York last year, according to Jonathan J. Miller, the president of the appraisal firm Miller Samuel and a Bloomberg View contributor. Reprinted courtesy of Flavia Krause-Jackson, Bloomberg and Alexandre Tanzi, Bloomberg Read the court decision
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