As the end of summer/back to school season brings a few weeks of slower bidding, construction continues at full pace. Few, if any, skilled workers are available. The Shell cracker is at peak employment of 5,000. There are cranes visible Downtown, Oakland, and most of the suburbs. Some of the recent contract awards/starts include: Mascaro Construction landing the 105,000 sq. ft., $9 million WeWork tenant improvement at 600 Grant Street; Al. Neyer starting work on Crossgates’ 105,000 sq. ft. distribution center at Westgate Business Park in Big Beaver; and PJ Dick getting the green light for a $35 million project for the University of Pittsburgh, infilling behind Hillman Library off Forbes Avenue. AIMS Construction started construction on the $4 million UPMC CHildren’s Hospital pharmacy. Jendoco Construction started work on the $5.7 million Plaza at Hazelwood Green.
The Plaza at Hazelwood Green
At the Federal Reserve Bank’s Pittsburgh Business Advisory Committee meeting held August 28, the most recent survey of regional business owners found that the Pittsburgh economy was holding steady, despite worries about a recession in the coming year or two. Unlike respondents to business conditions surveys in other Federal Reserve Districts, Pittsburgh business owners reported that they continue to look to add staff over the coming months and see demand for products and services as the same or better than the past quarter.
As a business owner that primarily performs work in the Pittsburgh market, it was a serious concern about the possible drop. It seems like everything was thriving again and a large amount of local companies were doing well. The only thing that concerns me some is the fact that some projects I personally feel should be obligated to using a decent percentage of local contractors to complete a local project. Well written article, I typically don’t post comments but you focus on the main area of my concerns. Thank You!
Thanks for reading.