In today’s news, we will look into the Tom York’s report on business, Downtown San Diego is one of the top 10 zip codes in the United States for apartment construction. In the meantime, the United States Department of Labor has implemented the final rule necessary to modernize the Davis-Bacon Act regulations in order to better meet the needs of construction workers. In addition, 27 Habitat for Humanity houses are now being built in Charlotte with support from the United States Bank. In addition to this, the price tag for the controversial pipeline project in the United States has reached $7.2 billion.
Downtown San Diego is a Top-10 Zip Code for Apartment Construction.
Original Source: Tom York on Business: Downtown San Diego Ranks in Top 10 U.S. Zip Codes for Apartment Construction
RentCafe.com found that downtown San Diego’s 92101 zip code was the 8th hottest for apartment building in the US from 2017 to 2022, with 5,346 units created.
The representative for a nationwide apartment search website claimed this pace of growth exceeds that of entire communities, which take three to four years to build.
She claimed the new downtown apartments increase downtown apartment stock by 46%, with more than half being high-end.
Compare to other California communities, the numbers are excellent.
The top zip code in San Francisco constructed almost 4,000 residences within the same span, while Los Angeles’ top zip code added 1,000.
The top apartment construction zip codes nationwide were in metro Washington, DC.
A 73% rise in five-year apartment construction in zip code 20002 was above 7,300. In adjacent zip code 20003, over 7,200 flats were created.
Famous San Diego news source In his latest book, “The Next Half Century: Prepare for an Amazing Change in World Prosperity,” demographer and economist Alan Nevin predicts a brighter future despite worldwide pessimism and gloom.
In the book, Nevi predicts that population, lifestyle, education, and employment trends will propel the US to lead in new industries and jobs.
Nevin predicts changes like the decline of single-family detached homes and a shift away from hospital-based healthcare for California, Texas, Georgia, Florida, and the Carolinas based on his research on leading world economies and real estate development.
He also examines how climate change will affect construction, infrastructure, and insurance, as well as China’s one-child policy’s long-term impacts.
India’s ability to threaten China’s standing as the largest country, Russia’s population health difficulties, and Second World countries are also examined by Nevin.
The National Institutes of Health’s drug abuse unit awarded San Diego digital health startup CARI Health $2.8 million.
According to a news release, the award will help develop and deploy the first wearable drug monitor.
The funds will be distributed over three years if project milestones are met.
CARI Health has received funding from the San Diego Angel Conference, NuFund Venture Group, and individual angel investors, as well as the Cedars Sinai Accelerator and Rady Venture Fund.
CARI Health Founder and CEO Patrik Schmidle stated fresh opioid crisis solutions are needed. Remote monitoring is patient-friendly for methadone treatment compliance, he noted.
Schmidle founded the company after seeing a family member suffer with narcotics.
This NIH funding will fund product development and human clinical trials for the wearable medication monitoring system.
Finally, a new San Diego travel choice. Alaska Airlines will offer nonstop summer flights from Anchorage to San Diego. The new weekly flights begin May 18 and expire August 17, 2024.
Modernizing Davis-Bacon Act Regulations to Better Serve Construction Workers: US Department of Labor Implements Final Rule
Original Source: US Department of Labor Implements Final Rule to Modernize Davis-Bacon Act Regulations, Better Meet Construction Workers’ Needs
A final rule modernizing Davis-Bacon Act and Davis-Bacon and Related Acts requirements to better serve construction workers on federally funded projects was announced today by the U.S. Department of Labor.
The August 2023 Federal Register final regulation, the most thorough update in decades, prompts implementation of the “Updating the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts Regulation”.
The amendment clarifies and improves DBRA regulations to meet modern economy needs. They simplify and improve pay rate setting and enforcement on federally supported construction projects to ensure that infrastructure investments benefit U.S. workers.
“Modernizing the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts is key to making sure the Biden-Harris administration’s Investing in America agenda creates good jobs and ensures workers get fair wages and benefits on federally funded construction projects nationwide,” said Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su. This new law will assist more families into the middle class and level the playing field for high-road firms because corporations who exploit or underpay workers should never have a competitive advantage.
The final rule’s regulatory amendments help the department implement DBRA labor standards more efficiently. The following modifications occurred:
Streamlining the prevailing wage update mechanism and ensuring rates match actual pay would raise worker wages over time.
Restoring the 1935–1983 “prevailing wage” definition to reflect local worker earnings.
Periodically updating prevailing wage rates to correct outdated wage decisions.
Expanding authority to adopt state or local wage determinations in certain conditions.
Supplementing essential job classification rates without survey data.
Modernizing regulations to reflect construction methods.
Increasing worker safeguards and enforcement, including debarment and anti-retaliation.
DBRA rules apply to tens of billions of dollars in federal and federally aided construction spending annually and provide minimum wages for hundreds of thousands of U.S. construction workers. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act’s historic investments in federally sponsored construction projects are expected to boost industry employment, according to the agency.
With recent infrastructure investments, modernized regulations are more important than ever to ensure fair wages and benefits for workers who build and repair our roads, bridges, federal buildings, and energy infrastructure, said Principal Deputy Wage and Hour Division Administrator Jessica Looman. “They will help set wage rates for workers on federally funded construction projects that better reflect today’s labor market.”
Clean energy, power and water infrastructure improvements, legacy pollution remediation, and broadband and transportation infrastructure refurbishment will benefit from new federal funding.
The DBRA ensures employers on federally sponsored or aided construction projects pay locally prevailing wages to construction workers and prevents government construction contracts from reducing wages.
27 Charlotte Habitat Homes Built With U.S. Bank Support
Original Source: 27 Habitat Homes in Charlotte Under Construction With Support From U.S. Bank
An ecstatic Jean Clement Nsombo built his new home with hundreds of volunteers at the 2023 Habitat for Humanity Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter Work Project presented by Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood in Charlotte.
In the new West Charlotte neighborhood The Meadows at Plato Price, 27 individuals are building homes, including Jean Clement Nsombo, wearing a red shirt.
“I am very happy,” remarked Congolese Nsombo. “I feel good and am very happy to see volunteers come and work on my house.”
In the new West Charlotte community The Meadows at Plato Price, 27 homeowners are building homes. Nsombo is one of them. Once home to the historic African American Plato Price School, the area was desegregated and empty until 2019, when Charlotte donated it to Habitat Charlotte Region. Brooks and Yearwood are “Habitat humanitarians.” They began assisting with Habitat over a decade ago. They spent the week volunteering in Charlotte.
“Our vision is a world where everyone has a decent place to live, but we cannot achieve that alone,” said Habitat for Humanity International chief development officer Tolli Love. “U.S. Bank’s funding of Habitat for Humanity’s 37th Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter Work Project helped us build 27 homes in a week. This alliance shows how we can construct affordable, sustainable, and resilient communities together.”
We happily sponsored the big five-day event as a platinum sponsor alongside the U.S. Bank Foundation and U.S. Bancorp Impact Finance. Impact Finance has invested over $3.5 million in Habitat for Humanity of the Charlotte Region through four federal New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) Program investments since 2017. Impact Finance has given Habitat affiliates across over $120 million for affordable homeownership projects worth over $470 million and constructing over 1,250 units.
Bill Carson, Impact Finance Business Development Officer for NMTC housing investments, participated in the Carter Work Project alongside 80 other U.S. Bank volunteers nationwide. “It was amazing to be a part of this week and to see our financing and support come full circle, especially through the eyes and smile of homeowner Jean,” Carson said. NMTCs are federal tax credits that promote job creation and economic development in underserved communities. Real estate building and rehabilitation, capital and equipment investments, and operating money for for-profit and charity organizations like Habitat are typical projects.
“Impact Finance co-originated for Habitat an NMTC homeownership model more than 15 years ago with the consulting firm Smith NMTC Associates,” Carson. “It’s been a pleasure working with Habitat affiliates across the country to make homeownership possible for thousands of families.” Other nonprofit for-sale housing developers employ the model.
Liz Blake and U.S. Bank workers volunteered at the project site. Former Habitat for Humanity International senior vice president for advocacy, government affairs, and general counsel Blake departed in 2015. Blake and her team helped convince the Treasury to employ NMTCs for housing. “NMTCs help Habitat serve more families and make an impact. Our success would not have been possible without U.S. Bank. Game changer.” From 2020 to 2022, U.S. Bank gave Habitat more than $5.1 million in corporate and Foundation funding and matched employee giving of approximately $69,000.
“I’m very thankful to work for a business that puts people first and encourages workers to participate in community initiatives like Habitat for Humanity,” said Shannon Donnelly, U.S. Bank managing director and chief administrative officer of Global Markets & Specialized Finance. “Not only is the bank supporting great causes, but the community events allow us to meet colleagues across the bank that we do not see on a daily basis.”
Nsombo, his wife, and their three children, aged 4-8, will move in April 2024. Nsombo said his family valued house ownership stability.
A’Daris McNeese, Impact Finance Business Transformation Manager, and Nsombo liked speaking French throughout their hours together. “Working with Jean was great,” she added. “We built his future home together, so I feel proud and connected. I was glad I could assist him connect with other volunteers after learning he was from Congo Kinshasa and spoke French. Jean stated he had never worked with such a large group and was excited to see so many individuals offering to support his family.”
The Controversial Us Pipeline Project Costs US$7.2 Billion
Original Source: Cost of controversial US pipeline project rises to US$7.2 billion
The Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP), a 303-mile natural gas pipeline from northwestern West Virginia to southern Virginia, now costs US$7.2 billion, up from US$6.6 billion. Its completion date was also delayed.
The MVP project has experienced many regulatory challenges and lawsuits since its 2014 announcement. Project construction commenced in 2018.
A consortium of Equitrans Midstream, NextEra Energy, Consolidated Edison, AltaGas, and RGC Resources is building it. It will open in the first quarter of 2024 instead of this year.
The delay and expense increase are attributed to difficulties locating experienced professionals ready to work on a project that was paused owing to legal issues.
Summary of today’s construction news
Overall, we discussed that in the period between 2017 and 2022, the 92101 area code in downtown San Diego was the eighth most popular for apartment construction in the United States, with 5,346 units being built. Someone from a national apartment search website said that this expansion rate is faster than the average time it takes to construct a new town, which is three to four years. In the meantime, the “Updating the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts Regulation” will be put into effect after its final publication in the Federal Register in August 2023, marking the most comprehensive revision in decades. The revised DBRA rules better reflect the needs of the present day economy through the addition of clarity. So that federally funded construction projects benefit American workers, they streamline the process of determining and enforcing pay rates. meanwhile, in Charlotte, at the 2023 Habitat for Humanity Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter Work Project sponsored by Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood, an elated Jean Clement Nsombo worked alongside hundreds of volunteers to construct his new home. Jean Clement Nsombo (in the red shirt) is one of 27 people working to construct houses in the brand new West Charlotte community The Meadows at Plato Price. Moreover, the original estimate for the 303-mile natural gas pipeline connecting northwest West Virginia and southern Virginia with the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) was $6.6 billion. Completion was also postponed. There have been numerous regulatory objections and lawsuits brought against the MVP project since its launch in 2014. Construction on the project began the same year.
