The news cycle today is filled with financial concerns such as inflation, rising interest rates, layoffs, and banking issues. Despite the headlines, the construction industry is continuing to add new jobs, and contractor backlogs remain strong. That said, the building sector is not without its challenges, with increased construction and finance costs leading that conversation....

On February 6, 2023, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake occurred in southern Turkey near its border with Syria, followed about nine hours later by a magnitude 7.5 earthquake approximately 60 miles to the north of the first one. The impacts of these earthquakes were devastating. The number of fatalities in both countries has risen to approximately 58,000. According to Turkish government...

Many economically distressed students as well as educators looking for teaching jobs feel higher education is entirely out of reach in communities where the cost of housing has skyrocketed and is in limited supply. As more students look to community colleges for a more affordable and flexible early college experience, the need for higher education’s affordable housing has never...

In part one and part two of our design-build series, we explored the history of design-build and its evolution to progressive/collaborative design-build. Now we’ll discuss what owners need to consider when implementing either type of design-build. While we’ve noted that modern design-build has advantages over traditional design-bid-build, there are some inherent disadvantages,...

There are over 12,000 ASTM guidelines that apply to everything from steel to sustainability. With the climate crisis at unprecedented levels, there is greater regulatory pressure to document and disclose climate risk, and the time is now to develop an industry-wide ASTM guide for property resilience assessments (PRA). Marx Okubo is proud to serve on the task committee to define...

Design-build (DB) was initially adopted by healthcare organizations to streamline design and construction, and its subsequent success led to its adoption by governmental/public agencies, higher education, and the K-12 education sector. In the multifamily industry, DB is relatively unknown, but elements of it are utilized for the engineering and installation of mechanical, elect...

Construction isn’t known for being an efficient process. Why? Because building a structure is subject to so many vagaries: weather, labor, logistics, market forces, pandemics, material availability, and a host of other factors that can impact any construction site. It’s no surprise, then, that we're seeing a variety of delivery trends aimed at working around these risk factors...

Marx Okubo has the privilege of working on so many challenging and exciting projects. With dedicated, integrated architectural, engineering and construction (AEC) teams at our local offices around the country, we have the opportunity to help protect and preserve stadiums. These beloved cultural icons add so much value to our communities—and our work. So what do we mean by stadi...

Museums fall into one of Marx Okubo’s specialty asset types: Arts, Culture & Entertainment. Inevitably, these classic monuments come with their own set of challenges. But it’s the creative problem-solving required by such challenges that we look forward to most in our reviews of museum properties. When we assess spaces housing priceless collections, which may include elements o...

_Updated from original publishing on September 17, 2018 Shortly after midnight on June 16, 2015 in Berkeley, California, three men and three women were killed when the balcony they were standing on collapsed. Seven others were injured and, ultimately, a multimillion-dollar lawsuit ensued and was settled by parties involved in the construction and management of the complex. And...

Given today’s changing environmental conditions, hazard screenings are a helpful risk assessment tool for real estate owners. No matter where their building may be in its lifecycle (new construction, existing asset, acquisition, etc.), many of Marx Okubo’s clients complete this initial screening to get a snapshot of hazard vulnerability to evaluate preparedness. But without a b...

With the deadline fast approaching, now is the time to solidify your understanding of how façade ordinances in San Francisco are evolving. Owners should be aware that recent changes will impact all projects involving exterior work. Administered by the San Francisco Department of Building Inspections, Ordinance No. 67-16 became effective on June 5, 2016. The San Francisco façade...

Over the past decade, there’s been a dramatic rise in the use of cross-laminated timber (CLT) to construct warm, natural-looking and sustainable buildings. According to the Woodworks organization, over 1,000 multifamily, commercial and/or institutional projects are in design or construction with this type of multi-layered mass timber. CLT is gaining traction due to its relative...

Modular building is a trend that has ebbed and flowed with new ideas and technology since the 19th century. Recently there has been renewed interest in prefabrication for its modern aesthetic, perceived cost and time savings, and ease of construction. “While some architects have avoided it because of the perception that it would limit what they could do design-wise, others are...

There are some very interesting post-pandemic shifts in the office space market. One significant trend to watch is the impact of niche industries like entertainment, technology, healthcare and biotech/life sciences. The Los Angeles office market, much of Southern California, the Bay Area and Boston, for example, are leaning favorably toward these rising stars to offer what comp...

The Biden administration has outlined an aggressive approach to mitigating climate change, and recently the House Committee on Ways and Means introduced the Growing Renewable Energy and Efficiency Now (GREEN) Act of 2021. But some states and many cities have been or are moving forward with policies to support a carbon neutral approach to buildings. There are 12 states (Californ...