Bid boards have gotten very full very quickly for Pittsburgh contractors. Much of the work on the streets is small private stuff but there are a few meaty projects, with the prospects of some big projects (UPMC Presbyterian and Shadyside Towers, CMU Skibo Hall, $75 million Altoona High) coming out within the next month or so. Among the projects being bid, the $43 million City’s Edge Apartments in the Lower Hill have gone out for competitive GMP proposals to PJ Dick, Rycon, Mosites.

The Murdoch Building, a 95,000 square foot office and retail building being built by Mascaro, broke ground this month. Fairchance Construction is about to start work on a 138,000 square foot expansion of COE Distributing at the Franklin Commercial Park in Fayette County, being developed by J D & D Enterprises. Dick Building Co. has started work on a new 42,000 square foot Rahal Land Rover/Jaguar dealership in North Strabane Twp. outside Washington PA.

In economic news, the Census Bureau reported that GDP growth was only 2.6% in the fourth quarter, a mild disappointment compared to expectations. For perspective, however, that pace of growth (which was the annual rate too) is an improvement over 2016 and about what could be realistically expected given the shortage of workers. It’s also worth noting that this is the first of three estimates. By the time the final estimate is reached in 2 months, the final figure may hit the 3% that economists expected.