Southern Delta Construction

05/10/2018

CHARLESTON, SC (WCSC) - The Charleston Fire Marshal says construction crews accidentally sparked a fire in a vacant condo Tuesday afternoon.Firefighters responded to the fire at 33 Calhoun

12/15/2016

BUSINESS
Construction Backlog Expands in Q3 Following Two Quarters of Decline
DEC 13, 2016 SOURCE: ASSOCIATED BUILDERS AND CONTRACTORS INC.
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The Middle States collectively posted their highest-ever backlog for a third consecutive quarter. Backlog in the West declined during the third quarter and is now at its lowest level since the first quarter of 2015. Backlog in the South continues to rise and remain at lofty levels.

Photo credit: Associated Builders and Contractors Inc.

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Overall backlog expanded to 8.7 months, up 2% from the second quarter and 2.2% (0.2 months) on a year-over-year basis.

Photo credit: Associated Builders and Contractors Inc.

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Commercial/institutional backlog expanded by nearly 4% during the second quarter. Average backlog in the heavy industrial category fell to 6.6 months during the third quarter. Backlog in the infrastructure category expanded for the first time in 2016 during the third quarter.

Photo credit: Associated Builders and Contractors Inc.

Screen Shot 2016 12 13 at 12 21 44 PM 58503e8d247ea
The Middle States collectively posted their highest-ever backlog for a third consecutive quarter. Backlog in the West declined during the third quarter and is now at its lowest level since the first quarter of 2015. Backlog in the South continues to rise and remain at lofty levels.

Photo credit: Associated Builders and Contractors Inc.

Screen Shot 2016 12 13 at 12 22 03 PM 58503e8e0ede4
Overall backlog expanded to 8.7 months, up 2% from the second quarter and 2.2% (0.2 months) on a year-over-year basis.

Photo credit: Associated Builders and Contractors Inc.

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Construction backlog expanded during the third quarter, led by strong growth in the commercial/industrial sector, according to Associated Builders and Contractors’ (ABC) Construction Backlog Indicator (CBI). The increase during the third quarter follows two quarters of decline in backlog — the amount of work under contract but yet to be performed — that led to speculation that growth in the country’s nonresidential construction industry was slowing.

Overall backlog expanded to 8.7 months, up 2% from the second quarter and 2.2% (0.2 months) on a year-over-year basis.

“Despite growing concern that certain commercial segments in a handful of major U.S. cities are on the path to overbuilding, commercial construction backlog improved during the summer of 2016,” said ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “The ongoing expansion of spending on healthcare has also helped to expand institutional construction volumes.

“However, exports have been sagging in the context of a disappointing global economic recovery and strong dollar,” said Basu. “Business investment in the U.S. has been weak, though there have been more recent indications of improvement. This improvement was not fully apparent in third quarter data, and industrial construction backlog declined during the quarter.

“Perhaps the biggest news is that infrastructure-related backlog is on the rise,” said Basu. “Despite the passage of a federal highway bill in 2015 and a growing consensus that America’s expanding infrastructure deficits must be aggressively countered, infrastructure spending in America has been in decline for much of 2016. According to U.S. Census Bureau data, over the past year public spending has declined in water and sewer categories, the highway and street segment, public safety and in transportation. The rise in backlog suggests that this negative trend will soon turn positive. The outcome of the most recent presidential and congressional elections renders the outlook for near-term infrastructure spending more promising.

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Regional readings

Backlog in the Middle States expanded on its previous record high by 4.1% during the third quarter after struggling to maintain stability as energy prices plummeted. During the early stages of the recovery, higher energy prices resulted in vast amounts of investment in energy exploration and distribution activities. These activities were disproportionately concentrated in the Middle States. Since mid-2014, energy prices have been in general decline, which resulted in reduced energy investment and a concomitant decline in backlog in certain communities. More recently, energy prices have stabilized, which helps explain the recent upticks in regional backlog.

Regional highlights

The Middle States collectively posted their highest-ever backlog for a third consecutive quarter. Backlog is nearly two months higher than it was a year ago. A still strong auto sector has helped. Detroit-area backlog remains strong, in part because low energy prices have fueled sales of SUVs and light trucks, many of which are assembled in Michigan.
Backlog in the West declined during the third quarter and is now at its lowest level since the first quarter of 2015. The region has lost more than a month of backlog during the past year, more than any of the other three regions. This is at least partially explained by a slowdown in the pace of construction driven by large technology companies.
Backlog in the South continues to rise and remain at lofty levels, in part because of large-scale construction in cities like Charleston, S.C., Atlanta, Miami and Dallas.
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Industry breakdown

America’s consumer-led economic recovery continues to translate into opportunities for construction firms specializing in office, hotel, distribution center and healthcare segments. Recent data indicate the U.S. manufacturing sector is beginning to regain some of its strength despite a weak global economy and strong U.S. dollar, which will likely translate into higher industrial segment backlog going forward.

Industry highlights

Commercial/institutional backlog expanded by nearly 4% during the second quarter. This is a segment that has been impacted by tightening lending standards for commercial real estate developers. Despite those headwinds, commercial/institutional contractors generally report that backlog remains healthy and stable.
Average backlog in the heavy industrial category fell to 6.6 months during the third quarter, more than offsetting the segment’s second quarter gains. Industrial backlog is precisely where it was at the beginning of 2014.
Backlog in the infrastructure category expanded for the first time in 2016 during the third quarter. Despite small setbacks in infrastructure backlog during the first and second quarters, the segment’s backlog remains elevated by historic standards. The nation’s appetite for stepped-up infrastructure spending appears to have grown, which should translate into rising backlog sometime in the future.
Company size trends

Backlog at the nation’s largest contractors — those firms with annual revenues in excess of $100 million — decreased for the first time since the first quarter of 2015. That said, backlog among large firms remains near all-time highs. Firms with revenues between $30 and $50 million continued to lose backlog at a rapid rate, a reflection of weakness in the infrastructure category and a lack of mid-sized publicly-financed construction projects generally.

Highlights by company size

Backlog for firms with revenue less than $30 million — the smallest delineation —increased by a quarter of a month during the third quarter. These smaller firms have experienced remarkable stability over the past year.
With the U.S. economy now in its eighth year of recovery, smaller developers have been able to rebuild their balance sheets and are more likely to be able to line up financing. This appears to be generating more opportunities for smaller firms.
Smaller firms also appear to be benefitting from the increasing numbers of property owners addressing deferred maintenance, which often translates into more work for subcontractors.
Firms in the $30-$100 million annual revenue category have lost almost exactly three months of backlog since the beginning of 2016. Still, this group generally averages eight months, and backlog for this group presently stands at 7.8 months.

05/20/2016

For the third consecutive month, the demand for design activity increased according to latest Architecture Billings Index (ABI) from the American Institute of Architects (AIA). April’s ABI score was 50.6, which was down from March’s score of 51.9, but any score above 50 signifies increased billings....

05/09/2016

EPA to Hold Webinar on the Cognitive Impact of Green Buildings
By ANGLE Staff posted 10 days ago

EPA to Hold Webinar on the Cognitive Impact of Green Buildings

On Wednesday, May 11th from 1:00 – 2:30 PM EDT the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Indoor Environments Division will hold a webinar entitled “Knowledge in the Air.” During the event, leading researchers will present their finding on how green buildings affect cognitive function. Presenters include Joseph G. Allen and Piers MacNaughton, of Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health, as well as Usha Satish, from the State University of New York’s (SUNY) Upstate Medical University.

Webinar participants will learn to recognize the optimal IAQ conditions for health and productivity, explain the impacts of green buildings on decision-making performance, and identify health and economic benefits of enhanced productivity associated with increased ventilation rates.

As the architectural profession works to develop a deeper understanding of the impacts of the built environment on human health, this is an excellent opportunity to learn more about cutting edge research in the field.

Webinar organizers are prohibited from soliciting confidential personal information (credit card information, social security numbers, etc.) in the registration form. This questionnaire is not intended to handle sensitive data.

01/16/2016

By Matt Alba
Published: January 15, 2016, 10:47 pm Updated: January 15, 2016, 11:17 pm

CHARLESTON, SC – Volunteers along with homeless men and women in downtown Charleston are in the process of building a model “tiny house.”

The goal is to build a small portable home, suitable for one person to live in, all from scrap or donated lumber.

Jerry Godus, better known in tent city as “Grizzly,” says there’s got to be a better way to live for the city’s homeless.

“All night long you can’t get any sleep. It’s a struggle because there’s no security,” explained Godus.

Jerry and a new community group called, “Tiny House Fit For a King” are working on something better than a tent.

“It was time to pick up a hammer and hit some nails and see what happened,” said project organizer William Hamilton.

They’re gathering scrap and donated lumber and working on a tiny house to show the city.

“I mean there’s enough out there to build dozens of these houses right now,” said Hamilton. “There are people that wake up in the morning in these tents and go to work every day.”

This weekend, the city of Charleston has provided a small, city owned lot where organizers from “Tiny House Fit For a King” are constructing a model house.

Friday afternoon people began to donate lumber for the project, which is being built off North Nassau Street.

Jessy Harper and his wife founded the organization, Operation Veterans Relief, and dropped off several truckloads of lumber on Friday.

The house will eventually be studied by city officials as part of the forthcoming Blue Ribbon Citizens Panel on Homelessness.

The City of Charleston has reached an agreement with members of the “Tiny House Fit for a King Project” to provide a small, city-owned lot where the organization’s volunteers will be able to construct and exhibit a Model Tiny House over the Martin Luther King holiday weekend.

On Tuesday, the group will release the Tiny House to City officials, who will then move it to a City facility where it will be studied as part of the City’s forthcoming Blue Ribbon Citizens Panel on Homelessness.

The agreement was reached late yesterday, after City officials received a letter from the South Carolina Department of Transportation stating that SCDOT had not given permission for the planned Tiny House Model to be built on its property. Initially, the Tiny House Fit for a King Project had intended to build its model on a section of land owned by SCDOT.

Among other things, the signed agreement between the Tiny House Project and the City states that the City property, located at 342 North Nassau Street, will be accessible to the group from 8:00 am to 7:00 pm from January 15-18 “for the purpose of constructing and exhibiting a temporary Model Tiny House … no larger than 8 x 12 feet and no taller than 10 feet. Activities on the Property in connection with the construction of the Model Tiny House may include educational classes and community discussions…. The Property shall be maintained in good and clean condition, and returned to its condition as it existed prior to its use.”

Charleston city spokesman, Jack O’Toole told News 2, “The city is committed to working with all our citizens to find solutions to the problem of homelessness in our community. This model demonstration project is a small but meaningful step in that process…”

12/24/2015

$15 million renovation project wrapping up at The Restoration

Construction workers finish the wading pool on the fifth floor of The Restoration. (Photo/Ashley Heffernan)
Construction workers finish the wading pool on the fifth floor of The Restoration. (Photo/Ashley Heffernan)
By Ashley Heffernan
[email protected]
Published Dec. 23, 2015
The Restoration on King is dropping half of its name, adding about three dozen units and hiring 70 new employees as a part of a $15 million renovation.

Much of the boutique hotel, located on Wentworth Street between King and St. Philip streets in downtown Charleston, has been under construction for the past year. It’s expected to reopen as The Restoration in December with 54 units ranging in price from $299 per night for a 550-square-foot, one-bedroom unit to $1,499 per night for a 1,800-square-foot, three-bedroom unit with private rooftop access.

In 2012, Cincinnati-based Jeffrey R. Anderson Real Estate Inc. purchased 75 Wentworth St. — previously a condominium building — for $7 million and 79 Wentworth St. — a commercial building — for $2 million, according to Anders Anderson, managing director of strategic investments for the real estate company and co-owner of The Restoration.

They turned the condos at 75 Wentworth into hotel rooms: 10 one-bedroom units and six two-bedroom units.

About a year ago, 77 Wentworth St. — the building located between the other properties — went into foreclosure, and the company purchased the bank note for $3 million.

The Restoration will include 54 units ranging in price from $299 per night to $1,499 per night. (Photo/Ashley Heffernan)
The Restoration will include 54 units ranging in price from $299 per night to $1,499 per night. (Photo/Ashley Heffernan) Anderson said adding rooms in the 79 Wentworth St. building allows the hotel to enter the business-guest market.
“75 Wentworth is not a business hotel. Sixteen rooms, when a company comes in and needs 20 rooms, we can’t accommodate,” he said. “We also didn’t have a lot of space for conventions or anything like that, or conferences. Now we have three different areas where people can hold meetings and all that sort of stuff.”

Charleston-based Neil Stevenson Architects was hired to incorporate the various buildings into one renovated hotel, including a restaurant with rooftop bar, library, coffee shop, pool, retail shop and spa. Miller-Valentine Group was hired for the construction work, which included putting more than 100 piles in the ground, building a stone facade along 79 Wentworth St. and adding green glass illuminated by LED lights to the building’s exterior.

The hotel’s lobby is moving from 75 to 79 Wentworth St. In the former lobby space, the company has partnered with Identity Atelier to create The Port Mercantile, a luxury retail shop.

A new restaurant, called The Watch, will sit on the roof of the seven-story 79 Wentworth building. It will seat just over 100 guests for lunch and dinner, with chef Chad Anderson at the helm in the kitchen. An additional rooftop space called The Observatory, which seats 40-50 people, will be rentable for private dining.

“You’re going to see some Asian influence, maybe some Spanish influence. He’s going to touch on a little bit of everything,” general manager James Dannecker said.

The hotel is also creating an artist-in-residence program for photographers. About 80 photos taken around the Charleston area by Gately Williams, the first photographer in the program, will be on display in a gallery. Every 12 to 16 months, a new photographer will be brought in.

“Gately has done a lot of photographs that you’ll see throughout with a guy riding a surfboard and holding an American flag or a guy riding a motorcycle or people, well-known locals on the streets and things like that,” Dannecker said.

One of Williams’ photos inspired the hotel’s open-road program, which allows guests to create and purchase their dream motorcycles.

“The open road — there’s nothing more free than cruising on your bike and things like that, cruising Charleston and cruising the country,” Dannecker said.

Interested guests would start designing the motorcycle during their stay at the hotel, and it would take Charleston resident Ivan Remus at least nine months to build. Throughout the process, they can receive email updates or return for a visit.

“One of the iconic photographs that we have for the hotel is one of Gately’s friends who is on a motorcycle. ... We were like, ‘Well, how do we really bring this art alive and to something even more than just being on the walls?’ So the 3-D element was ‘Let’s buy this motorcycle,’ ” Anderson said.

The bike will be on display in the hotel’s library, where concierges — called librarians at The Restoration — can guide guests through the building process.

Staff will not be present, however, at the hotel’s honor bar, where guests can serve themselves a drink and write down what they’ve purchased on a pad of paper.

Dannecker called the honor bar “pure Southern hospitality.”

Reach staff writer Ashley Heffernan at 843-849-3144 or on Twitter.

12/03/2015

http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20130524-creating-our-cities-from-waste

Modern cities create vast quantities of waste. But rather than causing a crisis, could these overflowing landfills help create urban landscapes of the future?

12/03/2015

https://www.google.com/url?rct=j&sa=t&url=http://www.live5news.com/story/30655139/hawaii-supreme-court-voids-telescope-construction-permit&ct=ga&cd=CAEYACoSNDg3MDIzMTQ4Mjc0OTk3MzA1MhozOTkyZTdiYmNjMjNiNzZjOmNvbTplbjpVUw&usg=AFQjCNHg_uhe4qxsyYYNi-us0jeO2vQFQw

11/25/2015

Lowcountry Lowline project moving forward
Mayci McLeod
By Mayci McLeod
Published: November 24, 2015, 6:13 pm
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A project three years in the making is beginning to gain some traction and move forward.

The Norfolk Southern railbed downtown is in disrepair, is overgrown, and unusable. One group wants to turn it into something else, a linear park called the Lowcountry Lowline.

Collin Clark, manager of Palmetto Brewing Co., says, “I think I might have to consider buying a bicycle now, that might have to happen.”

The rails haven’t been used in over 10 years and the plan for the Lowcountry Lowline looks to use 1.6 miles of the track from Courtland Street to Woolfe Street.

Tom Bradford, Chairman of Friends of the Lowcountry Lowline, says, “This depends on a large measure on the communities around here. What do they want it to look like? Obviously as a linear park it’s got to have a walkway, it’s got to have benches, probably fountains, and perhaps restrooms and so forth. ”

It would be a space for people to walk, run, and cycle through the peninsula. Palmetto Brewing sits right along the rails and says the Lowline could help business.

Clark says, “We’ve already got a pretty decent amount of foot traffic as is. Anything that helps to bring customers from the lower part of the peninsula, maybe near down to the hotels or residential areas of downtown, up this way to where we’re located is a good thing.”

Bradford says, “It’s going to bring beauty, it’s going to bring neighborhood healing, it’s going to bring a useful, safe place where now probably breeds some crime. You know it’s very difficult to sort of police what goes on back here, but with lighting and more foot traffic and so forth back here it’s going to become much safer for everyone.”

He says the Lowline recently took a big step forward as a part of a deal with Norfolk Southern to buy the rails.

Bradford says, “We’re raising the money now to actually complete the purchase. We control the property and we have a couple years to complete the purchase. We have a Board of Directors and a lot of volunteers beginning to work on design and engaging the community about what they want done, so yeah, a lot of work is already underway.”

He says he can not release how much that deal costs.

The project is still in the beginning stages with no estimated completion date. Right now the focus is on raising the money to buy the rails within the next two years.

08/29/2015

MUSC begins construction of new primary care facility in Goose Creek

Staff Report
Published Aug. 26, 2015

The Medical University of South Carolina broke ground earlier this week on a $2.5 million primary care facility in Goose Creek.

Carnes Primary Care is expected to open in spring 2016 at 2000 First Ave. in Goose Creek, according to an MUSC news release. The facility will include 18 exam rooms along with imaging, laboratory services, conventional radiology and OB/GYN services.

“We are very happy to be the first MUSC clinical presence represented in Berkeley County,” Dr. Howard Evert, president of MUSC Health Primary Care, said in a statement. “We have identified an existing need for primary care services there and recognize the significance this new access to health care will have for continued growth in the area.”

The building was designed by Poole & Poole Architecture, which has offices in Richmond, Va., and Atlanta, and will be built by North Charleston-based Trident Construction, the news release said.

“This is an extension of our long-term mission to extend primary care throughout the region,” Evert said in a statement. “The expansion provides much-needed access to care for the community as well as positions us to make advances in population health and patient-centered medical home services.”

08/24/2015

SC Ports Authority turns over 50 acres for Charleston park
Posted: Aug 20, 2015 8:27 AM EST
Updated: Aug 20, 2015 9:04 AM EST

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP/WCIV) - The South Carolina Ports Authority is transferring 50 acres on Daniel Island in Charleston to the state for use as a park.

The authority board on Wednesday also passed a resolution to sell several smaller unused parcels that it had acquired in the area.

"This land transfer is a significant milestone in safeguarding the future of the port and the Lowcountry," Representative Jim Merrill said. "For over 15 years we have struggled to find a mutually-beneficial purpose for the surplus port property on Daniel Island. Now, due to the work of visionaries like the SCPA Board, Jim Newsome, Matt Sloan and a host of others, we can begin to see those plans take shape."

The 50 acres is part of a tract the authority acquired during the 1990s when it planned to build a $1.2 billion container ship terminal on the site.

"By transferring 50 acres of land and also offering other port property on Thomas Island for sale to its previous owners, we're helping protect local quality of life while returning some property to the private sector," Senator Larry Grooms said. "It's a great example of what can be accomplished when we work together to determine sound public policy."

Local opposition led the General Assembly to direct that the terminal be built in North Charleston, where it is now under construction.

"My goal all along has been to assure the residents of the Island that property previously proposed for a container terminal would no longer be on the table, and that the new port permitted and under construction on the former navy base would be the SCPA's future capacity in the Charleston area," Merrill said. "What began as a bitter fight and disagreement can now become a tremendous victory for all."

Lawmakers put language in this year's state budget telling the agency to transfer 50 acres of the land to Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism under a 99-year lease.

Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. ABC News 4 contributed to this report.

04/30/2015

The Value Of Apprenticeships In The Construction Industry Posted on April 28, 2015 by Patrick Quarry+ in Construction News, Construction Operation Insights Image Credit: Caratik.us According to the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC), 80% of construction firms are planning to hire more w…