ConstructionForum 🕸

From Urban Land:  Turning a 50-year-old, 20-story office tower into a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum–certified building clearly required a deep retrofit. In 2017, when LaSalle Investment Management acquired 275 Slater Street in Ottawa, its underwriting included those next-level improvements. Whether a simple energy efficiency upgrade or a larger overhaul is needed, […]

From Geo Week News:  As an employer, the construction industry has had much to boast about compared to a white collar office environment. For example, high-paying apprenticeships allow young people to learn a skilled trade without incurring crippling student load debt, while a higher starting salary and union benefits provide greater quality of life. That said, demand […]

McCarthy Holdings, Inc., one of the nation’s premier construction companies and largest self-performing builders, is dedicating this week to celebrating the firm’s craft professional workforce. From Aug. 29-Sept. 1, McCarthy will host events on jobsites across the country to recognize the builder’s more than 4,000 craft professionals while spotlighting the importance of construction careers to […]

HDA Architects, one of the nation’s leading architectural, interiors and master planning firms, enhanced its leadership team with the recent promotions of Patrick Holleran, Brice Zickuhr and Angela Feddersen to Senior Principal, and Josh Goodman and Kent Wagster to Principal. As new or elevated Principals of the firm, these individuals join Jack Holleran, President of […]

by Tom Finan, Executive Director, Construction Forum Jack Thomas, Jr. was a big man, both physically and in character. That was a message that we heard over and over at his celebration of life service Sunday (Aug. 27) Downtown. We heard it from classmates, teammates, and politicians. We heard it from the Ngoma African Drummers […]

BW Design Group’s ControlTech Automation—a leading electrical equipment manufacturer that provides industrial control panels for packaging, process, facilities, utilities and other industrial applications—is proud to announce it commemorated the opening of its new manufacturing facility on August 3. A technician assembles a control panel at ControlTech Automation’s new manufacturing facility in Maryland Heights. The move […]

SLC3 presented its annual diversity and inclusion, best practices, and specialty awards Wednesday evening (Aug. 23) at its annual gala. SLC3 is an organization which was founded in 1971 by large construction buyers of construction to promote best practices. Its membership and activities today incorporate representatives from across design and construction professionals disciplines. Awards presented […]

From St. Louis Business Journal:  A BJC HealthCare hospital about an hour south of St. Louis in St. Francois County plans to add a new $21.3 million medical office building. BJC’s Parkland Health Center in Farmington plans to build add a 30,000-square-foot office building to house its primary care services, allowing the expansion of its […]

Wentzville-based Sal Valadez, director of diversity and outreach for the Missouri/Kansas Laborers District Council, recently joined Kansas City officials and others at a rally and press conference calling for action following the death of a worker on a city-subsidized project. On July 18th a worker performing asbestos abatement on the 14th floor at the former […]

A ribbon cutting on Wednesday, August 16, celebrated the official opening of St. Louis Downtown Airport’s new Ground Engine Run-Up and Compass Calibration Pad project. Representatives of St. Louis Downtown Airport, Bi-State Development, the Illinois Department of Transportation, state and local elected officials and invited guests were on hand for the ceremony, which took place […]

Bond Architects is proud to announce that we have been selected by the City of Crestwood for Pre-Referendum Design Services for the city’s proposed New Community Center and Pickleball/Family Games Complex in Whitecliff Park. Final design of the project will commence only if the Referendum passes in April 2024. The new Community Center and Pickleball/Family […]

From Bloomberg CityLab:  In 1960, two highway segments cut through majority-Black neighborhoods in Washington, DC. Interstates 395 and 695, known locally as the Southwest and Southeast freeways, forced the removal of at least 1,400 occupied housing units and ejected about 4,700 residents. That was just a small fraction of the total population that was displaced […]

From RiverBender:  Following a stormy summer, local linemen explain their jobs at Ameren and how they work to restore power after bad weather. Linemen install and repair electric lines throughout the year, but their job has additional risks after heavy rain or snow. When storms knock out power across the region, a crew will work […]

From The Bluebeam Blog:  I was a reluctant leader,” said Mashal Ali, CEO of Infra Tech Engineering LLC, based in New York City. “I didn’t imagine myself in this position and taking care of people in my home.” Ali was thrust into an engineering leadership role at an early age when her father, who founded […]

From West Newsmagazine:  The redevelopment of Chesterfield Mall is back on track – possibly. While the rezoning of the 96-acre property was requested to be postponed by The Staenberg Group (TSG), it ended up getting a first reading from the Chesterfield City Council on Aug. 21. An amendment to the developer’s request for a rezoning […]

From Leader Publications:  Eureka has the money in the bank for projects it promised would be funded by a half-cent sales tax approved in 2018. City Clerk Julie Wood said the city received $18,995,000 from a lease-purchase agreement on Tuesday. Eureka will pay off the loan with proceeds from the sales tax, which was called […]

From KMOV:  The Dome at America’s Center was filled to the brim Monday night, with the Beyoncé concert taking over downtown for the Renaissance Tour. But as all eyes and ears were falling dangerously in love at the Dome, crews were wrapping up another day of construction to expand the Convention Center. Only First Alert […]

From St. Louis/Southern Illinois Labor Tribune:  The U.S. Department of Labor has issued a final rule updating and modernizing the Davis-Bacon Act. The update, announced by the Biden Administration last week, represents the biggest expansion of Davis-Bacon prevailing wage in generations. The rule restores and strengthens the regulations that implement the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts […]

The City of St. Louis – Community Development Administration (CDA) has announced its first round of Neighborhood Transformation Grant awards, funded by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), as well its annual HUD funded Housing Production grants with $20.2 million committed towards the development of 952 units across the city. “The awarded projects demonstrate the […]

From Moxy:  It bears repeating: The construction industry continues to face a workforce shortage. About 650,000 workers were needed in 2022, in addition to the normal hiring pace, to meet demand. “With women comprising only 14% of the construction workforce, there is a tremendous opportunity to leverage this untapped pool of talent,” said Maribel Scarnecchia, […]