Commitments Buoy Everglades Restoration

Environmental advocates gathered for the annual Everglades Coalition conference on Jan. 10-13 were buoyed by a parade of state and federal government officials pledging restoration of the endangered south Florida ecosystem. Commitment was evident in both the presence and the expressed determination of the officials to execute plans already formulated to restore the fabled Everglades’ water quality, quantity, distribution and timing.

“The new governor, the community affairs director and the [Department of Environmental Protection] director have a new ethic,” says Richard Grosso, executive director of the Everglades Law Center. “They are very conscientious about environmental restoration.” Many at the conference echoed the belief that Gov. Charlie Crist (R) has given the state government a new focus on environmental issues since he took office a year ago.

An early sign of the conference’s positive tone was a statement by Lynn Scarlett, assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior, “We are determined to get the Tamiami Trail project moving forward this year.” John Paul Woodley Jr., assistant secretary of the Army for civil works, seconded Scarlett’s comment. He called the project “the single most important thing to move this restoration forward.”

Construction of the Tamiami Trail in 1924 was hailed as a major advance for the development of south Florida because it linked the east and west coasts of the peninsula through the Everglades for the first time. But the highway, U.S. Route 41, functions as a dike, blocking the sheet flow of water from Lake Okeechobee south through Everglades National Park. Sheet flow has come to be seen as a key to the ecosystem.

Controversy continues over which of several plans to adopt for demolishing the embankment and elevating the highway, but Scarlett says $80 million has been appropriated and is available to complete design work, acquire right-of-way and begin construction by September 2008. The Army Corps of Engineers is proceeding with design of a project for two bridges totaling 3 mi with a construction cost estimated in 2005 at $128 million. A coalition headed by the Sierra Club is continuing to advocate a 10.7-mi continuous skyway, whose construction cost was estimated at $278 million.

On Jan. 11, the Everglades Coalition, composed of 47 conservation and environmental organizations, released its list of action items for 2008. Federal funding of $370 million to implement Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan projects heads the list of five items. The federal government has supplied only $428 million of the 50-50 state and federal partnership under CERP, which became law in 2000. The state, on the other hand, has spent $2.4 billion under the program. Source: Engineering News-Record. By Thomas F. Armistead on Captiva Island.

Florida Ends ’07 27% Below ‘06

The final figures for the year from McGraw-Hill Construction, publisher of Southeast Construction, now estimates the value of 2007’s Florida contracts as 27% below the previous year. In December, the overall value of new contracts declined 37% for a total of nearly $2.7 billion, down from the previous December total of about $4.3 billion.

During December, residential continued its freefall, and the value of nonresidential projects – a strong market throughout the year – also fell. Residential registered a 54% drop compared to the previous December and totaled roughly $981.9 million for the month. The nonresidential category’s 45% decline resulted in a total of about $774.1 million in new contracts during the month, well down from last December’s $1.4 billion total. The nonbuilding segment kept moving up, however. Its total of about $933.1 million was an estimated 29% better than last December’s $722.7 million tally.

For 2007, Florida contract activity totaled approximately $46.9 billion, or 27% behind 2006’s total. The residential market, estimated at about $21.9 billion, was 48% behind 2006’s volume. The other sectors remained positive, however. Nonresidential, at about $15.4 billion, ended the year 7% ahead of 2006, while nonbuilding construction finished approximately 20% ahead, with a total of about $9.6 billion.

Suffolk Lands $124M in Contracts

Suffolk Construction Co. of West Palm Beach closed 2007 by landing four contracts collectively valued at approximately $124.3 million.

The projects include: the 1.2 million-sq-ft Loop at Punta Gorda retail center; a $36 million Miami Airport Marriott Hotel Complex for Thayer Lodging Group; a $20 million Spring Hill Suites in Miami; and a $3.3 million Columbus Networks Warehouse project in Boca Raton.

Panattoni Constructing Two Industrial Buildings in Deerfield Beach

Panattoni Construction has started work on two industrial buildings for Prudential Financial Corp. and Panattoni Development Co. The buildings are located on a nine-acre site in Deerfield Beach, and measure 151,735 sq ft and 94,262 sq ft.

The project is expected to complete in the summer.

New Marriott Hotel for Sanibel Island

Greenville, S.C.-based gkkproworks is serving as construction manager for a new, six-story, 117,000-sq-ft Residence Inn by Marriott on Sanibel Island. The owner is JHM Hotels, also of Greenville. Atlanta-based Lloyd Fructman & Associates is the architect. Pellicano Construction of Albany, Ga., is the general contractor.

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