Report: Center City thriving but cracks threaten progress

Philadelphia continues to prove that it is a destination for companies, tourists, conventions and real estate investment, but the positive trajectory the city is on is a tenuous one and may not last if some long-standing issues continue to go unaddressed, according to Center City District’s newly issued annual State of Center City report.

“...The status quo is unacceptable— with high unemployment and chronic poverty in too many communities,” said Paul R. Levy, president and CEO of the special services district in the forward to the report. “Once again, it takes committed leadership willing to acknowledge challenges and take risks.”

York mayor: Revitalization has only just begun: Bracey cites top accomplishments and goals in "State of the City" address

York Mayor Kim Bracey loves the maple glaze donuts at Glazin Cafe on South Duke Street, a business that recently opened in her city.

She is proud of the work being done at the Color Works Building in York's Northwest Triangle, and is confident that “we can, and we will,” rejuvenate the Yorktowne Hotel to its former luster, the York mayor told a few hundred people in the White Rose City on Wednesday night.

CONTRACTOR TO WATCH: H.B. McClure acquires contractor in northern York County

Harrisburg-based H.B. McClure Co., one of the largest commercial and residential mechanical contractors in the midstate, continues to add to its ranks through acquisitions.

The company's latest deal, its 11th since 2010, closed today as it added Mainhart Mechanical LLC, a four-person company in the Dillsburg area.

PHILADELPHIA 2016: State of Center City 2016

The yearly State of Center City report is designed to measure the progress of Philadelphia's downtown, to document continuing challenges, and to be of use to those who seek to develop, locate, lease, invest or meet in Center City.

PHILADELPHIA 2016: Center City Philadelphia Developments: 2015-2019:

This report includes a map and full-color photos or renderings and project descriptions of all 82 major developments in Center City Philadelphia, categorized by type. The report highlights major projects that were completed in 2015, were under construction, or had been announced as of the end of Q4 2015, from Fairmount to Washington Avenues. The Center City District collected information on the various projects from published reports and Civic Design Review applications and verified the information with the developers and/or architects of the projects. For the purposes of this publication, all data reflects project status, design, and information available to the public as of the end of Q4 2015.

2016 | 45 pgs | Free | PDF (5.7 MB)

Summary of NLRB Decisions for Week of April 4 - 8, 2016

Premier Utility Services, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of USIC Locating Services, LLC 

(29-RC-159452 and 29-RC-159545; 363 NLRB No. 159)  Hauppauge, NY, April 5, 2016.
A Board panel majority consisting of Chairman Pearce and Member Hirozawa denied the Employer’s Request for Review of the Regional Director’s Supplemental Decision on Challenges and Objections and Notice of Hearing on the ground that it raised no substantial issues warranting review.  The majority noted that, although they shared the dissent’s concern about the late delivery of many of the mail ballots, the Regional Director did not abuse his discretion in deciding not to count the ballots received after the ballot count.  The majority found that the Regional Director’s decision was fully consistent with the Board’s established precedent permitting ballots received after the due date but before the count to be opened, while excluding ballots received after the ballot count.

Ground breaking set for University City apartment complex

Radnor Property Group is scheduled to officially break ground on its next University City project, a $55 million mixed-use development on Drexel University’s campus.

A formal ground breaking of the project called Vue32 is scheduled for May 11.

Philly 1st major U.S. city to develop disaster plan for historic buildings

Should the next Superstorm Sandy strike, Philadelphia plans to be ready to protect the properties that mark some of the city's and the country's history-making moments.

With $1.5 million in grant money from the National Park Service – part of the Hurricane Sandy Disaster Relief Fund, several organizations came together to form the "Disaster Planning for Historic Properties Initiative," according to Plan Philly.

Teachers contract battle in Bucks County calls for neutral 3rd party

A teachers union is aiming to jumpstart contract negotiations between itself and a school district that serves more than 10,000 students in suburban Philadelphia with its request for a fact-finder.

The Pennsbury Education Association's current one-year deal expires on June 30, according to the Bucks County Courier Times, which said the state has appointed a neutral third party to investigate concerns surrounding the negotiations.

Development plan may seek to cap still more track near 30th St. Station

A decades-long development plan for the area around 30th Street Station may include the near-complete capping of the rail yards to the north of the station building.

Previously, backers of the 30th Street Station District Plan had proposed leaving a large section of track to the east of the project site exposed, due to the challenges of building over the dense section of rail.

Liberty Property Trust unloads 8 parcels

Liberty Property Trust has sold eight properties in Delaware, Florida and Minnesota for $131.1 million during the first three months of 2016, the company said in a financial report on its website Tuesday.

The six office buildings and two industrial properties account for around 849,000 square feet, the Malvern-based company said.

A joint venture in which Liberty holds a 25 percent interest also sold another seven Virginia office buildings for $146.6 million, it said.

The company plans to sell between $900 million and $1.2 billion worth of suburban properties outside of its core business areas this year, it said.

Source: Philly.com

Amazon to employ 2,000 at planned New Jersey facilities

Amazon.com Inc. plans to open two new New Jersey fulfillment centers, including one in Burlington County, the online retailer said in a release on Wednesday. The planned 600,000-square-foot facility in Florence will employ more than 500 workers when it opens, it said.

The company said it also plans a new 800,000-square-foot center that will employ 1,500 in Carteret. It will be Amazon's second facility in the North Jersey city.

The company did not immediately respond to an e-mail asking when the new centers would open.

Source: Philly.com

Samuel Staten Sr., labor leader, 80

Samuel Staten Sr., 80, a longtime leader of the Philadelphia Laborers union and an ally to top Democratic politicians, died Tuesday, April 26.

"Sam Staten was nothing less than a giant in the world of Philadelphia labor for more than a half-century, and I'm tremendously sorry to learn of his passing," Mayor Kenney said in a statement.

Dunbar H.S. to prepare students for jobs in construction trades

Dunbar Vocational High School will return to its World War II roots — by preparing students for lucrative jobs in the construction trades that provide an alternative to gangs — under a mayoral plan unveiled Monday.

“If you graduate from high school and you have a tomorrow you’re thinking about, you’re not going to do something stupid today. If you’re in a gang, a lot of these kids don’t think they’re going to live to 24. A skill, an education, a training, gives you a tomorrow to live for,” Emanuel told a news conference at Dunbar, 3000 S. Martin Luther King Drive.

“The biggest piece of confronting violence is providing people opportunity and hope and having the trades in the schools will allow you to do that. . . . It’s not just the trades. If you want to run your own plumbing business. If you want to run your own home business in the sense of fix-up, you’ll have the skill set here to do that.”

Schuylkill Yards' First Built Tower will be a Lab-Office Building: There will also be 2 million square feet of residential space

The first major building at Schuylkill Yards, Drexel University's $3.5 billion development, will be a 700,000-square-foot property that will serve as a lab and office space.

Unfair labor practices complaint filed against Volkswagen

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The National Labor Relations Board on Wednesday filed an unfair labor relations complaint against Volkswagen for the German automaker's refusal to bargain with the United Auto Workers union at its lone U.S. assembly plant in Tennessee.

The UAW was elected to represent workers specializing in the maintenance and repair of robots and machinery at the Chattanooga factory on a 108-44 vote in December. But Volkswagen declined to engage in contract talks with the UAW while challenging an NLRB decision to allow the small group of workers to vote on unionization.

Construction Industry is Split Across a Safety Culture Spectrum

Contractors at the top end of the spectrum report experiencing higher project quality, greater impact of safety on their project ROI and better ability to retain and attract new staff than those at the low end of the spectrum.

NEW YORK – April 12, 2016 – A new study from Dodge Data & Analytics establishes a safety culture spectrum based on the performance of 254 U.S. contractors on 33 leading indicators of a safety culture. The new Building a Safety Culture SmartMarket Report, available for free download at http://analyticsstore.construction.com/smartmarket-reports/Safety2016.html and produced in partnership with CPWR (The Center for Construction Research and Training) and United Rentals, along with 12 other supporting and contributing organizations, examines the wider use of safety management practices in the construction industry and more frequently achieved benefits for contractors at the high end of the safety culture spectrum compared to those at the low end. The contrast of the findings of the current study with a previous safety study conducted by Dodge Data & Analytics in 2012 also reveals that contractors are reporting more benefits from their investments in safety management practices in general and that there is wider recognition of the importance of actively engaging jobsite workers to improve project safety.

Currently, across the construction industry, nearly one-third (32%) of contractors fall in the high end of the safety culture spectrum, based on their level of use of the 33 leading indicators; over one-third (35%) are in the moderate level and exactly one-third (33%) are at the low end of the spectrum. Many more companies at the high end of the spectrum report impressive business benefits resulting from their safety investments than those at the low end, including:

Dodge Momentum Index Falls in March

NEW YORK – April 7, 2016 – The Dodge Momentum Index fell 7% in March to 117.4 from its revised February reading of 126.4 (2000=100). The Momentum Index is a monthly measure of the first (or initial) report for nonresidential building projects in planning, which have been shown to lead construction spending for nonresidential buildings by a full year. The decline in March is the first setback for the Index following three months of gains. Over the last 12 months the Index has been particularly volatile, increasing in seven months and dropping in five, mirroring the saw tooth pattern of growth in the overall economy. The March decline for the Index was due primarily to a steep 15% drop by institutional planning, while commercial planning fell less than one percent. Despite its stark retreat, institutional planning activity is 7% above its level in March 2015, while commercial planning is down 4% from last year. The overall Index is essentially even with its year-ago level.

Pension Funding Index April 2016: Funded status of the 100 largest corporate defined benefit pension plans dropped by $20 billion

In March, the funded status of the 100 largest corporate defined benefit pension plans dropped by $20 billion as measured by the Milliman 100 Pension Funding Index (PFI). The deficit increased to $390 billion from $370 billion at the end of February primarily due to a drop in the benchmark corporate bond interest rates used to value pension liabilities. As of March 31, the funded ratio fell to 77.9%, down from 78.4% at the end of February.

NLRB Argues “Misclassification” as an Independent Contractor is Unfair Labor Practice

In a further incursion into the area of the gig and new age economy, the Regional Director for the National Labor Relations Board’s Los Angeles office has issued an unfair labor practice complaint alleging that it is a violation of the National Labor Relations Act (the “Act”) for an employer to misclassify an employee as an independent contractor.

Three top officials ousted in shake-up at PHA

Three top officials at the Philadelphia Housing Authority have been ousted in one of the biggest management shake-ups since executive director Kelvin Jeremiah took the helm of the agency three years ago.

Barbara Adams, 64, who had served as PHA's general counsel since 2011, said she was told Friday that she was being dismissed but was given no reason.

Changing Skyline: Rethinking Market Street as Main Street

When Jonas Maciunas and Mark Keener were collecting data for the Old City District's new plan, they stumbled across an astonishing statistic. Since 2000, the amount of automobile traffic on Old City's stretch of Market Street has plunged by a third, even as the neighborhood's old cast-iron warehouses were filling up with thousands of new residents.

East Market developer considering 250 more residential units at site

The developer of East Market, a mixed-use project between 11th and 12th Streets along Market Street, may add 250 more residential units at the site in response to what it sees as strong demand for living spaces in the area.

PUC adds to pressures on Verizon

Pennsylvania's Public Utility Commission on Thursday cleared the way for a look into whether Verizon is properly maintaining its plants, lines, and facilities throughout the state.

In October, one of two unions now striking Verizon asked the commission to investigate what it described as hazardous conditions - broken poles, sagging cables, and ungrounded cables.

Sending call-center work overseas is a key issue in Verizon strike

At a time when Verizon's rivals Comcast and RCN Telecom Services are bringing customer-service calls back from overseas, the New York-based telecommunications giant is closing domestic call centers and sending some of the work abroad.

Penn completes $68M building

The University of Pennsylvania has completed and opened a $68.6 million, 78,000-square-foot building that will house the psychology, biology and behavioral sciences departments.

The Stephen A. Levin building was named for a graduate of Penn's College of Arts and Sciences who made a $15 million gift to the school. The facility integrates those disciplines and their related research laboratories, teaching facilities and space for students to collaborate and study.

Villanova gets $22.6M gift to renovate Pavilion

Building on the momentum from its 2016 National Championship, Villanova University received a $22.6 million gift from alumnus and investment banker William B. Finneran for a renovation of the Pavilion as well as programmatic support for its men’s basketball program. It is the largest gift ever to Villanova Athletics.

Finneran, a 1963 Villanova graduate with an economics degree, has served as a university trustee through 2008 and as a campaign chair for the previous capital campaign. He received an honorary doctorate from the school in 1994 in recognition of his generosity, which includes endowing the men’s basketball head coaching position.

Architecture Billings Index Ends the First Quarter on an Upswing

Washington, D.C. – April 20, 2016 – The Architecture Billings Index reflects consecutive months of increasing demand for design activity at architecture firms. As a leading economic indicator of construction activity, the ABI reflects the approximate nine to twelve month lead time between architecture billings and construction spending. The American Institute of Architects (AIA) reported the March ABI score was 51.9, up from the mark of 50.3 in the previous month. This score reflects an increase in design services (any score above 50 indicates an increase in billings). The new projects inquiry index was 58.1, down from a reading of 59.5 the previous month.

Developer buys old Red Bell Brewing Co. building

An affiliate of Philadelphia developer John Wei has purchased the 200,000-square-foot Red Bell Brewing Co. building at 31st and Jefferson Streets in the city's Brewerytown section.

Brewerytown Investment L.P. paid $1.85 million this month for the vacant 1870s brewery building on 70,000 square feet of land, according to Ken Wellar, a managing partner at Rittenhouse Realty Advisors, which marketed the property.

Temple moving ahead with $170M new library

Temple University is moving forward on a $170 million new library that will be the largest construction project in the history of the school.