July/August 2009

    Sponsored by Design Cost Data Magazine and the International Builders Exchange Executives
Recipe for Success
    Creating a state-of-the-art dining facility to satisfy more than 22,000 hungry college students would serve up a challenge for any university. But long before starving scholars began to stretch their dining dollars at Northern Arizona University’s Union Dining Hall, the estimating team of Kinney Construction Services Inc. (KCS) cooked up some careful calculations of its own.
    The 27,283-square-foot expansion project was completed in just 13 months – in time for the start of classes in Fall 2008. And keeping it within the $8.05 million budget proved to be a recipe for success for KCS.
    Design Cost Data™, along the International Builders Exchange Executives and the American Society of Professional Estimators (ASPE), is proud to announce Kinney Construction Services of Flagstaff, Ariz., as the winner of the 2009 Best Project Estimate Challenge, for its work on the North Arizona University (NAU) Union Dining Hall project. 

Best Estimate Challenge Runner Up:
The Westin Book Cadillac Hotel Restoration
    The Westin Book Cadillac Hotel and Condominiums in Detroit, Mich., is a definite contender for the latter. It’s also the runner-up in Design Cost Data™’s Best Project Estimate Challenge for the joint work of Marous Brothers Construction of Willoughby, Ohio, and Jenkins Construction Inc. of Detroit.
    Built in 1924 as a flagship hotel for the “Fifth Avenue of the West,” the Book Cadillac Hotel was a symbol of opulence and prestige. It cost $14 million to build and contained 1,136 guest rooms, making it the tallest building in Detroit and the tallest hotel in the world.
Insights Archive |  Read more

DCD Builder Product Revue
Catch Falling Profits!
Implement a Digital Safety Net
    Technology is revolutionizing the construction industry. While estimators are reaping the benefits of estimating software, project managers have greeted the industry shift with more reluctance than acceptance. All the while, architects, engineers, and general contractors are demanding more and more from project managers in all of their construction endeavors, and adopting speedier, more accurate practices is no longer a matter of choice, but rather, a necessity for staying competitive and squeezing the ever-fading profits out of a cash-strapped market. Aside from the demands of colleagues, project managers are facing the challenges of completing profitable projects. Winning a job in this economy means taking out a sizeable portion of profits even before the actual work begins. It is no wonder that project managers are worried about cost overruns on these budget-breaking projects that are, unfortunately, becoming the norm. With no dependable way to red flag overruns and properly monitor a project’s completion percentage, companies are losing money in even the most practiced types of construction ventures.
Revue Archive |  Read more

DCD Cost Trends
Construction Cost Trends for 2009
    A major component of the industry, housing, continues seek its bottom and is down 30% from last year. Public works projects no longer carry the day and are down 15% since January. The stimulus package is now hitting the engineering and design firms, but will probably not hit the streets until later this year.  There are very few bright segments that could possibly stem the tide, so look for a difficult next six months.  Overall, the construction industry is 10% off of last year’s mark.
Trends Archive | Read more

DCD Cost Guides
The DCD Commercial & Industrial Building Square Foot Cost Guide
    Design Cost Data™ magazine includes a new Square Foot Cost Guide in each issue. These square foot cost guides have been assembled from projects in our database, the DCD Archives online at DCD.COM. These guides are provided to the industry by DCD as a benchmark for future building costs.
DCD Cost Guides Archive | Read more

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