Milwaukee’s $15 million proposal to renovate 150 vacant, city-owned homes is moving forward. On Monday, the Department of City Development (DCD) announced the development teams, a mix of nonprofit and for-profit developers, that will participate in the first round of the Homes MKE initiative. The participants were selected from a request-for-proposals (RFP) process that generated a tremendous response. — Urban Milwaukee
A total of 66 proposals were submitted, an unprecedented number according to the DCD, with 15 developers selected. Milwaukee will sell the houses for as little as $1 and provide an estimated $75,000 development subsidy and grant a $5,000 workforce subsidy. Following the renovations, the properties... View full entry
Workers at London-based Atomik Architecture are preparing to ballot for strike action, following a dispute over pay and conditions at the firm. Workers at the firm informed management on Tuesday of their intention to ballot for what could become the first ever strike by private-sector architecture... View full entry
Following last week’s visit to residential specialists DAHLIN, we are moving our Meet Your Next Employer series to Brooklyn, NY this week, where we meet the self-described “unconventional architecture practice” SITU. Founded in 2005 by four friends studying architecture at The Cooper Union... View full entry
National nonresidential construction spending has increased by a modest 0.8% in July, according to an analysis of government spending data from the U.S. Census Bureau by Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC). On a seasonally adjusted annualized basis, nonresidential spending totaled $... View full entry
The latest Dodge Momentum Index report from the Dodge Construction Network shows a slight drop of 1.2% from July’s revised record peak of 174.0, driven by declines in the institutional sector that were spurred on primarily by a decrease in healthcare projects when compared to last month... View full entry
By any count, Presidio Tunnel Tops had an unusual number of women in construction and project leadership. They say there are good reasons for that. — Landscape Architecture Magazine
Led by Kerry Huang of James Corner Field Operations, the recently-opened new addition to San Francisco’s public parks portfolio was in the works for the better part of 30 years before being completed in July. As Landscape Architecture Magazine highlights, the number of women employed in... View full entry
Following last week’s visit to California-based SmithGroup, we are keeping our Meet Your Next Employer series partly on the west coast this week to meet residential specialists DAHLIN. The 180-strong firm, whose nine offices span California, Washington, Utah, Montana, and Texas, and... View full entry
Legislators in California have passed a bill strengthening the state’s pay transparency requirements. Elements contained in the bill, SB 1162, include a requirement for many employers to include salary ranges in job postings, disclose salary scales to employees for their current positions, and... View full entry
Workers at New York firm Bernheimer Architecture have formed the first functioning union at a private-sector architecture firm in the United States. The workers group, collectively known as BA Union, will join the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW), as first... View full entry
ICYMI, back in July Alexander Walter featured sekou cooke STUDIO in a Studio Snapshot. When asked to describe his work/practice in three words Sekou answered "Build dope shit." News Eric Owen Moss shared photos of his self-designed private residence overlooking the coastline on a small 30’ by... View full entry
According to CBRE's new 2022 U.S. Construction Cost Trends report, nationwide industry price levels have posted the largest increase in years, driven by labor shortages, inflation, supply chain disruptions, the ongoing impact of the pandemic, and the war in Ukraine. CBRE forecasts a... View full entry
New research suggests that the global market for construction robotics will triple by 2030. The figures, generated by Straits Research, predict that the construction robotics market will grow from its current $50 million value to reach $164 million by the end of the decade, increasing at a... View full entry
Demand for design services at architecture firms across the U.S. has increased for the eighteenth consecutive month in July, according to new data from the American Institute of Architects (AIA). The Architecture Billings Index (ABI) reported a score of 51.0 last month. While this reading is... View full entry
Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, multifamily developers and builders have had their work cut out for them as they try to budget for their lumber needs. After months of wild fluctuations, lumber futures fell to their lowest level in a year earlier this month, according to lumber price data from NASDAQ. They have since reversed course, and currently stand at just under $600. — Multifamily Dive
As reported by Multifamily Dive, two pandemic-induced bubbles, in which lumber futures rose to record highs in the thousands of dollars, popped, dropping to below $500. The producer price index, a measure of the average changes in prices received by producers, for softwood lumber fell 22.6% in... View full entry
A row between an Indian government contractor and Foster + Partners over supposedly unpaid design fees related to the abandoned Amaravati master plan has reached the country’s Supreme Court after the London-based studio entered a lawsuit there last week. The UK Architects’ Journal is reporting... View full entry
