Headline just read from the AP “Recovery in danger as firms, homebuyers cut back”. The operative work here, “recovery” is beyond inappropriate, and at best, belies significant intellect regarding the current economic malaise.
Who is feeling any sense of recovery?
Real estate offices peddling distressed properties to opportunistic buyers.
Case in point, a new home in my neighborhood that was built and sold in 2007 for $1.4 million slid into foreclosure several months ago. Out of curiosity, I hawked the estate tracking down the details to find it to market only last week for $594,000.
I spoke directly to the listing agent who stated that there were 6 legitimate standing offers before the house even hit the MLS. Now, I rarely believe a single word any real estate agent tells me (other than mine who has been a trusted advisor for over 10 years) but I was able to confirm that there were in fact more than 6 offers.
This niche industry has its own written prophecy to be recognized on an eventual upside; this market will go away one day, but what about right now?
One of the few points in the AP article I agreed with state that “ . . .new home sales fell 12.4 percent in July from a month earlier to a seasonally adjusted annual sales pace of 276,600. That was the slowest pace on records dating back to 1963. Collectively, the past three months have been the worst on record for new home sales.
The weak sales mean fewer jobs in the construction industry, which normally powers economic recoveries. Each new home built creates, on average, the equivalent of three jobs for a year and generates about $90,000 in taxes, according to the National Association of Home Builders.
The two reports are likely to stoke fears that the economy is on the verge of slipping back into a recession.” (emphasis mine)
As I stated in My August 13, 2010 post entitled Forecasting In An Era Of Information Immediacy, in part, the immediate 24/365 news cycle alone will not provide an accurate platform to hedge the market. One must empirically derive signs and signifiers to calculate business positions.
My neighborhood reflects and confirms much of the data from the news wires.
Where new home construction was so abundant - in a fully mature northwest suburb just outside of Chicago - you could not look in any direction in any quadrant without seeing orange fencing, now, only custom, contracted projects appear.
Public servant positions have been eliminated and hiring frozen. The community chest is an empty box. Nearly every million and multi-million property is either for sale, in foreclosure, or tepidly holding out. A heavy surplus of existing homes go unsold and rentable apartments are in short supply as those who would once rent and save to purchase are now just staying put. Retail space is full with few empty spaces, but foot traffic is minimal. Several large office suite complexes are entirely empty – thankfully, they are well maintained as the only indication that all is not well is huge empty parking lots behind the buildings. A large townhouse project started 7 months ago has only one sold unit, the infrastructure of streets/sewers/lights await.
Something Wicked This Way Comes. And laughter will not save us.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Champion Awarded FAA Contract
Champion Environmental Services, Inc. has been awarded a project by the Federal Aviation Administration to perform asbestos abatement at two Wisconsin airports.
Champion has extensive experience with governmental entities having executed contracts with the Department of Energy, Veterans Administration, and General Services Administration.
Champion has extensive experience with governmental entities having executed contracts with the Department of Energy, Veterans Administration, and General Services Administration.
Small Project In Pewaukee, Wisconsin
Champion Environmental Services, Inc. will begin mobilizing a small crew at the former Lakeview Lanes bowling alley in Pewaukee, WI.The 15,000 square foot building is being demolished on behalf of the neighboring parish. The church will use the land to expand facilities. Champion will finish operations in about one week.
Friday, August 13, 2010
Fire Sale 2010
I have often voiced my frustration over companies who are bidding work at below cost. Ill qualified firms who are awarded basement priced contracts in turn cut corners, provide inferior quality/customer service, and at times, illegally dispose of demolition debris – or worse, illegally dispose hazardous materials.
Both public and private entities have little incentive to care when they gawk at the bottom line. Economic ambiguity allows clients to “take advantage” – the advantage often translates into an ethical (cafeteria style) mode of operation as they choose what to be concerned about.
Below is a news item that was placed on my desk by a coworker. I wish those quoted in the article could be more forthright concerning the circumstances. The truth would be a powerful morality pageant or perhaps akin to the musings of Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm – an ominous lesson for those clients who forsake professionals in favor industry bastardization.
Essentially, Champion Environmental Services, Inc. was retained to demolish a building which was environmentally abated by another company. Prior to mobilization, the EPA alerted our company that soil had become contaminated with asbestos. What initially started out as a few skid steer loads of material quickly materialized into a massive undertaking which has yet to be fully resolved.
The article uses the phrase “unauthorized work” to characterize the essence of the hindrance. I would characterize the situation as one of deliberate deception
Keep in mind, at one time, the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale actually designated “idiot” as a definable unit attributable to people.
Again, this article is by Dustin Lemmon of the “Quad- City Times”.
Demolition nears for Moline building
Once the last of the asbestos is removed from Moline’s old nursing school dormitory, it shouldn’t be long before the building is brought down.
But exactly when the asbestos removal will be complete is up to the weather.
Maggie Carson, a spokeswoman for the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, which has been overseeing the asbestos cleanup, said the contractor is scheduled to resume work Monday, but rain could delay the work that is left at the seven-story building on 6th Street, south of 5th Avenue.
Joe Slavens, president of Northwest Bank and Trust, which is responsible for the demolition, said some contaminated soil has to be removed and then the EPA will conduct a soil test to determine if the land meets its standards.
“The problem has been rain in terms of delaying activity,” Slavens said. “You have to have a certain number of dry days. When it rains, you have to wait until it dries.”
Slavens said the bank already has contracted a company for the demolition work and will be ready to go as soon as the EPA agrees the work can proceed.
“The bank has been ready to write checks to the contractor for a month,” he said. “I know people in the neighborhood have been disappointed it hasn’t come down.”
The bank will need a demolition permit from the city, but that is expected to come quickly.
“It will be very quick,” Moline City Administrator Lew Steinbrecher said of securing the permit. “It’s ready to go. We can’t do anything until the EPA releases the building.”
The asbestos removal has been a lengthy process. Slavens said the building already passed an air sample test, which is the usual standard for the EPA’s asbestos testing, but there was some unauthorized work done at the site previously that required the soil tests and a higher standard.
Steinbrecher said the ground needs to be cleared so once the building is brought down, either with a wrecking ball or other construction equipment, the rubble can be left on the bluff.
“If the EPA will clear the building of asbestos, the rubble can be crushed and left on the site with top soil coverage,” he said.
Once the site is cleared, the city will take ownership of the property and seek a developer for a housing development with 80 residential units, Steinbrecher said, adding the homes will not be built on the area where the rubble is left.
Carson would not give an estimate for how much longer the asbestos cleanup will take.
Dustin Lemmon of the “Quad- City Times”
Both public and private entities have little incentive to care when they gawk at the bottom line. Economic ambiguity allows clients to “take advantage” – the advantage often translates into an ethical (cafeteria style) mode of operation as they choose what to be concerned about.
Below is a news item that was placed on my desk by a coworker. I wish those quoted in the article could be more forthright concerning the circumstances. The truth would be a powerful morality pageant or perhaps akin to the musings of Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm – an ominous lesson for those clients who forsake professionals in favor industry bastardization.
Essentially, Champion Environmental Services, Inc. was retained to demolish a building which was environmentally abated by another company. Prior to mobilization, the EPA alerted our company that soil had become contaminated with asbestos. What initially started out as a few skid steer loads of material quickly materialized into a massive undertaking which has yet to be fully resolved.
The article uses the phrase “unauthorized work” to characterize the essence of the hindrance. I would characterize the situation as one of deliberate deception
Keep in mind, at one time, the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale actually designated “idiot” as a definable unit attributable to people.
Again, this article is by Dustin Lemmon of the “Quad- City Times”.
Demolition nears for Moline building
Once the last of the asbestos is removed from Moline’s old nursing school dormitory, it shouldn’t be long before the building is brought down.
But exactly when the asbestos removal will be complete is up to the weather.
Maggie Carson, a spokeswoman for the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, which has been overseeing the asbestos cleanup, said the contractor is scheduled to resume work Monday, but rain could delay the work that is left at the seven-story building on 6th Street, south of 5th Avenue.
Joe Slavens, president of Northwest Bank and Trust, which is responsible for the demolition, said some contaminated soil has to be removed and then the EPA will conduct a soil test to determine if the land meets its standards.
“The problem has been rain in terms of delaying activity,” Slavens said. “You have to have a certain number of dry days. When it rains, you have to wait until it dries.”
Slavens said the bank already has contracted a company for the demolition work and will be ready to go as soon as the EPA agrees the work can proceed.
“The bank has been ready to write checks to the contractor for a month,” he said. “I know people in the neighborhood have been disappointed it hasn’t come down.”
The bank will need a demolition permit from the city, but that is expected to come quickly.
“It will be very quick,” Moline City Administrator Lew Steinbrecher said of securing the permit. “It’s ready to go. We can’t do anything until the EPA releases the building.”
The asbestos removal has been a lengthy process. Slavens said the building already passed an air sample test, which is the usual standard for the EPA’s asbestos testing, but there was some unauthorized work done at the site previously that required the soil tests and a higher standard.
Steinbrecher said the ground needs to be cleared so once the building is brought down, either with a wrecking ball or other construction equipment, the rubble can be left on the bluff.
“If the EPA will clear the building of asbestos, the rubble can be crushed and left on the site with top soil coverage,” he said.
Once the site is cleared, the city will take ownership of the property and seek a developer for a housing development with 80 residential units, Steinbrecher said, adding the homes will not be built on the area where the rubble is left.
Carson would not give an estimate for how much longer the asbestos cleanup will take.
Dustin Lemmon of the “Quad- City Times”
Forecasting In An Era Of Information Immediacy
The Premise
Research, at one time, was an art. In the most pure form, I would point to the work of Professor James Murray, a key architect of the OED (Oxford English Dictionary).
Technology has eroded our ability to critically render appropriate solutions to complex problems.
The base reality of technological deficiency can be traced to the passive nature of discerning information that is spat out in an instant. A key phrase search of “financial forecasting” on Google will yield 6,340,000 results in 0.18 seconds. The only difficulty is to page through endless entries paring for relevance in the content that is sought.
Passivity is the operative word for context – the effort in relying on Internet based research thwarts cognitive exertion while simultaneously influencing/reinforcing the notion of instant gratification. Such fulfillment in turn indurates one’s ability to discern signs and signifiers which will lead to an answer.
I dare anyone to accurately predict local housing outlook in terms of sales, starts, and foreclosures purely based on information derived from a computer. Certainly, the quantity of results will provide a host of analytical statistics and figures allowing you to pound away at lucid metrics. Speed and sheer magnitude of information will provide a false sense of certainty.
The Nexus
Now, I must digress. Yesterday, I received a phone call from a friend who owns a company that provides waste reduction solutions and recycling ideas for contractors and businesses. They are based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin but have clients across the US. The call focused on recommitting our decision to share business leads and just catch up.
I shared how our business was holding up and in turn requested the same from my friend who tepidly revealed that positive cash flow was becoming an issue. This lead to an in-depth debriefing of specific markets she was attempting to pierce along with an ebb/flow charting of trends.
William Chester Minor
Direct sourcing (as defined by me and not in reference to a micro economic trend) provides an active basis to construe value and implication. To accurately recognize local housing trends would require, at a minimum, the following commitment:
1. Drive through the neighborhood in question taking note of for sale signage, construction activity [both public and private], general business activity of restaurants, retail, and food stores, number of people engaged in leisure, service station prices, public works visibility – in other words, a rather scrupulous empirical exercise.
2. Read the local newspaper(s).
3. Call and go into the local banks and speak to the mortgage lenders about rates/activity.
4. Call and go into the local real estate office and inquire about local listings and foreclosure activity.
5. Visit the town hall and get latest village news.
6. Get six months of crime reporting from local police.
Techno-snobs will scoff and state that all of the above could be accomplished from the office employing a few clicks of the mouse.
Herein lies the nub; the physicality of engaging the task requires that an individual contemplate and cerebrally absorb such undertaking. Active intellectual ownership forces one to infer parallels and make connections. An endeavor of such activity necessitates planning, relegating hierarchal importance, and reflective contemplation.
When will demolition and environmental activity pick up? Where do you think one should look for the solution? Go ahead – think! I guarantee our answers will differ.
I will look to the mining industry.
Research, at one time, was an art. In the most pure form, I would point to the work of Professor James Murray, a key architect of the OED (Oxford English Dictionary).
Technology has eroded our ability to critically render appropriate solutions to complex problems.
The base reality of technological deficiency can be traced to the passive nature of discerning information that is spat out in an instant. A key phrase search of “financial forecasting” on Google will yield 6,340,000 results in 0.18 seconds. The only difficulty is to page through endless entries paring for relevance in the content that is sought.
Passivity is the operative word for context – the effort in relying on Internet based research thwarts cognitive exertion while simultaneously influencing/reinforcing the notion of instant gratification. Such fulfillment in turn indurates one’s ability to discern signs and signifiers which will lead to an answer.
I dare anyone to accurately predict local housing outlook in terms of sales, starts, and foreclosures purely based on information derived from a computer. Certainly, the quantity of results will provide a host of analytical statistics and figures allowing you to pound away at lucid metrics. Speed and sheer magnitude of information will provide a false sense of certainty.
The Nexus
Now, I must digress. Yesterday, I received a phone call from a friend who owns a company that provides waste reduction solutions and recycling ideas for contractors and businesses. They are based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin but have clients across the US. The call focused on recommitting our decision to share business leads and just catch up.
I shared how our business was holding up and in turn requested the same from my friend who tepidly revealed that positive cash flow was becoming an issue. This lead to an in-depth debriefing of specific markets she was attempting to pierce along with an ebb/flow charting of trends.
William Chester Minor
Direct sourcing (as defined by me and not in reference to a micro economic trend) provides an active basis to construe value and implication. To accurately recognize local housing trends would require, at a minimum, the following commitment:
1. Drive through the neighborhood in question taking note of for sale signage, construction activity [both public and private], general business activity of restaurants, retail, and food stores, number of people engaged in leisure, service station prices, public works visibility – in other words, a rather scrupulous empirical exercise.
2. Read the local newspaper(s).
3. Call and go into the local banks and speak to the mortgage lenders about rates/activity.
4. Call and go into the local real estate office and inquire about local listings and foreclosure activity.
5. Visit the town hall and get latest village news.
6. Get six months of crime reporting from local police.
Techno-snobs will scoff and state that all of the above could be accomplished from the office employing a few clicks of the mouse.
Herein lies the nub; the physicality of engaging the task requires that an individual contemplate and cerebrally absorb such undertaking. Active intellectual ownership forces one to infer parallels and make connections. An endeavor of such activity necessitates planning, relegating hierarchal importance, and reflective contemplation.
When will demolition and environmental activity pick up? Where do you think one should look for the solution? Go ahead – think! I guarantee our answers will differ.
I will look to the mining industry.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
2010 - Is It Over Yet?
Mark Anthony of “Demolition News” has become an invaluable resource concerning an exhaustive number of issues related to the demolition and environmental industry. His insights span the European landscape then pierce across the Atlantic with empirical precession.
While I have yet to meet Mark Anthony in person, our evolving friendship echoes an epistolary tradition visa via the advantages of technology, namely, the Internet.
A recent article by Anthony entitled, “Comment – How do we keep outsiders out…?” addresses the problematic atmosphere of unqualified contractors creeping into public and private bid opportunities. I have spoken ad nauseam of the safety caveat owners create when they hire incompetent outfits; the greater concern is my inability to clarify why such companies have not collapsed under the current economic mass.
As I stated to Anthony in a recent letter, in part, inept firms are “ . . . invading bid opportunities like rabid roaches”.
The very basic root of economic tenets guiding the winners/losers of a recession has been infected by distemper.
Here is a link to the article written by Mark Anthony.
http://www.demolitionnews.com/2010/07/29/comment-how-do-we-keep-outsiders-out/
While I have yet to meet Mark Anthony in person, our evolving friendship echoes an epistolary tradition visa via the advantages of technology, namely, the Internet.
A recent article by Anthony entitled, “Comment – How do we keep outsiders out…?” addresses the problematic atmosphere of unqualified contractors creeping into public and private bid opportunities. I have spoken ad nauseam of the safety caveat owners create when they hire incompetent outfits; the greater concern is my inability to clarify why such companies have not collapsed under the current economic mass.
As I stated to Anthony in a recent letter, in part, inept firms are “ . . . invading bid opportunities like rabid roaches”.
The very basic root of economic tenets guiding the winners/losers of a recession has been infected by distemper.
Here is a link to the article written by Mark Anthony.
http://www.demolitionnews.com/2010/07/29/comment-how-do-we-keep-outsiders-out/
Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee
Champion Environmental Services, Inc. has been awarded the Westlawn hazardous materials abatement and building demolition project in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
The extensive project will involve the demolition and asbestos abatement of 149 separate multifamily housing units.
The full extent of the project is best illustrated by the photograph below which outlines the boundaries of the initiative.
The extensive project will involve the demolition and asbestos abatement of 149 separate multifamily housing units.
The full extent of the project is best illustrated by the photograph below which outlines the boundaries of the initiative.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Chicago State University
Champion Environmental Services, Inc. will begin mobilizing Friday, August 6, 2010 to begin an emergency asbestos abatement job related to roof damages at the School of Education.
The project will involve full ceiling demolition on the third and fourth floors followed by the removal of asbestos fireproofing on the exposed beams. Approximately 42,000 square feet of ACM will be removed. After the beams are recoated with non-ACM fireproofing, Champion will begin the removal of asbestos 9”X9” floor tile and contaminated black mastic.
Champion Environmental Services, Inc. will facilitate all work at Chicago State University in 20 working days.
The project will involve full ceiling demolition on the third and fourth floors followed by the removal of asbestos fireproofing on the exposed beams. Approximately 42,000 square feet of ACM will be removed. After the beams are recoated with non-ACM fireproofing, Champion will begin the removal of asbestos 9”X9” floor tile and contaminated black mastic.
Champion Environmental Services, Inc. will facilitate all work at Chicago State University in 20 working days.
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