Real Estate & Construction News Roundup (1/16/24) – Algorithms Affect the Rental Market, Robots Aim to Lower Construction Costs, and Gen Z Struggle to Find Their Own Space
In our latest roundup, New York’s Prompt Payment Act comes into question, vacancy rates rise in commercial office space, the Biden administration applies project labor agreements on certain federal construction projects, and more!
- The Biden administration announced the implementing on an executive order that will require project labor agreements on federal construction projects costing $35 million or more, likely resulting in PLAs being required on a majority of large federal jobs. (Zachary Phillips, Construction Dive)
- Boeing plans to increase quality inspections of its 737 Max 9 aircraft, following a series of manufacturing flaws that have led some airlines to hold off aircraft purchases or go with its European rival, Airbus. (Ken Sweet, AP)
- 31% of Generation Z (generally defined as those born between 1996 and 2012) adults live at home with parents because they can’t afford to buy or rent their own space. (Jessica Dickler, CNBC)
- A number of lawsuits against Texas-based company RealPage are putting increased attention on how algorithms can interact with the rental market. (Adrian Ma, Wailin Wong, Corey Bridges, Kate Concannon, NPR)
- New York’s Prompt Payment Act, which sets the standards that govern private commercial construction contracts exceeding $150,000, was amended last year, causing debate over its intended versus true benefits. (Sebastian Obando, Construction Dive)
- Small-scale developers and custom home builders are using robots to speed up the process, and with more precision, thus lowering the overall construction costs on projects. (Stephanie Cain, Fortune via Yahoo)
- As work-from-home and hybrid-work trends persist, vacancy rates are on the rise as companies reduce the amount of office space they use. (Jason Ma, Business Insider)
