April 2014 - Nevada Contractors Association

CONSTRUCTION
CONNECTION
APRIL 2014
The Voice of Southern Nevada’s Construction Industry
Southern Nevada Launches $700M in Road Jobs
Southern Nevada recently launched $700 million in transportation
projects backed by a fuel tax increase approved last year on a trial basis
from 2014 to 2016. Drivers pay an additional 3¢ per gallon at the pump,
or about a dime a day, in exchange for underwriting 185 road jobs,
including $180 million for building Interstate-11 from U.S. Highway 95
to Hoover Dam Bridge.
State fuel taxes have been fixed at 52¢ per gallon since 1995, leaving less available money for freeway and bridge construction. Indexing,
which ties the gas tax to the rate of inflation, remedies the funding
imbalance while creating up to 9,000 jobs in the Las Vegas valley
where unemployment was 8.5% in March. Clark County has identified
$5 billion in infrastructure needs.
“Fuel revenue indexing is bringing new jobs to our local economy
while improving our roadway network” said county commissioner
Larry Brown who chairs the Regional Transportation Commission.
“We’re not looking for much money from the federal government over
the next few years.”
The Regional Transportation Commission forecasts only $22.4 million a year over the next decade for street and highway projects without fuel tax indexing. In other
words, there would be only enough money to
build either one interchange or one mile of
roadway in each jurisdiction annually.
“The move averts a potential slowdown
in road work as current funds dwindle,” said
AGC/NCA executive director Sean Stewart
who helped lobby for the measure.
Backers hope fuel indexing is successful
enough to merit a 10-year extension once the pilot
program expires on December 31, 2016. The initiative, which began January 1, has led to 19 project
awards thus far, including $12.5 million for bridges at
Fort Apache Road and Durango Drive over the 215
Beltway.
Las Vegas Paving Corp., the general contractor,
held an April 17 groundbreaking ceremony that
simultaneously celebrated the fuel revenue indexing
initiative. The Fort Apache/Durango bridges, the program’s largest contract award to date, complete a
nearly 7-mile stretch of Fort Apache Road between
Cheyenne Avenue and Grand Teton Drive in northwest Las Vegas. Construction is scheduled to finish in
mid-2015.
Associated General Contractors of Las Vegas Nevada Contractors Association 150 N. Durango Dr., Ste. 100, Las Vegas, NV 89145 Tel: (702) 796-9986
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2014 SPONSORS
The Las Vegas chapter of the Associated General Contractors and the Nevada Contractors Association
wish to thank the following companies for their generosity and continued support as 2014 sponsors.
PLATINUM
DIAMOND
GOLD
SILVER
BRONZE
2 Construction Connection
April 2014
Red Rock Resort Casino Undergoes $35M Upgrade
Red Rock Resort is undergoing a $35 million upgrade that
will add four restaurants along the property’s Charleston
Boulevard entrance, including the Zagat-award winning
Mercadito, an Italian restaurant that replaces Terra Rossa, a
Noodle Bar and a new concept dining experience from The Light
Group.
The improvements will create outdoor entrances, patios and
water features that will be linked together by a pedestrian walkway. A new parking section with a public drop off area is being
added off Summerlin Centre Drive for easy access to the forth-
coming $391 million, 1.6-million-square-foot Shops at
Summerlin, which consists of 125 stores and restaurants.
Meanwhile, the 8-year-old Red Rock will update its 26 suites,
which range from 1,500 square feet up to 6,500 square feet in
size. The 25,000-square-foot spa will undergo a complete transformation, while T-bones Chophouse receives a makeover with
new furniture, carpet, drapes and artwork.
Station Casinos’ design and construction department is overseeing the project, which is expected to finish in the fourth quarter of 2014.
MGM Plans $40M ‘Rock in Rio’ Concert Venue
MGM Resorts International is building a $40 million,
80,000-person capacity music concert venue, on 33 acres, at the
southwest corner of Sahara Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard.
The open-air music venue will house the 30th Rock in Rio concert over two weekends in May 2015. There will be over 100
acts on five stages, including specific electronic dance music
and indie stages.
The ground will feature streetscapes
designed to feel like the U.K., Brazil,
and the U.S.A., with geographicallyappropriate food, shopping, and street
art. There are also plans for amusement
rides like a giant roulette table ferris
wheel and a 400-foot zip-line which will
take fans right in front of the main stage.
“We had our engineers design all the
infrastructure, because we have the
experience of world-class outdoor venues,” said Rock in Rio CEO Luis Justo.
April 2014
“It’s all underground cabling, artificial grass, real toilets – it’s a
very premium festival experience.”
The permanent entertainment complex will also be used for
soccer, boxing and food festivals when the Rock in Rio isn’t taking place. Since it was founded 1985, the festival has been held
13 times, in Rio, Madrid and Lisbon.
Construction Connection 3
W.A. Richardson is nearing completion on the $185 million, 11story Cromwell Las Vegas. M.J.
Dean Construction is the primary subcontractor for the 188room property at 3595 Las
Vegas Blvd., South,scheduled to
finish construction on May 21.
The Cromwell Las Vegas Opens
W.A. Richardson is nearing completion on the $185 million,
11-story Cromwell Las Vegas at 3595 Las Vegas Blvd., South.
M.J. Dean Construction is the primary subcontractor. Portions
of the property opened to the public on April 21, although construction is expected to finish until May 21.
The project has converted Bill’s Gamblin Hall & Saloon
into an upscale 188-room boutique hotel, with 723-square-foot
to 2,550-square-foot guest rooms, 19 luxury suites, and a
40,000-square-foot casino. Leo A. Daly – the firm behind
CityCenter’s Vdara – is the project architect. The Crowell additionally features revamped lobby and common area, plus retail
outlets, an ultralounge and a
second-floor
Italian restaurant from TV star chef Giada de Laurentiis.
There is also a 65,000-square-foot rooftop beach and nightclub by Victor Drai. The dual-level space features cabanas,
bungalows and daybeds, as well as three splash pools and bars.
There is also a DJ booth, concert stage and dance floor. The
club’s southwest corner features a cantilevered glass railing
balcony overlooking the Las Vegas Strip.
DC Building Group Constructs Chili’s Restaurant
4 Construction Connection
DC Building Group is constructing a $2.3 million, 8,876-square-foot flagship Chili’s Grill & Bar
inside the Hawaiian Marketplace at 3743 Las Vegas
Blvd., South. Designed by GHA Architecture, the
casual Tex-Mex restaurant will feature a new outdoor balcony and an open tower at the northwest corner of the building. The project is scheduled to finish
in July. Chili’s operates seven branches in the region,
including a location at Las Vegas Premium Outlets.
April 2014
AGC Safe Site Award
February 2014: Burke Construction Group
Burke Construction Group is the
February AGC Safe Site Award winner
for its work on the Temple Sinai, on 4
acres, at 9001 Hillpointe Road in Las
Vegas.
The $5.06 million, 41,478-square-foot
project is upgrading the 16-year-old facility, converting an old religious school to
new administrations offices. Other work
consists of adding a temple, chapel and
social hall, plus new school rooms.
The project, which broke ground in
November, has recorded 14,000 manhours without a lost-time accident,
despite construction challenges that
include exact structural column spacing
for the curved walls and round rooms as
well as working around an operating day
care facility.
Burke’s Travis Schultz is the project
manager, with Bill Purington as superintendent. Construction is scheduled to finish July 31.
PEOPLE
Mandalay Bay Adds Exhibit Space
The 15-year-old 3,309-room Mandalay
Bay Resort and Casino recently announced
plans for a $66 million addition to its convention center. The 43-story tri-wing hotel-
The
Nevada
Contractors
Association and Associated
General Contractors of Las
Vegas named Trista K. Stewart
director of membership services.
She will oversee association
recruitment, retention and group
branding.
6 Construction Connection
casino at 3950 S. Las Vegas Boulevard is
adding 350,000 square feet of exhibit space,
giving it a total of 2 million square feet or the
equivalent of 35 football fields. Mandalay
Bay, as a result, will have
North America’s fifth
biggest convention facility by size. The improvements also include a
divisible 70,000-squarefoot ballroom and more
underground
parking.
Mandalay Bay currently
hosts 13 trade shows
annually. The expansion
will finish in phases
through January 2016. A
contractor has yet to be
named.
April 2014
VIEWPOINT
Margin Tax Could Cripple Construction Industry
By Sean Stewart
The margin tax would also give Nevada the dubious disNevada voters are faced with a critical decision this
November about a margin tax proposal known as Question 3. If tinction of having one of the highest business tax burdens in
passed, it would devastate the already hard hit construction the nation. If passed, we would have the equivalent of an
industry where businesses are struggling to stay afloat following almost 15% corporate income tax, nearly double that of
the worst recession in U.S. history. Even money-losing compa- California. It would shatter Nevada’s already fragile economy.
The margin tax would make it difficult to attract new businessnies would be forced to pay the tax.
es and investment
The misguided,
to Nevada, making
deeply flawed iniit almost impossitiative levies a 2%
ble for existing
tax on businesses
businesses
to
with gross revenue
expand and hire
of more than $1
more people. In
million per year –
fact, Question 3
even if none of
would result in the
that revenue is
loss of nearly
profit.
Unlike
9,000 private secbusiness income
tor jobs by adding
taxes, which are
a $750 million
based on profit,
increased cost for
the margin tax
doing business in
would be levied
the state, accordeven when busiing to analysis pernesses post no
formed by leading
profit or operate at
economist Jeremy
a
loss.
Aguero.
Construction
Tax proponents
would be especialcall it an “educaly susceptible with
tion initiative,” but
narrow operating
the language omits
margins between
any talk about how
1% and 3%.
BROKE
A
margin
tax
would
have
a
devastating
impact
upon
already
hard
hit
contractors
the money would
Proponents of
be used. There is
the initiative claim
the measure’s $1 million gross revenue threshold protects no accountability on how the funds would be allocated. And it
small businesses. Not true. The initiative’s complex calcula- doesn’t provide any assurance that the money would end up in
tion of total revenue puts many smaller businesses over the $1 the classroom where it’s needed most. It additionally handmillion threshold. Furthermore, a business with revenue just cuffs the state Legislature from making any changes to the
$1 over $1 million would be liable for taxes on its entire rev- measure for at least three years.
The margin tax is not only myopic, it’s devastating. It
enue ($1,000,001), not just the $1. There is no exemption for
a business’s first $1 million in revenue, thus creating a “fiscal would derail any economic progress made since recession.
cliff” for business owners where just one additional dollar in The Las Vegas chapter of the Associated General Contractors
revenue would trigger $14,000 in tax liability (based on the and the Nevada Contractors Association are committed to
30% expense deduction). It would also create a compliance defeating this corrosive initiative at all costs. It’s vital to the
nightmare and added administrative expenses. In short, it future of the construction industry and the state of Nevada that
would crush hard working contractors fighting to keep their Question 3 gets defeated. Vote no in November.For more
information, CLICK HERE.
doors open.
7 Construction Connection
April 2014
House of Cards
AGC/NCA held its 2014 House of
Cards Tournament on Saturday, March
8, at the Northwest Career & Technical
Academy in Las Vegas. The events
introduced middle and high school students to construction, architecture and
engineering.
April 2014
Construction Connection 8
Kirkpatrick Fundraiser
AGC and NCA co-hosted a fundraiser to
help re-elect Assembly Speaker Marilyn
Kirkpatrick, District 1, on Thursday,
March 20 inside Panevino Ristorante in
Las Vegas. For more photos, CLICK
HERE.
9 Construction Connection
April 2014
Mix-N-Mingle
AGC/NCA held its quarterly membership mixer on Thursday, March 27, at
Simon Restaurant & Lounge inside
Palms Place. Hosted by Worldwide
Rental Services, the event attracted
150 people who mixed and mingled.
For more photos, CLICK HERE
April 2014
Construction Connection 10