ConstructionForum 🕸

From St. Louis Business Journal: Recent news of major office landlords Brookfield Property Partners LP and Columbia Property Trust defaulting on loans for prominent U.S. office properties may’ve sent a shiver through an already anxious commercial real estate industry. But are they indicative of a looming threat? Some analysts who track the office market say it’s more likely […]

From Mid Rivers Newsmagazine:  Each year, the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) provides selected cities with Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds. For 2022, O’Fallon received a total of $342,652. That CDBG funding was budgeted and accounted for as part of O’Fallon overall city budget. Each city receiving those funds must […]

From Utility Dive: Dive Brief:  After watching solar installations decline 16% in 2022, solar industry analysts expect to see a rebound in 2023. But the year ahead is so uncertain that Wood Mackenzie has forecast three potential scenarios. The difference between the three scenarios is relatively small—with a roughly ten percent difference between the baseline scenarios […]

From WIRED: In Odessa, Texas, workers at a startup called SolarCycle unload trucks carrying end-of-life photovoltaic panels freshly picked from commercial solar farms across the United States. They separate the panels from the aluminum frames and electrical boxes, then feed them into machines that detach their glass from the laminated materials that have helped generate electricity […]

From The Business Journals: The homeownership gap between Black and white Americans continues to widen, underscoring how a whiplash housing market has disproportionately affected minority households. The National Association of Realtors recently found the homeownership rate of Black Americans has only grown 0.4% in the past decade and is nearly 29 percentage points less than white […]

From Webster-Kirkwood Times: With Des Peres’ only medical marijuana store awaiting approval to sell recreational marijuana, aldermen have elected to conduct a traffic study. Root 66, 12095 Manchester Road, received a conditional use permit in August 2022 to sell medical marijuana. Following passage of Missouri Amendment 3 in November 2022, the facility has since applied to […]

From The Telegraph: The Village of Glen Carbon has selected a new director of community development. Erika Heil will oversee the village’s building and zoning department and economic development initiatives. She brings to the job a wide range of economic development experience, working in Illinois and Missouri on local, state-wide and regional level programs. She will […]

From St. Louis Business Journal: The city of Crestwood is seeking ground-up redevelopment ideas for a shopping center across from the former mall site that is now being redeveloped into retail and single-family houses. Crestwood officials issued a request for proposals last week for the 8.8-acre Crestview Plaza at 9222 Watson Road, a shopping center that was anchored […]

From npr: There is a devastating story that Pascale Sablan sometimes tells when she talks about the experiences that have shaped who she’s become. It starts in a place of joy. In her case, Sablan remembers feeling elated as a teenage freshman at the Pratt Institute School of Architecture back in 2001 — long before she […]

by Tom Finan, Executive Director, Construction Forum In the weekend March 12th St. Louis Post-Dispatch, columnist Aisha Sultan called for state legislation bringing back driver’s ed in Missouri Schools. I am all for better-trained drivers in Missouri, on general principal. As a City of St. Louis resident for the last decade I tired of playing […]

HDA Architects, one of the nation’s leading architectural, interiors and master planning firms, recently hired two new architectural staff and promoted three integral team members as a result of continued growth. < Anthony Zinser, Senior Associate, brings eight years of experience to the firm with a strong portfolio in municipal, healthcare and first response facilities. […]

McClure Engineering, a St. Louis-based mechanical and electrical consulting engineering firm, promoted Alex Pugh, P.E. and Austin Strieker, P.E. to the position of Principal. In his new role, Pugh will continue to focus on developing McClure Engineering’s strength, partnering with architectural partners in pursuit of design and construction projects. Alternatively, Strieker will focus his efforts […]

Editor’s Note: This announcement, comprised of two videos and transcripts, was created for the employees of TJ Wies Contracting, and Construction Forum. From Tim Wies: In accordance with TJ Wies Contracting’s long term strategic plan, it is with great pride that I am announcing that Cameron Wies is assuming the office of President and Chief […]

From St. Louis Business Journal:  A developer hopes to create a new “arts district” by the Kirkwood Performing Arts Center, centered around the developer’s planned luxury condominium complex near the theater. Condo developer Mark Mehlman plans a five-story, 42-unit luxury condominium complex on 1.5 acres at 120-150 E. Monroe, across the street from the 38,000-square-foot Kirkwood […]

From Construction Dive:  Strong job openings, wage growth and robust investment into equipment, IT and overall plant construction indicate the U.S. economy should avoid a recession this year, said Ken Simonson, chief economist for Associated General Contractors of America, during an AGC webinar on the construction outlook. Manufacturing and infrastructure projects, boosted by the Infrastructure Investment and […]

From NEXTSTL:  AHM Group is proposing what would be their third new construction development along Morgan Ford in the Tower Grove South neighborhood. The four-story apartment building would be at the corner of Morgan Ford and Juniata. The architect is JEMA who were the architects for AHM’s other two developments nearby, MoFo and Yio. AHM already has ownership of the existing buildings at […]

From HOK:  CITYPARK, the home of St. Louis CITY SC, opened its doors for its first Major League Soccer (MLS) game on March 4. Media outlets, including Fast Company, Sportico and Sports Business Journal, gave rave reviews of the city’s new soccer stadium. Designed by HOK and Snow Kreilich Architects, the 22,500-seat stadium, anchors a mixed-use […]

From Construction Dive:  It’s no secret that construction has a problem recruiting and retaining women. A new survey from the nonprofit National Center for Construction Education & Research highlights the unique benefits women bring to construction, obstacles they encounter getting into and staying in the industry and advice on what contractors can do about it. The need for […]

From St. Louis Business Journal:  A bank is seeking a receiver for another hotel in downtown St. Louis, a move that could show a lack of confidence in the market, according to an analyst. Saint Louis Bank on Thursday asked the St. Louis Circuit Court to appoint a receiver for the 88-room boutique Hotel Indigo, 501 […]

From Construction Dive:  Dive Brief:After posting a steep decline to begin 2023, the Dodge Momentum Index rebounded 1.9% in February, providing further evidence that an economic soft landing could be in the cards for construction. The uptick in the DMI, a forward-looking gauge of construction planning, was led by a 2.9% increase in the institutional component. […]