Articles Posted in Construction Generally

Instead of sexist catcalls, construction works yell: “I’d like to show you the respect you deserve!” “A woman’s place is where she chooses!” “You know what I’d like to see? A society in which the objectification of women makes way for gender-neutral interaction free from assumptions and expectations” in a real-world extension of Snickers’ “You’re not you when you’re hungry” campaign. Check out the YouTube video titled Aussie Builders surprise public with loud empowering statements.

Additional Resource: AdWeek, Construction Workers Yell Messages of Empowerment to Women in Snickers Stunt … So when you’re hungry, you’re not a creep?

Today, Pillsbury attorneys Ken Taber and Teresa Lewi published their advisory titled Update: Amendments to New York City’s Paid Sick Leave Law Changes Effective April 1st Expand Obligations for Employers. The Advisory reports that New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio signed into law amendments to the Earned Sick Time Act that impose additional requirements on almost all private employers in the City, with enforcement set to begin on April 1st. It also discusses the new requirements.

Additional Sources: New York Employers Face Far-Reaching Employment Law Changes in 2014

Today, Pillsbury attorneys Mark Jones and Matt Ryan posted their advisory titled Health Care Reform Update: Employers Must Begin Reporting Details of Health Coverage to IRS. The Advisory discusses the significant new reporting requirements applicable to employers providing self-insured group health coverage to their employees and to other, large and mid-size employers subject to the shared responsibility (or “Pay or Play”) rules under the Affordable Care Act. It further discusses recently finalized regulations that explain the requirements and provide certain employers with opportunities to reduce their reporting burden. The reporting regime will become effective on January 1, 2015, relying in part on data collected in 2014.

Additional Resources: IRS Releases Final Regulations on “Pay or Play” (Feb. 25, 2014); Health Care Reform Update: Large Employers Must Offer Health Coverage or Pay Assessment (Jan. 22, 2013)

UPDATE: Chief Executive Magazine, Best & Worst States for Business (May 2014) — In the 10th annual survey of CEOs, over 500 CEOs across the U.S. graded states with which they were familiar on a variety of measures, including the tax and regulatory regime, the quality of the workforce and the quality of the living environment. Texas continues its 10-year historical position as the best state overall.

Downtown Austin is buzzing with hotel construction and other development activities, as recently recognized by the New York Times in its article Austin, Tex., Stands Out in Hotel Recovery That Has Hugged Coasts (Oct. 1, 2013) and, more recently, the Austin Business Journal in its article Fairmont Austin Developer names general contractor; project appears on track (Mar. 18, 2014).

There are reportedly numerous hotel and other projects currently under construction and in the planning phase in downtown Austin.

The New York Times article highlighted hotel projects under construction and other projects in the pipeline:

“A $300 million JW Marriott hotel, the biggest JW Marriott in the country and the city’s biggest hotel at 1.2 million square feet, is under construction on a full block near the Capitol. Developers broke ground on a Westin over the summer and a $350 million Fairmont will be going up a few blocks away.

Eight hotels containing almost 4,000 rooms are scheduled to open across Austin within the next three years, making the Texas capital one of the most active markets in the country for new hotel construction.”

It noted that, although developers across the nation may be “skittish,” delaying new hotels “until the economy returns to health, and financing does, too,” in Austin, “developers aren’t that wary.”

In turn, the Austin Business Journal recently confirmed that developer Manchester Texas Financial Group LLC has announced that it has awarded Hunt Construction Group the $247 million construction contract for development of the Fairmont Austin downtown. It reported that “[t]he total value of the 47-story project to be built at Cesar Chavez and Red River streets is $370 million.” Characterizing Austin as a “robust hospitality market,” it confirmed that “[d]owntown Austin is buzzing with hotel construction activity.” It highlighted projects under construction and in the pipeline as well:

“In addition to the JW Marriott Austin, the Westin Downtown Austin also is under construction along with Hotel Van Zandt in the Rainey Street District. The status of construction of the proposed Hotel Zaza at 401 Guadalupe St. is unknown at this time. Several other boutique hotels have been announced, mostly around Rainey Street and in East Austin.”

Downtown Austin Alliance’s webpage identifies other planned and under construction projects:

• Republic Square, Phase II – Planned
• Travis County DA Office Building – Planned
• Texas PTA – Planned
• Holiday Inn Hotel – Mixed Use Project – Planned
• New Travis County Civil & Family Courthouse – Planned
• Texas Public Policy Foundation Office Building – Planned
• Gables Republic Park/Hotel Zaza – Planned
• Dell Medical School & Teaching Hospital At UT Austin – Planned
• Mexic-Arte Museum – Planned
• Waterloo Park Tower – Planned
• Episcopal Church National Archives – Planned
• Trinity Place – Planned
• 416 Congress – Planned
• 5th and Brazos – Planned
• West Campus Apartments – Under Construction
• Hyatt Ballroom and Parking Structure – Under Construction
• Capitol Studios – Under Construction
• Colorado Tower – Under Construction
• Stubb’s Green Building – Under Construction
• Waller Creek Flood Diversion Tunnel – Under Construction
• IBC Bank Plaza – Under Construction
• New Central Library – Under Construction

Additional Sources: Austin Business Journal, Hotel Van Zandt breaks ground on Rainey Street (Aug. 22, 2013)

Photo: Stuart Seeger, Austin Texas Lake Front – Creative Commons

CalChamber recently announced that workshops will be conducted throughout the state by the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) to help businesses to learn how to apply the new California Competes Tax Credit. This credit is an income tax credit available to businesses–both large and small–that want to relocate to or stay and grow in California. GO-Biz expects to begin accepting applications during the first quarter of 2014. For more information on the California Competes Tax Credit read GO-Biz Finalizes Proposed California Competes Tax Credit Regulations.

California Competes Tax Credit workshops are scheduled for the following dates and locations:

Sacramento: Wednesday, March 19
New City Hall 915 I Street, Council Chambers Sacramento, CA 95814 9 am-10 am
Redding: Wednesday, March 19
Redding Council Chambers 777 E. Cypress Avenue Redding, CA 96001 5 pm -6 pm
Fairfield: Thursday, March 20
City of Fairfield 2490 Hilborn Road #108
Fairfield, CA 94533 9 am-10 am
Oakland: Thursday, March 20
Oakland City Hall Council Chamber 1 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza Oakland, CA 94612 1:30 pm -2:30 pm
Salinas: Thursday, March 20
Salinas City Rotunda 200 Lincoln Avenue Salinas, CA 93901 6 pm to 7 pm
Fresno: Friday, March 21
2331 Fresno Street Fresno, CA 93721 10:30 am-11:30 am
Stockton: Friday, March 21
56 S Lincoln St Stockton, CA 95203 3 pm-4 pm
Los Angeles: Tuesday, March 25
200 N. Spring Street 27th Floor – Tom Bradley Rm Los Angeles, CA 90012 1:30 pm -2:30 pm
Ontario: Wednesday, March 26
2500 S. Archibald Ave, Rm. 2 Ontario, CA 91761 10 am-11 am
Anaheim: Wednesday, March 26
201 S. Anaheim Blvd Gordon Hoyt Conference Room Anaheim, CA 92805 1:30 pm-2:30 pm
San Diego: Thursday, March 27th
402 West Broadway, Ste. 1000 San Diego, CA 92101 10 am-11 am
San Francisco: Friday, March 28
235 Montgomery Street, Ste. 760 San Francisco, CA 94104 10 am-11 am

California Competes Tax Credit online webinars are scheduled for the following dates:

Wednesday March 19
1 pm-2 pm Register Here

Tuesday, April 1
11 am-noon Register Here

Photo: TaxCredits.net – Creative Commons

UPDATES: Sacramento Business Journal, Sacramento Republic FC adds to ownership roster (Oct. 6, 2014); The Sacramento Bee, Sacramento’s new soccer stadium will be named after Bonney Plumbing (Apr. 21, 2014); The Sacramento Bee, Five questions to ponder as Republic FC begins its inaugural season (Mar. 28, 2014); Sacramento Business Journal, Work begins on soccer stadium (Mar. 18, 2014); 2014 Season Tickets Deposits

Inaugural game at Hughes Stadium on Saturday, April 29, 2014:

It was recently confirmed that the Cal Expo Board of Directors voted unanimously for the agreement between Ovations Fanfare LLC (Ovations), a food service company that is a subsidiary of national sports and entertainment giant Comcast Spectacor, and Cal Expo to construct an 8,000-seat multi-use sports facility. Sacramento Republic FC, the recently formed professional soccer team, will be one of the groups hosting its home matches at the facility.

The facility will be located on the California State Fair grounds, approximately 2 miles from downtown Sacramento. It “will feature a soccer-specific full pitch or field with dimensions for international soccer (120 x 80 yards), and serve as the home pitch for the Sacramento Republic FC soccer club. Plans include using it for other events such as concerts as well.

Construction of the facility is expected to take 2 to 3 months. Although the USL PRO schedule includes 14 home matches, the Sacramento Republic FC’s first five games are away games, starting with a March 29 game in Los Angeles against LA Galaxy II. The Sacramento Republic FC’s home opener versus the Harrisburg City Islander is scheduled for April 26. If the facility has not been completed by then, a few home games may be played at Hughes Stadium at Sacramento City College.

It was reported that Ovations “will operate the stadium for the Republic” and “will pay rent of whichever is more: 20 percent of revenue or $75,000 annually, until the $3 million investment is recouped.” When it has recovered its investment, the facility will be owned by Cal Expo.

Additional Resources: Sacramento Business Journal, Cal Expo board approves stadium for Sacramento Republic (Feb. 28, 2014); Sacramento Republic FC, Cal Expo Multi-Use Facility Update and Its Impact (Feb. 28, 2014); The Sacramento Bee, Tentative deal reached to build Cal Expo soccer stadium (Feb. 20, 2014); KCRA, Sacramento professional soccer team reveals name (Jul. 18, 2013)

Photo: Matt Rickard, Taken Apr. 29, 2014; Jarrett Campbell, Taken Mar. 28, 2007 – Creative Commons

Today, Pillsbury attorney Ray Sweigart posted his advisory titled English Contract Law: Your Word May Still be Your Bond. The advisory discusses English law on oral contracts and the English courts’ willingness to find that binding contracts have been made despite the lack of a final writing and signature.

Not only is the government out to sting contractors (as noted by G2G’s Amy Pierce here), now Hollywood is too. Rima Suqi’s New York Times interview, “Getting Contractors to Man Up” (subscription required if you’ve used up your free articles) notes that SpikeTV has a new show about bad apple contractors. Hosted by Adam Carolla (who you may remember from “Loveline” and “The Man Show”), the show is geared toward helping homeowners who have hired contractors whose work has been sub-par. The show lures unsuspecting contractors to a decoy house on the premise of providing a bid, and then surprises them with a camera crew. The contractors are then offered a choice–fix the work under the show’s supervision, return the money they were paid by the homeowner, or face a court battle with the homeowner in which the show will assist the homeowner. Not surprisingly, according to the interview, most contractors choose to finish the job.

“To Catch a Contractor” premieres this Sunday, March 9, at 10 p.m./9 p.m. Central. You can find out more about the show at Spike TV’s site here. Am I the only one hoping at least one contractor will choose the court option?