Project Thread/New Construction/Photo du jour/Const. CAMs

[Mr_Bond]

3 minutes ago, BnaBreaker said:

That's definitely a stink bug... those little guys get everywhere!  Iol

The bugs have been hired to wipe water droplets from the camera lens.

[markhollin]

TBT: March 24, 1998, looking west from above Shelby Park.
 

[Sean blackdog]

From Newschannel5. 
Construction hammers on in Middle Tenn. despite COVID-19

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Construction across Middle Tennessee is hammering on despite the COVID-19 outbreak.

According to the Associated General Contractors of Tennessee, CDC hand-washing fliers are posted and extra hand-sanitizing stations are set up at construction sites around the state. 

"Companies have started social distancing their sub-contractors once you close down the walls, so they are maintaining procedures to make sure people are separated on the job site and maintaining that at least 6-foot distance on all projects," executive director Kaylah White said. 

However, workers and unions have expressed concerns that the guidelines are hard to follow since their work is on a deadline. 

Victor White of the local carpenters union is concerned about the vulnerable populations that work in construction. 

"[With the] construction boom, Nashville is a perfect example...they had a severe shortage of not only tradespeople, but also supervision so they brought a lot of people out of retirement to be project managers, to be superintendents and that is the age group that it is very risky if you contract COVID-19," Victor White said. 

The union representative also said thousands of undocumented people work in construction. 

"They're very fearful to get any type of testing related to COVID-19. Reason-being, being undocumented they're fearful of being deported. It affects all of us in the community because these guys are on the jobs everyday co-mingling, interacting with all the other workers and trades and crafts on these projects," he said. 

Both the union and AGC agree completely stopping construction like was done in Boston, would be financially devastating in Nashville. 

The union's recommendation is to cut back on the number of people working at one time. 

"The workers don't even mind taking turns. Two weeks on, two weeks off. Month on, month off. They would be willing to go for that to keep some form of employment," Victor White said.

Edited March 19, 2020 by Sean blackdog

[nashvylle]

Something has to be worked out with the banks, because the developers on the hook to complete the projects on the loan term. If banks give extensions, developers will work with GCs and subs to alternate work schedules. 

[markhollin]

Courtesy of Jeff Schroeder:

 

[Mr_Bond]

On 3/19/2020 at 9:22 AM, nashvylle said:

Something has to be worked out with the banks, because the developers on the hook to complete the projects on the loan term. If banks give extensions, developers will work with GCs and subs to alternate work schedules. 

The banks and the banking system are quite strong.  I would hope they will cooperate with borrowers, with some encouragement from the Fed.

[nashvylle]

10 minutes ago, Mr_Bond said:

The banks and the banking system are quite strong.  I would hope they will cooperate with borrowers, with some encouragement from the Fed.

Banks are not in the  loan to own business, but mezz lenders or predatory lenders are. So with the construction projects that are financed by traditional banks, I agree @Mr_Bond that it's more likely that extensions will be made, but if you have financing from funds that can own and develop any projects on their own, that's a different story. 

[Mr_Bond]

15 minutes ago, nashvylle said:

Banks are not in the  loan to own business, but mezz lenders or predatory lenders are. So with the construction projects that are financed by traditional banks, I agree @Mr_Bond that it's more likely that extensions will be made, but if you have financing from funds that can own and develop any projects on their own, that's a different story. 

It would be interesting to learn more from someone with deep knowledge of real estate lending and development.  To fully understand this aspect, we would need to split the industry by type of developer and lender, like you've started to do here.  There would be a small group that build for their own book, like Buckingham (I think).  To what extent do they rely on bank financing?  They may make that decision on a project-by-project basis.  Other developers may gather funding from a variety of sources so if one backer pulls out they have to find another to replace them, or another backer(s) have to take the available percentage of the project.  Finding replacements for those dropping out may be hard to do right now.

[nashvylle]

1 hour ago, Mr_Bond said:

It would be interesting to learn more from someone with deep knowledge of real estate lending and development.  To fully understand this aspect, we would need to split the industry by type of developer and lender, like you've started to do here.  There would be a small group that build for their own book, like Buckingham (I think).  To what extent do they rely on bank financing?  They may make that decision on a project-by-project basis.  Other developers may gather funding from a variety of sources so if one backer pulls out they have to find another to replace them, or another backer(s) have to take the available percentage of the project.  Finding replacements for those dropping out may be hard to do right now.

my background is real estate lending, then acquisitions, now development. While I am not an expert, the easiest way I think about it is this-

The more leverage (ie financing) you have, the greater the returns.
The more leverage you have, usually the more lenders you have (Senior Debt (banks) / Mezz Debt (funds). 
The more lenders you have, the greater the complexity and the greater the risk in uncertain times.
While the foreclosure process for banks is lengthy and litigious (bc they are foreclosing on the asset itself), mezz debt foreclosure is much much faster (bc they are foreclosing on just the equity of the borrower)
 

If the construction industry stops, and you have a mezz lender, I hope you have a force majeure clause, as this virus certainly is out of the ordinary. 

 

 

[Mr_Bond]

38 minutes ago, nashvylle said:

my background is real estate lending, then acquisitions, now development. While I am not an expert, the easiest way I think about it is this-

The more leverage (ie financing) you have, the greater the returns.
The more leverage you have, usually the more lenders you have (Senior Debt (banks) / Mezz Debt (funds). 
The more lenders you have, the greater the complexity and the greater the risk in uncertain times.
While the foreclosure process for banks is lengthy and litigious (bc they are foreclosing on the asset itself), mezz debt foreclosure is much much faster (bc they are foreclosing on just the equity of the borrower)
 

If the construction industry stops, and you have a mezz lender, I hope you have a force majeure clause, as this virus certainly is out of the ordinary. 

I've heard of force majeure in commodity-related businesses but am not familiar with its use in other industries.

In addition to personal financial planning and portfolio management, I did M&A for three years and started a company that raised VC funding several times.

[markhollin]

[chris holman]

World on pause for now ghost town

[markhollin]

Courtesy of Richard Byington:
 

[chris holman]

[grilled_cheese]

12 hours ago, chris holman said:

World on pause for now ghost town

 

Now is the time to widen the sidewalks and install the mechanical street barriers!

[titanhog]

3 hours ago, grilled_cheese said:

Now is the time to widen the sidewalks and install the mechanical street barriers!

We wake up sometime in April with a new light rail system running all over the metro. 

[markhollin]

Looking north from Division Street Connector:

 

[LA_TN]

Enjoy!!

Batman has almost disappeared 

I feel like I just visited another city

[nashvylle]

wow! 

[titanhog]

1 hour ago, LA_TN said:

Enjoy!!

Batman has almost disappeared 

I feel like I just visited another city

It’s weird how the Hutton looks better and better with every new building constructed near it.

[rolly]

There's way too many cranes in Nashville, thanks to these capitalistic developers! They are visual clutter that distracts from the historical nature of the city.

How do we get them banned?    /s

[FluffyP13]

Something about those photos reminds me of when i lived in LA driving down Wilshire Blvd toward Santa Monica 

[OnePointEast]

21 minutes ago, FluffyP13 said:

Something about those photos reminds me of when i lived in LA driving down Wilshire Blvd toward Santa Monica 

I thought I was the only one.

[donNdonelson2]

Broadwest will have a VERY LA vibe. 

[markhollin]

Courtesy of Brad Pippin: