N.Y.C. Schools Reach Trades Deal

A landmark project labor agreement and memorandum of understanding will guide rehabilitation and renovation projects during New York City's $13.1 billion, five-year school construction program. City and labor officials estimate the PLA will generate $500 million in savings over the next five years.

The agreement between the city's Department of Education and the Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York establishes a 5 percent premium rate for night and off-peak work, on the $4 billion portion of the plan involving rehabilitation and renovation projects. The city prefers to schedule such work on existing buildings after hours to not disrupt school programs, but premium rates under past collective bargaining agreements have varied from 12 percent to 27 percent.

Governing renovation and rehab projects valued at $1 million and up, the PLA covers work rules, holidays, and scheduling. The PLA also increases apprentice participation, with the aim of boosting opportunities for recent high school graduates. In exchange, the city has agreed to have unions that signed the deal supply labor to all of the projects.

The memorandum of understanding sets standards for an expected $1 billion of work on facilities that the education department leases for school space. Contractors must meet the city's school construction prequalification standards, conduct an approved apprenticeship program, and comply with prevailing wage laws. The district acknowledges that past inconsistency on projects to prepare leased space for school use has resulted in delays and substandard quality.

The PLA and memorandum follow a recommendation in November by a court-appointed panel for the city to receive an additional $9.2 billion from the state over the next four years to support capital projects.

New Apartment Complex

In an unusual blending of the 19th and 21st centuries, the restored portion of an historic hospital will anchor a $170 million apartment complex under construction on Roosevelt Island in New York City's East River.

At the center of the 500-unit Octagon Park Apartments will be the Octagon, the surviving eight-sided section of an 1839 hospital building designed by noted architect Alexander Jackson Davis. The building served the city as an asylum and hospital before being abandoned more than fifty years ago. Developed and designed by Becker + Becker of Fairfield, Conn., the two new 13-story wings will be south and west of the Octagon, reflecting the hospital's original layout.

Within the new structure, the Octagon will be restored to resemble its 19th-Century appearance. It will contain offices, a fitness center, and other tenant amenities. Gotham Construction of Manhattan is expected to complete the 500,000-sq.-ft., poured-in-place concrete apartment wings by November 2006.

Development for Atlantic City

Westminster Communities of Florham Park, N.J., expects to start construction late this year on the Landings at Caspian Point, a $175-million residential community at Absecon Inlet in Atlantic City. The developer, a unit of Kushner Companies, plans to build 390 units on a 7.5-acre parcel combining the former sites of the Garwood Mills department store and Captain Starn's Restaurant on New Hampshire Avenue.

Westminster has not yet disclosed the architect or contractor, but the project calls for two mid-rise buildings, waterfront townhomes, 10,000 sq. ft. of retail space, and a 5,000-sq. ft. waterfront restaurant. Completion is scheduled for spring 2007.

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