Fairfield Connecticut Building Expert Directory

Construction is the Fastest Growing Industry in California

May 20, 2015 — Garret Murai – California Construction Law Blog
We wrote earlier about why construction workers are the happiest employees on Earth, and pointed to one possible factor: That construction, which was one of the hardest hit industries during the 2008 real estate collapse, has since bounced back. This past month, the California Employment Development Department (“EDD”) released data putting some numbers to that hypothesis. And the result: According to the EDD, over the past 12 months, construction was the fastest growing industry in California, adding more than 46,000 jobs within the last year, an increase of 6.9% from 667,000 workers in March 2014 to 713,000 workers in March 2015. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Garret Murai, Wendel Rosen Black & Dean LLP
Mr. Murai may be contacted at gmurai@wendel.com

Rio Olympics Work Was a Mess and Then Something Curious Happened

April 06, 2016 — Jonathan Levin, Tariq Panja & David Biller – Bloomberg
In early 2014, a senior Olympic Committee official returned from a trip to Rio de Janeiro and declared Brazil’s preparations for the Summer Games to be the worst he’d ever seen. In the two years since, a crippling recession set in, dozens of construction executives were ensnared in a nationwide corruption scandal and the president has been pushed to the brink of impeachment. And the preparations? They’re basically fine now, actually. In what is emerging as a rare bright spot in a country buffeted by crisis on all sides, the organizing committee is saying that more than 95 percent of the venues are complete some four months ahead of the opening ceremony and, what’s more, data shows spending has largely remained under control. Reprinted courtesy of Bloomberg reporters Jonathan Levin, Tariq Pania and David Biller Read the court decision
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Pillsbury Insights – Navigating the Real Estate Market During COVID-19

July 06, 2020 — Caroline A. Harcourt - Gravel2Gavel Construction & Real Estate Blog
Until COVID-19 officially took hold in the U.S. in March of 2020, the U.S. real estate market was active, even robust. Starting in March, however, the possible scope of the pandemic and the sudden imposition of stay-at-home orders resulted in deal volume falling precipitously—with sales, leasing and lending transactions being put on temporary “wait and see” pause or terminated altogether. The impact of COVID-19 on the real estate market has not been felt evenly. Hotels have been hit extremely hard, with many hotels shuttered altogether and many others only open at staggeringly low occupancy rates. Retail likewise has been virtually shut down in various parts of the country—with retailers across the country asking for rental forbearance or lease surrenders and others, such as J Crew, Neiman Marcus and Pier 1, pursuing bankruptcy reorganizations or liquidation. Multifamily has also been relatively hard hit, and landlords are having to navigate a web of local, state, and even federal regulations regarding tenant protections, such as non-eviction orders. The least affected sector so far has been office—however employers and office space users who are becoming facile with zoom and “working at home” may well re-examine their usage of office space—and it is within the realm of possibility to imagine that even this sector may come under pressure over time. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Caroline A. Harcourt, Pillsbury
Ms. Harcourt may be contacted at caroline.harcourt@pillsburylaw.com

The Anatomy of a Construction Dispute Stage 2- Increase the Heat

January 21, 2015 — Christopher G. Hill – Construction Law Musings
Last week we discussed the groundwork and circumstances of a construction claim. This week’s post will discuss the next steps, hopefully short of full blown arbitration or litigation that you, as a construction company, can pursue presuming your claim has been properly preserved. If your contract requires certain steps such as informal resolution attempts or other items, these are the first things that must be done while still preserving your rights to pursue all remedies available. Instituting such contractually required resolution steps can and should be the first “notch” on the dial of increased pressure on the Owner, General Contractor or possibly Subcontractor against whom you have a claim. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Christopher G. Hill, Law Office of Christopher G. Hill, PC
Mr. Hill may be contacted at chrisghill@constructionlawva.com

Mich. AG Says Straits of Mackinac Tunnel Deal Unconstitutional

June 03, 2019 — Jeff Yoders - Engineering News-Record
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel (D) has declared unconstitutional a late-2018 law that would create an authority to oversee construction of a key tunnel. The tunnel would house an oil-and-gas pipeline under the Straits of Mackinac. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Jeff Yoders, ENR
Mr. Yoders may be contacted at yodersj@enr.com

Toll Brothers Report End of Year Results

December 11, 2013 — CDJ STAFF
The largest luxury home builder in the U.S. saw some significant gains in their final quarter for 2013. Their pre-tax income for the year was $150.2 million, up from last year’s $60.7 million, more than doubling. The firm’s revenues went up 65% to $1.04 billion, and the average price of homes was up as well. Toll Brothers is currently selling homes in 232 communities, also increasing over 2012. Due to the upcoming acquisition of Shapell, Toll Brothers projects that at the end of 2014 they will be selling in 250 to 290 communities. Read the court decision
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The Prompt Payment Rollercoaster

February 23, 2016 — Garret Murai – California Construction Law Blog
This past year we wrote about a case involving California’s prompt payment laws and the current state of confusion with the prompt payment statutes which are scattered throughout the state Code and which are inconsistent in the use of their terminology and, thus importantly, application. In United Riggers & Erectors, Inc. v. Coast Iron & Steel Co., California Court of Appeals for the Second District, Case No. B258860 (December 18, 2015), the Court of Appeals for the Second District addressed whether under one of the prompt payment statutes, Civil Code section 8814, a general contractor may withhold retention without being subject to prompt payment penalties if there is a dispute of any kind between the general contractor and the subcontractor, or only when the dispute relates to the retention itself. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Garret Murai, Wendel Rosen Black & Dean LLP
Mr. Murai may be contacted at gmurai@wendel.com

S&P Near $1 Billion Mortgage Ratings Settlement With U.S.

January 14, 2015 — Tom Schoenberg and Edvard Pettersson – Bloomberg
Standard & Poor’s is close to a settlement of about $1 billion with the U.S. for allegedly misleading investors about its ratings of mortgage-backed securities before the subprime crisis, a person familiar with the matter said. The McGraw Hill Financial Inc. (MHFI) unit and the Justice Department may agree to settle the case as early as this quarter, according to the person, who asked not to be identified because the negotiations are confidential. The Justice Department has secured settlements worth tens of billions of dollars during the past two years from mortgage lenders and banks it blamed for the 2008 financial crisis. Those companies generated unprecedented amounts of shoddy mortgages that were packaged and sold to investors as securities, many of which turned out to be worthless despite their investment-grade ratings. Mr. Schoenberg may be contacted at tschoenberg@bloomberg.net; Mr. Pettersson may be contacted at epettersson@bloomberg.net Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Tom Schoenberg and Edvard Pettersson, Bloomberg

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