Plan to lure 1,000 Everbank jobs downtown

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

I'm not directly related to this particular project, so I can't answer your riddle as to why they are still pursuing an aggressive schedule....

It's not just this one, it's practically everything that I've looked at over the past 3 months.  Banks to restaurants to churches to residential.

1) Inflated pricing by the general contractor to cover his rear end for items missed in the bid or presumed overtime required, or

As I'm sure you're aware, but I can guarantee you that sub-contractors don't have that priviledge. 

2) Intentional low bids to get the job, assuming they can get their pound of flesh down the road in the form of change orders for omitions they have seen in the drawings during bid and haven't broought to the attention of the architect or owner.

There's always time to do it twice, but never enough to do it right the first time.

In the end, this can make both the designers and contractor look bad.  There is also the possibility that they realize all this and have estimated the increased construction costs are cheaper than what they would have to pay in an extended lease in their current space.

C'mon?  It's never their fault.     (a tad biased?)

[Jason]

IMO, the general contractors are a big part of the reason we have been seeing such tight construction schedules.  They're just as hungry as the subcontractors they feed and are making promises they can't keep in order to stay competitive.

They also "beat up" the subs by shopping around for the best price forcing bid wars amongst the smaller contractors, many of them taking jobs at a loss just to keep the doors open.  They're also placing bids baced on incomplete designs that are sure to change and add cost before the CD's are issued and further deepening the hole they began with.  The GC's can then bully the subs into just about anything they want.

The schedules pretty much always end up slipping and the GC's just blame the subs.  Also, I haven't heard of much private sector work with liquidated damages in the contract, that's primarily government work.

[JaxNative68]

NRW: it is always the designers fault when it comes to omitions in the drawings and the owner can ask the designer to pay for the added costs - and they do frequently. Right now there are many folks out there in the construction world that will do a job a cost or at a loss to keep their doors open and the developers and big GC's know it, and are taking advantage of it. It is the same on the designers side and the developers are pressing the designers as well, by squeezing our fees and time tables for completeing the construction documents.  Unfortunately the developers hold the cards right now on the limited projects that are out there.  Until the economy changes, it won't get much better out there.  Design and Construction are usually the first professions to feel the crunch of the recession, and usually the last to feel the relief of it ending.  Keep your nose to the grind stone - it can only get better from here.

J: the beating up and shopping around is also happening on the design side by the developers.  the limited amount of work in the area allows them to do so.  anything incomplete documents that get bid and in return add costs are liable to change orders by the contractors.  the contractors are compensated, whether or not they let the money trickle down to the subs...
liquidated damages are not only in government work, but have been showing up in contracts less and less these days with the advent of the construction managers that have been getting hired during the design phase of the project to provide cost estimating at different milestones before the drawings hit the street.  Unfortunately the CM roles has slowly shifted to where the stay on as the GC, which allows them to squeeze the subs a little bit more.

[Jason]

^ I hear ya. 

Furthermore, the proliferation of design/build contracts has empowered the GC's even more.  I'm craving a true bid/build contract, the likes of which are few and far between these days.

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

^ I hear ya. 

Furthermore, the proliferation of design/build contracts has empowered the GC's even more.  I'm craving a true bid/build contract, the likes of which are few and far between these days.

Don't you mean build/design?   

[Jason]

^ Of Course.  Please excuse my typo!   

[JaxNative68]

A+W was awarded the job.

[Charles Hunter]

A+W was awarded the job.

Root beer? 

[Noone]

Anything relevant in this thread as it relates to the 302 Everbank employee lay offs?

[duvaldude08]

Anything relevant in this thread as it relates to the 302 Everbank employee lay offs?

Those positions are all in the home lending division. It is due to loan declines, which is something you cant predict or control, especially this housing market.

[brainstormer]

I think corporate welfare has become standard practice and is now just a joke.  Companies are going to hire and layoff people based on demand.  Have there been any studies that show over time there is a net gain in jobs?  2 years after jobs are "created?"  5 years after jobs are "created?"   What is the return on investment for our tax dollars? 

[fsquid]

I think corporate welfare has become standard practice and is now just a joke.  Companies are going to hire and layoff people based on demand.  Have there been any studies that show over time there is a net gain in jobs?  2 years after jobs are "created?"  5 years after jobs are "created?"   What is the return on investment for our tax dollars?

shhhhhh, don't tell everyone

[mtraininjax]

Those positions are all in the home lending division. It is due to loan declines, which is something you cant predict or control, especially this housing market.

Let's tweak that statement just a wee bit. The layoffs are due to a decline in re-fi's, or refinancing of existing mortgages. The layoffs were not for a lack of new mortgage loans. With the low rates, people had been taking advantage of refinancing old debt to a lower rate, when that slows down, no need to keep the people.

Overall loans are healthy in banking right now. And you can actually predict loan growth which is mostly dependent on rates.

[JaxNative68]

EverBank has built out two more floors in EverBank Center, bringing the total up to 11.  That's 1/3 of the tower.