Seattle Washington Building Expert Directory

Decades of WCC Seminar at the Disneyland Resort

May 03, 2018 — Beverley BevenFlorez-CDJ STAFF
One of the many perks of attending the West Coast Casualty Construction Defect Seminar each year is its location at the Disneyland Hotel. What better excuse to take an afternoon or day or two to visit the happiest place on Earth? Prior to 2001, attendees only had the Disneyland Park to explore. But the beginning of 2001 brought the addition of the California Adventure Theme Park and Downtown Disney. Now when you want a break you can take a stroll through Downtown Disney and shop, eat, or watch some street performers. While California Adventure still has plenty for children to do, it also caters to the twenty-one-and-over-but-still-child-at heart with wine tasting and craft beers available at the park. Disneyland remains a fixture for nostalgia with the Sleeping Beauty Castle, but has updated itself with its addition of Star Wars and Marvel attractions. West Coast Casualty has special Disneyland ticket rates for attendees. Please see their invitation for more details. If you’re interested in one of Disneyland Resort’s sit-down restaurants, a reservation is highly desirable. You may make your reservation online or call Disney Dining at (714) 781-DINE. Staying at the Disneyland Resort? Disney provides their hotel guests with preferred access reservations (call Disney Dining for more information). If you’re looking for a fine dining experience, you’ll enjoy Carthay Circle Restaurant at California Adventure, Catal Restaurant at Downtown Disney, Napa Rose at the Grand Californian Hotel, or Steakhouse 55 at the Disneyland Hotel. If you’re a sports fan, check out ESPN Zone in Downtown Disney. For a one-of-a-kind Disney experience, have lunch or dinner at the Blue Bayou at Disneyland, where the dining room is located within the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. You may also want to check Disneyland Resort’s Entertainment schedule. For a live musical show (included in the cost of admission to California Adventure Park), check out Frozen – Live at the Hyperion. For an illuminating experience, you’ll want to stay for the Paint the Night Parade at the California Adventure Park, which features one million brilliant lights and many of your favorite Disney characters. If you’re a Pixar lover, you won’t want to miss Disneyland Park’s Together Forever – A Pixar Nighttime Spectacular. It’s a fireworks display like only Disney can create, including dazzling projections, pyrotechnics and music from the movies. If you wish to skip the crowds and just relax, then the Madara Spa at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel may be your choice. The Madara Spa theme is “the mystery of the East meeting the science of the West with boundaries ceasing to exist.” Read the court decision
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Courthouse Reporter Series: Louisiana Supreme Court Holds Architect Has No Duty to Safeguard Third Parties Against Injury, Regardless of Knowledge of Dangerous Conditions on the Project

July 31, 2024 — Stu Richeson - The Dispute Resolver
In Bonilla v. Verges Rome Architects, 2023-00928 (La. 3/22/24); 382 So.3d 62, the Louisiana Supreme Court held because the terms of the agreement between the architect and the public owner did not give the architect responsibility for the means and methods of construction or for safety on the project, the architect did not have a duty to safeguard third parties against injury, regardless of whether the architect may have had knowledge of dangerous conditions on the project. In Bonilla, the City of New Orleans entered into a contract for the renovation of a building owned by the city. The city also entered into an agreement with Verges Rome Architects (“VRA”) to serve as the project architect. The general contractor on the project subcontracted the demolition work to Meza Services, Inc. (“Meza”). An employee of Meza was injured while attempting to demolish a “vault” on the project. The vault was a ten-foot by ten-foot cinderblock room with a nine-foot-high concrete slab ceiling located on the second floor of the building. The walls of the vault had been partially demolished when one of the employees of Meza was directed by his supervisor to stand on the ceiling of the vault with a jackhammer to continue the demolition. Shortly after beginning the task, the vault structure collapsed and caused the employee to suffer significant injury. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Stu Richeson, Phelps
Mr. Richeson may be contacted at stuart.richeson@phelps.com

If Passed, New Bill AB 2320 Will Mandate Cyber Insurance For State Government Contractors

September 07, 2020 — Makenna Miller & Jeffrey Dennis - Newmeyer Dillion
Earlier this year, Assemblyman Edwin Chau (D-Monterey Park) introduced Assembly Bill 2320. AB 2320, if passed, would require any business that contracts with the state and has access to records containing personal information protected under the state’s Information Practices Act (IPA) to maintain cyber insurance coverage. Information covered under the IPA includes names, social security numbers, physical descriptions, home addresses, home telephone numbers, education, financial matters, and medical or employment history. Requiring contractors to maintain cyber insurance will likely both shift the costs of cyberattacks from taxpayers to the private sector, while also encouraging robust cyber security practices among businesses of all sizes. While the bill has not yet passed, businesses will be best served by implementing and improving cybersecurity practices now in order to attain lowest premium rates in the future. Incentivizing Best Practices With the adoption of AB 2320, businesses will be incentivized to increase their security posture in order to receive lower premiums from insurers. Simultaneously, insurers will be incentivized to mandate best practices from their insureds in order to mitigate their risk of having to pay out on cyber insurance policies. Thus, cyber insurance will work as a vehicle to increase best practices in businesses and subsequently decrease vulnerabilities to cyberattacks. Reprinted courtesy of Makenna Miller, Newmeyer Dillion and Jeffrey Dennis, Newmeyer Dillion Ms. Miller may be contacted at makenna.miller@ndlf.com Mr. Dennis may be contacted at jeff.dennis@ndlf.com Read the court decision
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Increase in Single-Family New Home Sales Year-Over-Year in January

February 26, 2015 — Beverley BevenFlorez-CDJ STAFF
Builder magazine reported, “Sales of new single-family houses in January 2015 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 481,000, according to estimates released today by the U.S. Census Bureau. This is 0.2% (±22.2%)* below the revised December rate of 482,000, but is 5.3% (±22.1%)* above the January 2014 estimate of 457,000.” According to Metrostudy (as reported by Builder), builders seem to be getting ready for increased production this year: “An excellent leading indicator for housing starts is the number of lots reaching development (ready for the builder to start building). Our in-field research shows that lot development has doubled in the last two to three years in many markets.” Read the court decision
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Lumber Drops to Nine-Month Low, Extending Retreat From Record

August 30, 2021 — Marcy Nicholson - Bloomberg
Lumber futures slid to the lowest in more than nine months after sawmills ramped up production and demand from builders stabilized. September futures in Chicago fell as much as 4.4% to $482.90 per thousand board feet, the lowest for a most-active contract since Oct. 30. Prices have dropped more than 70% from the record high reached just three months ago. The tumble marks a stark turnaround for the common building material after strong U.S. construction demand during the pandemic spurred a surge in orders for lumber, causing prices to more than quadruple to their May peak and fueling inflation concerns. Sawmills have since increased output, and a shortage of other building supplies such as siding and windows has slowed the pace of construction, said Brian Leonard, an analyst with RCM Alternatives. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Marcy Nicholson, Bloomberg

A Special CDJ Thanksgiving Edition

November 21, 2017 — Beverley BevenFlorez-CDJ STAFF
Welcome to the Construction Defect Journal’s special Thanksgiving edition. The CDJ staff has compiled the most important and interesting stories so far from 2017. From Supreme Court decisions to state construction defect law shake ups, this week’s edition showcases significant construction defect industry changes. With a mug of hot spiced cider in hand, relax and reflect on what has happened in our industry so far in 2017. CDJ wishes to give thanks to its amazing contributors and readers. It’s due to your efforts and support that CDJ is able to present a weekly summary of what is happening in the construction defect industry. We hope you enjoy this special edition, and wish you and your family a fun and festive Thanksgiving holiday. Read the court decision
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Blackstone to Buy Cosmopolitan Resort for $1.73 Billion

May 19, 2014 — Hui-yong Yu – Bloomberg
Deutsche Bank AG (DBK) agreed to sell the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas hotel and casino to Blackstone Group LP (BX) for $1.73 billion in cash, ending a six-year money-losing venture into casino development. “The bank is committed to reducing its non-core legacy positions in a capital-efficient manner which benefits shareholders,” Pius Sprenger, head of the Frankfurt-based lender’s non-core operations unit, said in a statement today. The division is selling and winding down assets that Deutsche Bank doesn’t consider to be central to its business. Germany’s largest lender foreclosed on the Cosmopolitan after developer Ian Bruce Eichner defaulted on a construction loan in January 2008, and has labeled it a temporary investment. The company was seeking more than $2 billion for the property, a person familiar with the situation said last month. Two others said it was valued at closer to $1.5 billion. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Hui-yong Yu, Bloomberg
Hui-yong Yu may be contacted at hyu@bloomberg.net

Federal Court of Appeals Signals an End to Project Labor Agreement Requirements Linked to Development Tax Credits

October 20, 2016 — Gregory R. Begg & Aaron C. Schlesinger – Peckar & Abramson, P.C.
What Action Should Owners, Developers and Contractors Take in Anticipation of Successful Challenges to PLA Requirements? Recently, a federal court in New Jersey issued a decision which very well may invalidate all Project Labor Agreements (“PLA’s”) entered into as a condition to receipt of tax incentives for private development. Tax incentives utilized to promote private development are different, according to the court, than typical public works projects where PLA requirements have generally been held valid. Owners, developers, contractors and governmental entities must assess the consequences of this decision upon contracts already and to be awarded in the future where tax benefits may be linked to a PLA requirement. In 1993, in what has become known as the Boston Harbor Case, the United States Supreme Court held that state and local governmental entities may condition the award of public works contracts on the contractor’s agreement to enter into PLA’s. That decision has been followed nationwide since then to uphold the validity of various state and local law bidding conditions requiring successful bidders to negotiate and enter into project labor agreements as a condition to the award of public works contracts. The rationale is that when the government, like any other private party, is participating in an economic market, it may exercise its discretion in setting terms and conditions it believes best suit its interests in the efficient procurement of goods and services in that market. Therefore, a PLA requirement by a governmental entity engaged in market activity is no more or less valid than a PLA requirement on a purely private project. Reprinted courtesy of Gregory R. Begg, Peckar & Abramson, P.C. Aaron C. Schlesinger, Peckar & Abramson, P.C. Mr. Begg may be contacted at gbegg@pecklaw.com Mr. Schlesinger may be contacted at aschlesinger@pecklaw.com Read the court decision
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SEATTLE WASHINGTON BUILDING EXPERT DIRECTORY AND CAPABILITIES