Seattle Washington Building Expert Directory

A Discussion on Home Affordability

April 08, 2014 — Beverley BevenFlorez-CDJ STAFF
Krishna Rao, in the online publication Zillow Real Estate Research, analyzed statistics on home price affordability across the United States. Rao found that “[a]cross the United States, strong home price affordability has been recently eroded by a combination of rising home prices and mortgage rates. Some areas, particularly on the West Coast, have begun to look unaffordable compared to their historic norms, forcing some household to look to the periphery of urban areas in search of affordable homes.” However, John McManus in Big Builder said a more helpful term when looking at the new home market would be “relative affordability (which inheres both payment power and access to credit).” “Little attention has been given to the fact that many builders' mix--first- and second-time move-up and higher end homes.” McManus wrote that this “has skewed pricing conversations. When the buyer is ‘discretionary,’ has access to cash and no impediment of another property to sell in order to trigger a purchase--then both base price and price elasticity can be greater.” Read the full story, Zillow... Read the full story, Big Builder... Read the court decision
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Appeals Court Rules that Vertical and Not Horizontal Exhaustion Applies to Primary and First-Layer Excess Insurance

August 31, 2020 — Christopher Kendrick & Valerie A. Moore – Haight Brown & Bonesteel LLP
In Santa Fe Braun v. Ins. Co. of North America (No. A151428, filed 7/13/20), a California appeals court relied on Montrose Chemical Corp. of California v. Superior Court (2020) 9 Cal.5th 215 (Montrose III), to hold that absent express policy wording to the contrary, horizontal exhaustion of all primary insurance is not required in order to trigger first-layer excess coverage. Beginning in 1992, Braun was sued for asbestos injuries from refineries it constructed and maintained. Braun had primary coverage and multiple layers of excess coverage for the relevant time period. After defending for years, the primary insurers reached a settlement under which they paid their limits into a trust which would fund the ongoing defense and settlements. Certain of the excess insurers settled and also contributed to the trust. Reprinted courtesy of Christopher Kendrick, Haight Brown & Bonesteel LLP and Valerie A. Moore, Haight Brown & Bonesteel LLP Mr. Kendrick may be contacted at ckendrick@hbblaw.com Ms. Moore may be contacted at vmoore@hbblaw.com Read the court decision
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Construction Up in Northern Ohio

October 02, 2013 — CDJ STAFF
Crain’s Cleveland Business reports that both commercial and residential construction have seen spending increases in the last twelve months. The gain was only 5.4%, but it’s still welcome in the area. “It’s been quiet so long, it wouldn’t take much to generate an upturn,” according to Tom Laird, of Gilbane Building Co. Some of the upturn comes from new building at universities and hospitals, but the corporate sector is also starting new project. Finally, the city of Cleveland is looking for proposals to develop parcels on their waterfront. Still, some are wary. “It might just be a bubble,” said Jason Jones, the general manager of Turner Construction’s Cleveland office. Read the court decision
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Note on First-Party and Third-Party Spoliation of Evidence Claims

October 30, 2018 — David Adelstein - Florida Construction Legal Updates
In an earlier posting, I talked about spoliation of evidence. This posting discussed first-party spoliation of evidence which is where a party in a lawsuit has destroyed or lost potentially important documents or evidence. This type of spoliation of evidence does not give rise to an affirmative claim, but could be addressed by the trial court imposing sanctions or giving the devastating adverse inference jury instruction. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of David Adelstein, Kirwin Norris
Mr. Adelstein may be contacted at dma@kirwinnorris.com

Hudson River PCB Cleanup Lands Back in Court

September 03, 2019 — Mary B. Powers - Engineering News-Record
As it previously had warned, New York state on Aug. 21 filed a federal lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency seeking to reverse its certification that General Electric Co.'s removal of PCBs from the Hudson River was complete, despite the agency’s five-year review finding that the cleanup was not adequate to protect human health and the environment. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Mary B. Powers, ENR
ENR may be contacted at ENR.com@bnpmedia.com

FEMA Offers to Review Hurricane Sandy Claims

May 20, 2015 — Beverley BevenFlorez-CDJ STAFF
According to NJ, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will be sending 141,800 letters to homeowners offering to review their Hurricane Sandy claims to see if the homeowners had been shortchanged. Homeowners who do not wish to wait for their letter can call 866-337-4262 or download a form online, reported NJ. If after the initial FEMA review the homeowner remains unsatisfied, he or she can request an additional review by an independent party. Read the court decision
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ASCE's Architectural Engineering Institute Announces Winners of 2021 AEI Professional Project Award

April 19, 2021 — American Society of Civil Engineers
RESTON, Va. – The American Society of Civil Engineers' (ASCE) Architectural Engineering Institute (AEI) is pleased to announce the 100 Mount Street project by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and Billie Jean King Main Library, also by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill as Best Overall Projects winners for AEI's Professional Project Awards. The 100 Mount Street project won the award Best Overall Project Over $100 Million, while the Billie Jean King Main Library won the award for Best Overall Project Under $100 Million. Traditionally, AEI announces project winners during its in-person annual Awards Banquet; however, ASCE held the banquet virtually this year to follow CDC guidelines which suggest avoiding large gatherings. The AEI Professional Project Award recognizes outstanding achievements in design and construction by honoring the art and science of an integrated approach to architectural engineering. The program focuses on high performance buildings including structural, mechanical, electrical and lighting systems as well as construction management and architectural engineering integration. Projects are evaluated on originality and innovative character, integration and collaboration, sustainability, energy efficiency and economics, effective use of technology and constructability and site logistics. ABOUT THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CIVIL ENGINEERS Founded in 1852, the American Society of Civil Engineers represents more than 150,000 civil engineers worldwide and is America's oldest national engineering society. ASCE works to raise awareness of the need to maintain and modernize the nation's infrastructure using sustainable and resilient practices, advocates for increasing and optimizing investment in infrastructure, and improve engineering knowledge and competency. For more information, visit www.asce.org and follow us on Twitter, @ASCETweets and @ASCEGovRel. About ASCE's Architectural Engineering Institute Established in 1998, AEI is the premier organization for architectural engineering, promoting an integrated, multi-disciplinary approach to planning, design, construction and operation of buildings, by encouraging innovation, collaboration and excellence in practice, education and research of architectural engineering. For more information, visit www.asce.org/aei. Read the court decision
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Senior Housing Surplus Seen as Boomers Spur Building Boom

May 19, 2014 — Brian Louis – Bloomberg
Real estate developers are betting big on U.S. housing for the elderly, preparing for a surge in demand as the population of senior citizens almost doubles in the next 35 years. They may be building too fast. A jump in supply is forecast to cut growth in senior-housing net operating income to 1.8 percent in 2015 and 1.4 percent in 2016 from 3.3 percent this year, according to Green Street Advisors Inc. The increase may hurt health-care real estate investment trusts and companies including Brookdale Senior Living Inc. (BKD), which is buying competitor Emeritus Corp. (ESC) for about $1.4 billion to become the biggest owner of senior properties, the research firm said. “Increased supply is always worrisome in any type of commercial real estate,” said Jim Sullivan, a managing director at Newport Beach, California-based Green Street. “In senior housing, new construction has ramped up considerably over the last two years.” Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Brian Louis, Bloomberg
Mr. Louis may be contacted at blouis1@bloomberg.net

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