Construction is booming. All that activity is good news, but it also means there’s a lot to keep track of. To help you stay abreast of what’s happening in the industry, here’s a roundup of recent construction news.
- 2018 is set to be a good year for construction. Construction Dive reports that more growth is expected for the industry in the following year. After a few months of declines, the Dodge Momentum Index is up again. November saw an increase of 13.9 percent from October, and was up 21 percent compared to November 2016. The current growth is being taken as a good sign for next year.
- New York City construction companies are being charged with wage theft. According to Construction Dive, multiple construction companies have been charged with stealing more than $2.5 million in wages. The alleged wage theft has occurred in multiple ways, from a lack of compensation for overtime to bounced checks to a complete failure to pay, and immigrant workers have been the most vulnerable.
- Demand outpaces industrial construction in New Jersey. Bisnow reports that at 11.2 million square feet, industrial deliveries for 2017 have more than doubled the figures for 2016. Despite the rapid growth, demand – and rents – have continued to climb, and this trend is not expected to reverse in the near future.
- 2017 is a record-breaking year for skyscrapers. Based on a study from the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBHU), Curbed reports that a record-breaking total of 144 skyscrapers at least 200 meters tall each were built in 2017. Of the new skyscrapers, 10 were constructed in the United States, and four of these were constructed in New York. The Executive Director of CTBUH, Antony Wood, attributed the increase in skyscraper construction to a greater perception of high-rise buildings as “the accepted global model for densification as more than one million people on our planet urbanize each week.”
- Airport construction receives funding. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey approved just under $500 million for projects related to Newark Liberty International Airport’s massive $2.3 billion Terminal A Redevelopment Program. The program to develop a terminal, expected to open in 2021, is projected to create more than 10,000 jobs.
- Sexual harassment allegations hit the construction industry. While allegations of sexual misconduct have been leading to high-profile resignations and firings among celebrities and politicians, the New York Daily News reports that the construction industry is not immune. The article describes accounts of sexual harassment.
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