Triangle general contractors hit high-water mark for billings

Posted on by Michael Randle

General contracting is still big business in the Triangle.

The largest general contracting firms in the Triangle saw a collective rise in gross billings in calendar year 2023 — to the tune of $4.5 billion. That was up from $3.9 billion the prior year.

In fact, 2023 is the high-water mark since Triangle Business Journal began tracking the data in 2001.

Of the 25 largest general contracting firms in the Triangle (ranked by local gross billings), 72 percent of them reported a higher billings volume in 2023 than the prior year.

TBJ‘s General Contractors Billings Index is a measure of the collective Triangle gross billings of the 25 largest general contractors in the area.

Triangle Business Journal

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Major settlement reached in $10B Golden Pass LNG dispute

Posted on by Michael Randle

After a few months of jockeying in bankruptcy court, Zachry Holdings and Golden Pass LNG say they’ve reached terms on a potential settlement.

In a July 19 filing in the U.S. Southern District of Texas Bankruptcy Court, lawyers on both sides say that the two have resolved to avoid litigation over a number of disputes related to the $10 billion liquefied natural gas export terminal being constructed in Sabine Pass, Texas. The settlement is awaiting bankruptcy judge Marvin Isgur’s approval.

The project, owned by a joint venture between Spring-based Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) and QatarEnergy, went sideways after Zachry claimed that unpaid cost overruns led the San Antonio construction firm to drain its cash reserves and seek Chapter 11 protection.

Houston Business Journal

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Toyota president talks ‘Project Iceberg’ expansion

Posted on by Michael Randle

It’s doubtful Susann Kazunas had an opportunity to fully soak in her promotion to president of Toyota Motor Manufacturing Texas Inc. before pivoting to ensure the San Antonio campus was well positioned to secure a more than $530 million expansion commitment from its parent company.  

“Project Iceberg,” as that plan was branded internally, is now a done deal. In June, the Japanese automaker confirmed it would fund the TMMTX expansion.

That decision is expected to have a significant impact on the South Side campus and on San Antonio’s auto manufacturing industry.

“Toyota continuously looks for opportunities to gain manufacturing efficiencies as part of our corporate culture and business mindset,” Kazunas said. “This project created an opportunity to streamline truck manufacturing, allowing TMMTX to be considered for this work.”

San Antonio Business Journal

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Meeting overload is ‘out of control.’ The consequences are costly.

Posted on by Michael Randle

Workers are being overwhelmed by meetings and emails, and that flood of interruptions can have consequences for companies that don’t take a proactive approach.

Experts say managers and employers who aren’t strategic about meeting quantity and quality are risking burnout, disengagement and even turnover, but there are some best practices companies can use to avoid the type of meeting mayhem that is frustrating many workers.

Monitoring and analytics platform Vyopta analyzed 40 million meetings involving more than 450,000 employees across 11 companies and found workers attended an average of 8.3 meetings a week in 2021. That number grew to 10.1 meetings a week in 2023. 

Meanwhile, the rate at which some workers did not participate — such as not speaking or enabling their cameras on virtual meetings — rose among small-group meetings from 4.8% in 2022 to 7.2% in 2023. 

The Business Journals

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Amazon data center arm buys Sterling campus for $136M

Posted on by Michael Randle

Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) has acquired a data center campus in Sterling for $135.75 million, a price that looks to be well below what it would cost to the company to build new data centers from the ground up.

The e-commerce giant’s data center arm, Amazon Data Services Inc., more commonly known as Amazon Web Services, bought the 33-acre assemblage known as TransDulles Centre 2 at 45900 Pathfinder Plaza on June 24, according to Loudoun County property records.

It’s home to three one-story data centers totaling about 442,000 square feet, meaning the sale price works out to about $307 per square foot. That appears to be well short of the buildings’ replacement cost, which in Northern Virginia runs around $500 per square foot, an industry source told me.

Washington Business Journal

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San Antonio’s industrial sector braces for impact of unprecedented new construction

Posted on by Michael Randle

San Antonio’s industrial real estate market has a loaded construction pipeline and a healthy demand for space.

Research from Dallas-based commercial real estate brokerage CBRE (NYSE: CBRE) shows a relatively stable market leaning slightly in favor of tenants.

During the second quarter of 2024, the market saw a net absorption rate of industrial space just over 422,000 square feet. While that puts it above the previous quarter’s figure, market conditions are making it difficult to keep up with the record amount of supply. Last quarter, 1.5 million square feet of new industrial space came online.

“We’re still getting tons of inquiries and people coming in and touring, but it’s more challenging getting over that final bump in the road and getting a lease signed,” said Brad O’Neill, a San Antonio-based industrial and logistics broker with CBRE. “Everyone’s double-checking, triple-checking — making sure all the i’s are dotted and t’s are crossed. What we say around the office is that from 2020 to 2022, we were riding on a rocket ship. Now we’re driving a Ferrari, and while it feels slow, it’s still a Ferrari going 150 miles per hour.”

San Antonio Business Journal

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Proposed state permits released for new wells to supply Georgia Hyundai EV plant

Posted on by Michael Randle

State regulators released draft permits Monday for four new groundwater wells planned in South Georgia to serve Hyundai’s $7.6 billion electric vehicle factory despite vocal opposition from residents concerned about how the withdrawals will impact their water supplies.

The factory, which Hyundai calls its Metaplant, is Georgia’s largest-ever economic development project, which the company promises will employ 8,500. It is located in north Bryan County, about 25 miles west of downtown Savannah. But like other parts of coastal Georgia, Bryan County has groundwater pumping restrictions in place to limit saltwater intrusion into the underlying aquifer.

To get around the limits, state and local officials have planned to serve the factory by drilling wells in neighboring Bulloch County, where the same constraints don’t exist.

Release of the draft permits by the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) opens a public comment period that runs through Aug. 20. After that window closes, EPD typically reviews comments it receives — a process that often takes months and depends on the amount and type of feedback it receives. After that is complete, the agency will decide whether or not to issue final permits.

Under the draft terms, the four wells combined would be allowed to suck up to 6.6 million gallons of water each day out of the Floridan aquifer. Two wells would be owned by Bryan County and two others would belong to Bulloch.

Atlanta Journal Constitution

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