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COMMERCE CITY - Last year, voters approved a bond initiative to allow the Commerce City Northern Infrastructure General Improvement District to issue bonds for the widening of East 104th Avenue between Highway 85 and E-470. Phase 1 of this project has been broken into five separate segments. Initial work was on 104th Avenue from Walden Street to, and including, Tower Road. This phase was completed in July. Work on the remaining phases involving 104th will begin in the coming weeks, and is scheduled to be completed in the spring of 2007. The second phase will include work on 104th from Tower Road to E-470; phase 3 is from Highway 2 to the eastern limits of the Turnberry Subdivision; phase 4 is from the O'Brian Canal to the BNSF railroad; and phase 5 is 104th Avenue at, and including Highway 2.
THE dearth of funds has been variously fingered as the major problem besetting the construction industry. The plethora of uncompleted and abandoned projects that dot the nation's landscape has often been traced to this factor. Indigenous construction companies have been worst hit, hence, many of them have folded up, giving way to multinational construction companies who are often backed financially by their home governments. Both the Federal and state governments have often hinged their preference for expatriate construction companies on the fact that their indigenous counterparts lack the equipment to execute complex jobs. But how can they effectively compete with these offshore funded companies when borrowing from commercial banks is usually at cut-throat interest rates. Built environment professionals who have been badly affected by this scenario have not rested on their oars in a bid to float a specialized bank that would be sympathetic to the cause of construction industry operators.
The School District of Manatee County is accepting statements of qualifications from firms for Construction Management at Risk Services for Manatee High School-Davis Building-Remodeling and Renovation. The Davis Building was constructed circa 1926 and had renovation work performed in the 1980's and 1990's. Scope of work will include structural issues as well as systems, cosmetic, and functional remodeling and renovation. The total project budget is $10,000,000.00.
The applicant must be certified to perform the work in the State of Florida at the time of application. Further, if a corporation, the applicant must be registered by the Department of State, Division of Corporations, to operate in the State of Florida at the time of the application.
The selection will be made in accordance with State Requirements for Educational Facilities (SREF), as may be amended, Florida Statute 287.055, and the School Board of Manatee County's procedures and criteria.
EAST BRUNSWICK: Kara Homes, Inc. one of the state's largest private home builders of condominiums and active-adult communities, is anticipating filing for bankruptcy.
Patrick W. Turner, the general counsel for Kara, said yesterday that the company terminated some personnel on Tuesday because it is "trying to restructure'' the payroll.
"We are trying to become more profitable,'' Turner said, without disclosing what sort of financial trouble the homebuilder is experiencing.
Kara Homes sent a memo to several employees indicating that "the company anticipates filing Chapter 11.''
Employees would be eligible to file for unemployment benefits, according to the letter sent by Roberta W. Schultz, the company's vice president of Human Resources and Organizational Development.
Thieves made off with $8.6 million after they broke into the office of the company working on a section of the North Coast Highway, Phil Construction Limited at Lanhumley, St. Mary.
According to the police the thieves gained entry to the premises between Thursday night and Friday morning, by breaking a glass door at the back of the premises.They removed a safe containing JA$3 million, $4.7 million in cheques and US$14,000.Constable Angella McTaggart of the Constabulary Communication Newtwork told RJR News that the security guards on the site are being questioned by the police. Phil Construction is responsible for the segment of the North Coast Highway Improvement project which runs from Port Antonio to Ocho Rios, St. Ann. .
DiVosta scored highest in customer satisfaction among home builders in Palm Beach, Martin and St. Lucie counties, according to a J.D. Power and Associates survey. Minto Builders and G.L. Homes ranked second and third. The study, released Wednesday, ranked home builders who sold at least 150 homes last year in 34 of the largest markets in the country. Despite the good scores of some builders, buyers in Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast — which made up one market in the survey — experienced an average of 15 problems with their new homes, one more problem than the national average. The most frequent problems faced by local home buyers involved landscaping, the quality of kitchen cabinets, and cracks in sidewalks, driveways and foundations.
Jonathan D. Corpina of Meridan Equity Partners, Inc., looks at a monitor on the trading floor at the New York Stock Exchange just before the closing bell rings, Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2006. Wall Street barreled higher Wednesday, propelling the Dow Jones industrials to their second straight record high close as investors shrugged off lackluster economic news and grew more optimistic that the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates as the economy cools. (AP Photo/David Karp) .
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