From Los Angeles Business Journal (TX):

Jacobs Awarded Construction Management Contract on two projects in San Antonio

Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. said Tuesday that it received a contract to provide program management services for the design and construction of two large health care facilities in San Antonio, Texas.

Cities, school districts find they can build more with less as construction costs fall

Cities and school districts are saving millions in building costs because the slump in commercial construction has created a more competitive bidding market and reduced the cost of materials, such as concrete. The Texas Transportation Department recently said it would be able to do more road projects with federal stimulus money because winning bids came in under budget.

From the Houston business journal (TX):

Construction under way on new XL Parts warehouse

XL Parts started construction this week on a new warehouse that will allow the automobile parts supplier to expand its industrial space by 27 percent….

Cadence McShane Construction Co. was hired to build the $3.1 million facility, which is expected to be completed by April.

From Star Telegram (TX):

Dallas-Fort Worth new home construction up

The pace of new home building in Dallas-Fort Worth picked up the third quarter from the previous quarter, but is still down from last year’s level, according to the latest numbers released today by Dallas-based real estate research firm Residential Strategies…

DFW home builders started construction on 4,194 new homes between July and September, a 32 percent increase from the May-June period, but 790 fewer homes that were started a year ago…

The supply of vacant, developed lots DFW fell by 3,830 in the third quarter, to 88,592 from 92,422 a year ago. That indicates builders are making some headway in reducing inventory..

From the Austin business journal (TX):

TxDOT drops Trans-Texas Corridor altogether

It faced problems from the very beginning, but in the end the Trans-Texas Corridor proved no match for lawmakers and state residents who opposed the plan that they said infringed on property rights and was a project few wanted….

From business management daily (TX):

Report blasts Austin’s construction safety record

According to a critical report surveying the construction industry, 20% of Austin-area construction workers last year reported on-the-job injuries that required a trip to the doctor, and 20% of those employees said employers refused to pay their medical bills.

The report, “Building Austin, Building Injustice,” was prepared by Workers Defense Project, a nonprofit community organization, with the assistance from University of Texas and University of Illinois researchers.

The report noted that Texas is the only state in which employers aren’t required to provide workers’ compensation insurance coverageThe report, “Building Austin, Building Injustice,” was prepared by Workers Defense Project, a nonprofit community organization, with the assistance from University of Texas and University of Illinois researchers.

Ullrich water plant suit settled for $5M

The Austin City Council agreed Thursday to settle a lawsuit brought by a construction firm for $5 million.

Archer Western Contractors, hired to manage the expansion of the city’s Ullrich Water Treatment Plant, sued in 2007 and sought $19.6 million. The company alleged that the city drove up construction costs by changing the design of the expansion several times and failed to supply materials on time. The city denies it was at fault for the rising costs.

Under the contract, Archer Western was to be paid $61 million originally — raised to $64.5 million after the changes — for the project. In its lawsuit, Archer Western claimed that it had been paid $56.2 million.

From El Paso News Tree (TX):

El Paso companies finding it hard to tap into $4.6 billion Fort Bliss expansion

As of August, $1.77 billion in contracts had been awarded in connection with the expansion at Fort Bliss, and of that $357 million or 20 percent has gone to El Paso companies.

A breakdown of the $357 million shows El Paso companies have won prime contracts amounting to $96.1 million and subcontracts totaling $261 million.
Contacts amounting to $550,000 – or three one-hundredths of a percent of the $1.77 billion – have gone to El Paso small businesses.
To the Associated General Contractors of El Paso, an organization made up of about 125 member contractors, 20 percent is too low and reflects the difficulty that El Paso contractors, subcontractors and small businesses have had in getting a piece of the action at Fort Bliss.
The Pentagon plans to spend $4.6 billion at Fort Bliss by early 2013 on construction projects related to the Base Realignment and Closure process that is expected to more than double the post’s soldier population from the present 18,000 troops to 39,000 in the next three years.
Larry Trejo, executive director of the Associated General Contractors, said Monday that winning contracts and subcontracts at Fort Bliss has been “a big conundrum for our people.”
…“A lot of our members were concerned about not getting the work … here in our back yard,” he said. “We’re making do the best we can with what we’ve got. Some of our major, general (contractors) are working as subs with some of these companies.
“There are some that are tremendously successful. Garrick Electric is extremely successful at Fort Bliss. They’ve got more business than they ever had in their life.”…

From the Associated Press/SF Examiner (TX):

Sinking Texas Gulf Coast condos to be demolished

BROWNSVILLE, Texas — Touted as the Texas Gulf Coast’s most luxurious tower and later ridiculed as the “leaning tower of Padre Island,” an incomplete 31-story condominium project on South Padre Island will be demolished, its developer announced Monday….

Ocean Tower LP had maintained until late last year that the problem would be remedied. It estimated in the lawsuit filed last summer that repairs would cost $20 million to $25 million.

Named in the lawsuit are geo-technical engineers Raba-Kistner Engineering and Consulting of San Antonio and structural engineers Datum Engineers of Austin and Dallas. Zachry Construction’s subsidiary Coastal Constructors, the project’s general contractor, dismissed from the lawsuit.

Matthew Cano, an attorney representing Raba-Kistner, said he could not comment while the case was ongoing, but said “I do think that we have both factual and legal defenses.”…

Hired for the implosion job is Controlled Demolition Inc., best known for its Guinness World Record-setting implosion of the Seattle Kingdome.

Job losses pile up across Houston area

….The Texas Workforce Commission reported Friday that construction companies cut 21,600 jobs between August 2008 and August 2009 while trade, transportation and utilities trimmed 32,500 positions during that same time….