Chris Ward and a rendering of 4 WTC

The state funding entity New York Liberty Development that pulled a $900 million bond offering Monday needs to sell the securities by the end of the year or risk stalling the construction schedule of 4 World Trade Center, Christopher Ward, executive director of the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, said today.

Larry Silverstein’s Silverstein Properties has enough money to fund the project through the end of the year, but the additional funds are needed to be certain that work proceeds into 2012.

“We would need to price those [4 World Trade Center] bonds at least by the end of this year to ensure that construction continues. And we are very optimistic that is going to happen,” Ward said. [more]

New York City infrastructure construction spending is set to remain “above historic standards” during fiscal year 2012 but taper off considerably over the next decade, according to a New York Building Congress report released today. The city has proposed spending roughly $8.8 billion on infrastructure construction projects, such as roads, bridges and schools, during fiscal year 2012 and around $8.1 billion the following year. But while the city has planned an aggressive infrastructure spending strategy for the near-term, it’s proposed spending just $47 billion total between 2012 and 2021, a near-halving of current capital investment in public works. TRD [more]

The city’s Department of Buildings handed out fliers Wednesday in Brooklyn detailing the dangers of illegally converted apartments, following the death of an East New York tenant, who was unable to escape his illegal cellar unit during a fire (see flier after the jump).

The DOB, which is also raising awareness of the issue on Twitter, included a list of common traits among illegal apartments in its pamphlet, including padlocks on bedroom doors and electricity supplied by extension cords. Also of concern are cellar apartments and attic units, which often don’t provide enough exits. [more]

Renderings of World Trade Center transit hub (left) and the Barclays Center

A New York Building Congress analysis of data from McGraw-Hill Construction data found that $19.5 billion worth of construction projects started in 2010, a 15 percent increase from 2009, when $16.9 billion in projects began. The 15 percent increase was a direct result of gains in the non-residential buildings sector, which includes offices, hotels, schools, hospitals, transit stations, power plants and other institutional buildings. Construction starts in this sector increased 34 percent to 13 billion, from $9.7 billion in 2009. However, residential construction starts reached just $2.2 billion in 2010, a decline of 14 percent from the previous year and 63 percent from 2008. TRD [more]

While many industries have faced outsourcing in recent years, the New York City construction industry still appears to be home grown, according to a report released today by the New York Building Congress. Seventy-six percent of workers at New York City construction projects live in the five boroughs, according to the report, which is based on the U.S. Census data. Of the total 176,351 construction workers accounted for in the city, 99 percent are male, while the majority of those live in Queens or Brooklyn. TRD [more]

The city’s School Construction Authority appears likely to emerge as one of the biggest real estate winners of the recession, having taken advantage of the lower costs of construction and the large supply of stalled private sector projects to build a record 26 new public school facilities this year. According to the New York Times, the authority is in its second year of an $11.7 billion five-year capital plan and that has catapulted it to the forefront of the construction industry. “All of a sudden, marquee construction firms that would only do projects that were $15 million and above are bidding for SCA jobs,” said Louis Coletti, who heads the Building Trades Employers’ Association. Comments

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A new City Council measure seeks to force slumlords and developers to pay their debts to the city or risk not getting new permits and government contracts allowing them to build. “If they want to build more projects in the city, they should pay up first before they go on and build more,” Council member James Vacca, the bill’s sponsor, told the Daily News. Vacca’s so-called Bad Actors Bill would require developers who apply for new permits to name every investor with a 10 percent stake in the property and certify that none has debts exceeding $25,000 in taxes, water bills, fines or liens for emergency repairs done by the city. [more]

The number of stalled construction sites citywide is continuing to climb, according to a report released today by the New York Building Congress. There were 692 stalled construction projects as of October, the report says, which is based on inspection records from the Department of Buildings. That number is up 52 percent from the number reported during the same time a year earlier. Brooklyn had the most stalled sites, with 319 halted projects recorded, 46 percent of the total number in New York City. [more]

Spending on new construction in New York City has dropped by 23 percent since 2008, and meanwhile, 16,000 industry jobs have been shed, according to a new report and forecast from the New York Building Congress. This year, spending is projected to reach $23.7 billion, a 12 percent drop from 2009, though annual spending is projected to begin an upward trend in the future, rising to $25.8 billion by 2011 and $28.2 billion in 2012, the report says. Still, much of that increase is dependent on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s projects, for which it still needs to secure funding. Government spending is expected to total $14.7 billion this year, down from $15.7 billion last year but still accounting for 62 percent of all New York City construction funds — the highest proportion of government spending since 1996. Spending on the World Trade Center site is expected to account for 25 percent of the $23.8 billion worth of non-residential construction sector spending projected between 2010 and 2012. TRD

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As the demand for new hotels and condominium projects has weakened, New York City’s construction industry — which saw a modest increase in costs this year — is turning to the educational market for new opportunities. “Since the private market has declined so much for the past two years, it means the educational sector has grown as an overall percentage of the total market,” Richard Anderson, president of the New York Building Congress, told the Wall Street Journal. In 2008, the peak year, about $31 billion was spent on all construction activity in the city, $4 billion of which was dedicated to public schools and private institutions, Anderson said. In 2009, education construction accounted for $4.4 billion of the $27 billion in construction activity. So far in 2010, the overall market has decreased to about $25 billion, with about $5 billion being spent on school construction, Anderson estimated. But the future is uncertain for the education market, as government revenues are dwindling and private endowments are shrinking. “Our fear is that educational construction may not continue at the current level,” Anderson said. [WSJ]

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