Rubin Museum of Art

IBEX Construction has begun work on a new educational center at the Rubin Museum of Art in Chelsea, at 150 West 17th Street near Seventh Avenue. Although it is not immediately clear how large the facility will be, construction is expected to be complete next year. The new center will include an art workshop room, seminar room and an administrative office. IBEX has worked on numerous other educational and “high-end cultural” projects, according to a statement from the company, including buildings at Columbia University, the American Institute of Architecture and Weill Cornell Medical College. TRD

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From the February issue: As New York City construction firms get slammed by the downturn, they are turning to more modest projects, in some cases taking on multimillion-dollar renovations rather than the multibillion-dollar skyscrapers. While it’s clear that the collapse of the New York development market has taken a toll on builders and brokers, there may be nobody in the industry hit as hard as construction firms. As banks have largely cut off financing for new projects and cranes have been mothballed, thousands of contractors have lost their jobs. “It’s having a devastating impact on the construction market,” said Lou Coletti, president of the Building Trades Employers’ Association, which represents 1,700 construction management and contractor firms. “There are very few, if any, new projects moving forward.” To combat that lack of work, major New York construction firms are bidding for much smaller projects and diversifying into public-sector work, while other firms have been forced into bankruptcy protection.[more] [more]