(Mark your calendars: RealShare New York, Oct. 12, 2011 in New York City and RealShare New Jersey, Sept. 12, 2011 in New Brunswick, NJ)
NEW YORK CITY-The volatile day on Wall Street was no match for the upbeat optimism about the future of the Tri-State region at the Professional Women in Construction’s “Meet the Architects and Engineers” event at Club 101 on Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan late Thursday. The evening’s honored guests, who were presented with awards from PWC-NY’s president Lenore Janis, spoke about how to provide clients value while investing in capital projects throughout New York and New Jersey.
“We are all in this together,” said Wally Caban, assistant chief engineer of construction at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, who explained that the port’s $3.2 billion capital budget has been “drained from the needs at the World Trade Center,” and with zero percent growth, little funds are left over for repairs needed at the George Washington Bridge, Lincoln Tunnel Helix, Bayonne Bridge and Port Authority Bus Terminal. “You share the problems of the industry with the marketplace and so do we,” he said, announcing that a revised fare and toll increase plan was OK-ed by the Port Authority Board to help keep these projects afloat.
And others show no sign of slowing down, either. Alvin Dunaisky, assistant director for major hospital projects at SUNY Downstate Medical Center, one of only three hospitals in the 64-campus SUNY system, said opportunities for Minority and Women-Owned Business Enterprises--or MWBEs--are going strong. “As I’ve thought about how hard the economic times have been and where we are going with it, we’ve had budgets that have been slashed left and right, both operational to maintain the staff, and capital to build what to have built,” he said. “Our budgets are there and if our allocations are there, we’ve got to build it and we’ve got to spend it.”
Nancy Czesak, first vice president at Tishman Construction Corporation and a PWC board member, said she’s been busy working on projects like One World Trade Center, the Harlem Children’s Zone, the Public Safety Answering Center II in the Bronx and improvements to the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in Midtown, all projects that involve MWBEs. “Being a member of the board, you see on a daily basis how tirelessly Lenore works for promoting minorities, women and everyone into the construction business,” Czesak said. “She never gives up.”
Husam Ahmad, president of HAKS, said though his company faced a 10% in growth this year, he is still working on large jobs at the RFK Bridge and the Gowanus Expressway. “We should be partners with our clients, partners with construction managers and partners with other firms,” he said.
But even as construction maintains strong in metropolitan area, designers and architects are honing in on the new needs of the ever-changing office market. “The recession and the recovery have focused people’s attention on value,” said Michele Boddewyn, president of Alan Gaynor + Company PC. “Even those with good budgets, do not want to appear ostentatious, yet they do want to stand out from both the recruiting and marketing point-of-view to their client and potential employees.”
In an effort to meet new LEED standards, Daniel J. O’Sullivan, vice president of Lizardos Engineering, said he is advising clients to make capital investments in energy efficient building features and products, despite the high initial cost. “There are potential savings and payback to improve the facility’s bottom line,” he said, noting that growth and sustainability is hot within the healthcare, pharmaceutical and laboratory sectors. “This will not only generate projects for our industry and help our client’s bottom line and preserve natural resources.”
Janis was honored as one of Real Estate Forum’s 2011 “Women of Influence.” The full article is available by clicking here.
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