Contractors, BTEA, and BCTC Enact New N.Y.C. Safety Guidelines

In an historic industry move, New York contractors have enacted self-imposed site safety guidelines intended to protect workers and the public.

The 10-point Build Safe NYC program was originally announced at a 2005 safety conference by CEOs of the city’s largest contractors  – Turner Construction, Bovis Lend Lease, Tishman Construction, Skanska USA Building, StructureTone, and Plaza Construction.

The Building Trades Employers’ Association, a New York-based group that represents 1,200 contractors, and the 56 affiliates of the Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York, helped to develop the guidelines. It underwent an extensive year-long review by construction managers and public officials and includes the following guidelines:

• effectively implement the Build Safe NYC safety and health standards on building projects in New York City

• train all project managers and superintendents for implementation of environmental, health, and safety standards

• ensure that all workers on projects receive a Build Safe NYC orientation

• provide assistance and support to subcontractors in preparing project-specific safety and health plans and performing pre-task safety and health planning

• partner with union safety representatives

• create a safety and health advisory committee of industry organizations and agencies

• engage the design community to explore safety and sustainable design ideas

• establish and build a construction skill resource pool for citywide emergency and disaster response needs

• develop, implement, and share best practices with members of the construction community in New York and establish opportunities for participation in Build Safe NYC

Foundation Work Advances on New Mets Park

Construction is advancing on the replacement for Shea Stadium in Queens, with the  planned Citi Field set to become the new home of the New York Mets baseball team.

Construction began last year on the 45,000-seat ballpark, led by a joint venture between Hunt Construction of Indianapolis and Bovis Lend Lease of New York. The work is taking place in the parking lot between Shea and 126th Street in Queens.

The new $600 million home of the Mets, designed by HOK Sport of Kansas City, is expected to open for the 2009 season. The project team has already installed most of the 2,800 piles for the foundation, according to a statement issued by the Mets.

Preconstruction had begun last summer and excavation and foundation work started even as the Mets made their playoff run to the National League Championship Series in October. They lost to the St. Louis Cardinals, the eventual world champions.

The stadium design calls for the playing field to be elevated 5 to 6 ft above the level of the current parking lot, which will add 700 lbs per sq ft to the structure’s total weight. To prevent damage to the weak native soils under the parking lot, the team is using Geofill, a lightweight cellular concrete mix for geotechnical and underground construction from Chicago-based Coast-to-Coast Grouting.

The “open cell” cellular concrete weighs 22 to 25 lbs per cu ft once in place, reducing the total load of the existing field by more than 66%. The new baseball stadium under construction for the New York Yankees in the Bronx will use a similar system to reduce weight.

The Citi Field design includes an exterior façade and entry rotunda inspired by Ebbets Field, the home of the Brooklyn Dodgers until 1957, when that franchise moved to Los Angeles. The façade will include red brick, granite, and cast stone, while the exposed steel around the stadium will be painted a dark blue.

The stadium will be an open-air venue with a natural grass field and “pitcher’s park” playing dimensions. It will have various amenities to improve upon the facilities available at Shea Stadium, such as modern video boards and sound systems, a family entertainment area, extensive access for the disabled, wider seats with more legroom between rows, a greater number of restrooms and concession areas, and more elevators. The seating will be angled toward the infield and positioned lower and closer to the playing field overall. In addition, the interior concourse will allow fans to walk around the entire stadium in a 360-degree corridor.

The stadium’s name results from a 20-year marketing deal signed with Citigroup, a New York-based financial services company. The first step of the partnership will include the commissioning of a statue of Jackie Robinson as well as naming the entry rotunda of Citi Field after him. Robinson, who was black, broke Major League Baseball’s color barrier with the Dodgers in 1947.

Dramatic Overhaul Planned for N.Y.C. Pedestrian Bridges

The New York City Department of Transportation has begun a program to replace 15 pedestrian bridges in the city with more dramatic alternatives that will also meet federal Americans with Disabilities Act requirements.

The plan encompasses several types of diverse bridges, including those over rail lines, parkways, and highways. Some early designs include a visually striking cable-stayed structure.

The agency awarded three separate contracts last fall for architectural, structural engineering, and construction-related services. New York’s Guy Nordenson & Associates received a $3.3 million contract for five bridges; a joint venture of Boston’s Rosales Gottemoeller and Tectonic Engineering of Mountainville, N.Y., will design four bridges for a total of $3.8 million; and McLaren Engineering of West Nyack, N.Y., received a $4.1 million contract for six bridges.

Rutgers Picks Campus Redesign Team

Rutgers University unveiled conceptual plans for the redesign of its College Avenue campus last fall and named the winning team of a design competition. But the university will push out the start of construction in favor of more planning aimed at reworking public spaces.

The team of Enrique Norten of Ten Arquitectos of Mexico City and Ignacio Bunster-Ossa of Wallace, Roberts & Todd Design of Philadelphia won the design competition, which Rutgers held last spring.  But the selection process, which included public forums and surveys throughout the fall, also led the university to reevaluate its overall master plan.

“We heard over and over again from the experts who came to campus that we needed to start with more detailed planning and the transforming of public spaces, and that we should defer building until later on,” university president Richard McCormick says in a statement.

The core element of the long-term plan for the entire New Brunswick-Piscataway campus, which serves 35,000 of the 50,000 students at Rutgers, is converting the area into a more pedestrian-friendly public space and developing a transportation hub. The plan also will create new classrooms and laboratories and modernized housing. The university has committed $15 million to the design of the first phase, which will be raised through private donations and federal grants. 

The winning team was selected based on its record on other projects, according to the university. Norten’s work in New York includes the Queens Master Plan in Long Island City and a stainless steel screen masking a parking structure at Princeton University, a design that won a gold medal from the New Jersey chapter of the American Institute of Architects.

Wallace, Roberts & Todd, a landscape and campus planning firm, has put together master plans for universities in Georgia, California, and Missouri.

Mohegan Sun Ups Ante

The Mohegan Sun casino resort in Uncasville, Conn., is planning a $740 million expansion. Construction is slated to start this summer.

Known as Project Horizon, the expansion of the southeastern Connecticut casino will add more than 1.4 million sq. ft. to the existing facility. The project will include a hotel, music hall, and retail, dining, and gaming areas.

 The architectural team of Wimberly Allison Tong & Goo of Orlando, Fla., and the Rockwell Group of New York, a firm that has worked on previous Mohegan Sun projects, designed the new space. The construction manager will be selected this year.

The new 1,000-room House of Blues hotel will contain 300 themed rooms. Project Horizon will also feature 115,000 sq ft of retail and restaurant space, including a Japanese restaurant, burger bar, quick-serve food outlets, and a recreational lounge. The hotel will open in January 2010, following the retail and restaurant component set to open in fall 2009.

Other aspects of the project include a new 64,000-sq-ft casino adjacent to one of Mohegan Sun’s other casinos, and the expansion of the Asian gaming room in the Casino of the Earth. The new casino will be completed in spring 2008 and the Asian gaming room will be ready for users this summer. 

Atlantic Yards Clears Hurdles

The nearly $4 billion Frank Gehry-designed Atlantic Yards development in Brooklyn late last year gained approval from the Empire State Development Corporation and New York State’s Public Authorities Control Board, inching closer toward reality.

Under the plan, Brooklyn-based Forest City Ratner Cos. will build an 18,000-seat basketball arena to serve as the home for the New Jersey Nets franchise as well as 15 buildings ranging from 184 to 511 ft in height, with the overall plan staying within 7.125 million sq ft. In it its latest version, the development’s size was cut by 8% and the cost lowered $200 million from a prior version announced last year.

The buildings would have 2,250 units of affordable housing, 4,500 residential rental units, and commercial, hotel, and retail space. The plan also calls for more than 8 acres of public open space on the site, which is confined mostly between Dean Street and Flatbush, Vanderbilt, and Atlantic avenues.

New York City and the state have committed $100 million each toward infrastructure improvements and sitework for the project.

In its latest report on the project, the state development corporation outlined the possible use of eminent domain, one of many concerns raised by community groups opposed to the project. According to the agency’s findings, 57 households, or 113 people, remain in occupancy on the “Project Site,” representing about 33% of all residential units, “with no agreement to vacate.”

In response, the development corporation has created a relocation program that will provide or pay for all moving expenses, real estate brokerage services, and a personal relocation consultant. In addition, the corporation will offer $5,000 per household to pay for expenses such as telephone hook-up, as well as “to compensate occupants for the inconvenience of having to move.”

Tax Law Changes Require Additional Planning Strategies

Be prepared to implement changes to get the best tax advantages.

by Jed P. Dallek

There’s nothing more fulfilling than nurturing a business to success. But success doesn’t come overnight, and it’s never simple. You must be in tune not only with the technological, economic, and marketplace changes, but also with the nuances of tax law changes. Here are just a few planning strategies you should consider utilizing in 2007.

Evaluate business structure: Businesses may operate under a variety of structures, ranging from sole proprietorship to C Corporation. Income taxation and owner liability are the main factors that differentiate one from another. Many new businesses lean toward the flow-though taxation of a sole proprietorship, partnership, Limited Liability Company or S Corporation. The C Corporation has lost some of its luster because the maximum federal tax rates are equal to the tax rates for individuals.

Defer income and accelerate deductions: In potentially high-income years, consider deferring some income to later years. A simple example of a deduction that you can accelerate or defer is your state tax deduction for a cash-basis taxpayer. If you make an estimated state tax payment before December 31, you can deduct it in that year. Otherwise, you can wait until the due date of the return and it will be deductible the following year. However, you must watch out for the alternative minimum tax.

Expense when you can: Generally, equipment with a useful life well beyond the taxable year must be capitalized. An exception is the Section 179 expensing election. It allows a current deduction for assets that otherwise would be subject to normal deduction rules. The maximum Section 179 deduction for 2006 is $108,000, and it will be indexed for inflation from 2007 through 2009. With the current rules in place, and the deduction set to decrease in 2009, it may be appropriate to schedule major capital asset purchases in the next few years when the greatest tax benefits may be available.

Maximize depreciation with a cost segregation study: If you have recently purchased or built a building, or are remodeling existing space, make sure you maximize your depreciation deductions. Although real property generally must be depreciated over 27.5 or 39 years using the straight-line method, certain parts of the “building” can qualify for a shorter depreciable life. Certain methods that you can utilize may be able to dramatically increase your current deductions.

Take other depreciation rules into account: Careful planning during the year can help you maximize depreciation deductions in the year of purchase. You generally will want to use the Modified Accelerated Cost Recovery System, also known as MACRS, instead of the straight-line method, in order to get a larger deduction in the early years of an asset’s life.

Claim all business losses: Generally, a net operating loss may be carried back two years to obtain a current tax refund, which can provide a cash infusion in times of loss. Any loss not absorbed in the prior two-year period is then carried forward for up to 20 years. If you prefer, you may choose to waive the carryback and carry the entire loss forward, which may be beneficial if your marginal tax rate in the carryback years is unusually low, or if the alternative minimum tax in prior years makes the carryback less beneficial.

Write off bad debts: Bad business debts are treated as ordinary losses. They can be deducted when they become either partially or wholly worthless. For individuals and certain other entities, the IRS may consider loans made to closely held corporations as non-business related and, if not repaid, reclassify them as non-business bad debts (wholly worthless), which are treated as short-term capital losses.

Manage your inventory for tax savings: You must calculate the dollar amount of inventory you have on hand at year’s end. If your ending inventory value is low and the cost of merchandise sold is higher, your taxable income will be lower. The inventory method you choose can significantly affect your taxable income.

Maximize tax credits: Tax credits reduce your business’s tax liability dollar-for-dollar. Credits that may be available include Empowerment Zone, Research, Work Opportunity, and Welfare-to-Work.

Follow the rules for nonqualified deferred compensation: Nonqualified deferred compensation arrangements are promises to pay executives and key employees sometime in the future for services currently performed. The plans are often geared to the individual and are based on his or her performance or on the company’s performance. Under the Pension Protection Act of 2006, employers with underfunded or terminated single-employer pension plans cannot fund nonqualified deferred compensation plans.

Look into qualified deferred compensation plans: To attract and retain the best employees and manage your tax liability, qualified deferred compensation plans can be useful. They include pension, profit-sharing, and 401(k) plans, as well as Savings Incentive Match Plans for Employees, known as SIMPLEs, Simplified Employee Pensions, 403(b)s, and 457s. You can enjoy a tax deduction for your contributions to employees’ accounts under the plan, and they offer tax-deferred savings benefits for employees.

Provide fringe benefits: Fringe benefits are a crucial part of any compensation package. Some fringe benefits aren’t included in employee income. With these benefits, both the employer and the employee come out ahead: The employer receives a deduction, but the value of the benefit is tax free to the employee. Plus, the business usually avoids payroll taxes on these amounts. Examples of benefits treated in this manner include group-term life insurance up to $50,000, health insurance, and employee discounts. Other types of fringe benefit offerings – subject to various rules and limitations – range from Flexible Spending Accounts to athletic facilities or on-site day care.

Develop a comprehensive succession plan: All business owners should create a strategy to sell their companies or pass them on to their children or other family members. Insurance, maximizing valuation discounts, developing a buy-sell agreement, and determining whether an employee stock ownership plan, known as an ESOP, could work for you are all important factors in developing a successful succession plan.

No matter what challenges come your way in 2007, putting in place creative tax and business strategies can help you maximize your potential deduction and make your business more successful.

Jed Dallek is a certified public accountant and tax partner at Grassi & Co., CPAs of Lake Success, N.Y., and focuses on the construction and real estate industries. His e-mail address is jdallek@grassicpas.com.

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