July 30th brought the governor and a cast of dignitaries to Findlay Township to announce what had been whispered about for three years (see our July 2016 post), that Amazon was building a million-square-foot fulfillment center at Chapman Westport. Highwoods Construction will be bidding packages for the massive warehouse ASAP. Amazon’s commitment is just one of a number of large-scale industrial deals being done or pursued in Western PA. Komatsu is in the process of selecting a developer for its 250,000 square foot warehouse and office at Alta Vista Business Park in Washington County. Developers Suncap Properties and Al. Neyer have been competing.

The Federal Reserve Bank cut its Fed Funds rate .25% on July 31 at its Open Markets Committee meeting. The stock market plunged a bit after the announcement, likely in reaction to sentiment that the cut would be larger. Expect a rebound shortly. The Fed’s language suggests that another 25 basis point cut is likely later this year. For the U.S. economy, such stimulus is unnecessary at the moment, but economic data globally shows slowing and the bond markets have been trading at interest rates that are lower than the Fed Funds rate for longer maturity bonds. That’s what an inverted yield curve is and investors don’t like inverted yield curves. (You can read about the yield curve in the July/August BreakingGround.)

July’s building permits show that Hunter Buildings started work on a $6.5 million control room building for Eastman Chemical in Jefferson Hills. Rycon Construction pulled a permit for $2.2 million renovation of the AHN Wexford Medical Mall. Uhl Construction is working on a $1.6 million addition/renovation to Baierl Acura in Pine Township and $2.7 million project at Baierl Toyota in Mars, PA.

FMS Construction was awarded the $1.9 million restoration/conversion of the Lohr Building in Wilkinsburg. FMS is also doing general and mechanical/refrigeration construction on Giant Eagle’s $6 million Hempfield Square store renovation. Penn State selected PJ Dick for its $25 million Erie Hall replacement at the Behrend College. PJ Dick started work on the $17.5 million combined power/heating/cooling plant at the Wexford Medical Mall.