Skanska Tops Out Virginia Tech’s $292M Mitchell Hall
Skanska topped out Mitchell Hall, a $292M, 285,500 sf engineering facility at Virginia Tech. At about $1,020 per square foot, the cost is program, not excess.
Jackson Health Opens Phase One of Its $400M Miami ER Expansion
Skanska completed a 178,000 sf first phase of Jackson Health’s $400M Miami emergency department expansion, with 60+ exam rooms and a full radiology suite.
A Philadelphia Judge Adds $42.4M to Tutor Perini’s W Hotel Bill
A Philadelphia judge ordered Tutor Perini to pay $42.4M to curtain wall sub Ventana DBS, finding the GC concealed concrete defects on the W Hotel tower.
Contech Funding Is Concentrating on AI, and Higharc Just Raised $95M
Higharc raised $95M for AI homebuilding, Xpanner $18M for robotic earthmoving and Agave $15M for construction financials. The capital is chasing narrow AI.
Turner Lands $282M Modernization of Greenville’s Bon Secours Wellness Arena
Turner won a $282M construction manager contract to modernize the Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, S.C., adding a 6,500-seat amphitheater.
Strip Out Data Centers and Private Nonresidential Has Fallen Seven Straight Months
May’s indicators looked good in aggregate. Underneath, private nonresidential spending fell for a seventh month and input costs rose at the fastest annual pace since the pandemic.
Five Years After Surfside, Snapshot Inspections Are Still the Standard
Milestone inspections and reserve studies were the right response to Champlain Towers South. Structural engineer Greg Batista argues they still leave years-long blind spots.
LEED v5 Is Now the Only Option, and Embodied Carbon Is a Prerequisite
As of July 1, every new LEED project registers under v5, which makes embodied carbon assessment a prerequisite and requires a 20% cut for Platinum.
Meta Takes a 1-Gigawatt AI Data Center to Alberta for $9 Billion
Meta’s first Canadian data center is a 1-gigawatt, $9B AI campus in Sturgeon County, Alberta, a bet on prairie power and permitting while U.S. grids clog.
DOL Sets an October Deadline on the Independent Contractor Rule
Federal agencies filed timelines with OMB: a final independent contractor rule in October, a tip-credit proposal in August, and an EEOC move to end EEO-1 reporting.
Ferrovial’s Cintra Says P3s Are the Only Way to Close the Highway Funding Gap
Cintra’s Alberto Gonzalez argues the gap between U.S. infrastructure needs and public funds keeps widening, and that P3s are the tool for accelerating critical projects.
The Labor Market Is Stuck on ‘Low Hire, Low Fire’ and Construction Feels It
The Conference Board’s Employment Trends Index fell a second straight month and 22.5% of consumers say jobs are hard to get, the highest reading since January 2021.
America’s Tallest Mass Timber Tower Is Headed to a Foreclosure Sale
A judge granted C.D. Smith a default foreclosure judgment on Neutral’s Edison in Milwaukee, once billed as the tallest mass timber building in America.
Suffolk Is Embedding AI Engineers on Project Teams, Not Buying Software
Suffolk’s Jobsite of the Future program pairs AI engineers with project teams by sector, betting that consistent data capture matters more than the model you pick.
Acciona Buys 80% of Georgia’s Vertical Earth to Plant a Flag in Atlanta
Acciona is acquiring 80% of Cumming, Georgia-based Vertical Earth, a $217M-revenue infrastructure builder, and making Atlanta the hub of its U.S. infrastructure division.
Envelope-First Retrofits Are the Precondition for Electrifying Old Buildings
Put a heat pump in a leaky building and you get a leaky building with a heat pump. ASHRAE panelists argue envelope work has to come first, and the ACEEE numbers back them.
High-Speed Rail Turns to Private Capital as California’s Funding Gap Hits $87B
California High-Speed Rail needs $126B and has $39.3B. Its answer is a $25M co-development deal with private investors — a move critics call an engineering contract in disguise.
Rays Open CMAR Search for $2.3B Tampa Ballpark, Builder Named by Aug. 14
The Tampa Bay Rays issued an RFQ for a construction manager at risk on their $2.3B ballpark. Qualifications are due July 28; the builder gets named August 14.