Building the Research and Healthcare Facilities of Tomorrow Without Impacting the Progress of Today
August 16, 2026 —
Jason Tobias - Construction ExecutiveResearch labs run experiments that can’t be paused. Hospitals treat patients around the clock. Yet these same facilities constantly need upgrades—new infrastructure, modernized systems, renovated spaces—to meet the demands of twenty-first century science and medicine. The challenge for construction teams isn’t just building. It’s building without ever turning the lights off.
This unique dynamic creates an environment where construction activities are happening adjacent to sensitive testing and treatment, a complex setting where disruptions can have serious consequences.
Skanska continues to successfully navigate these challenges across multiple sectors, including from occupied lab space at the
North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s (NCDEQ) Reedy Creek Laboratory in Raleigh to hospital corridors alongside staff and patients in various hospital locations across the country.
Reprinted courtesy of
Jason Tobias, Construction Executive, a publication of Associated Builders and Contractors. All rights reserved.
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Real Estate & Construction News Roundup (8/5/26) – Data Centers Reshape Hotel Demand, AI Changes Construction Workflows and Global Tariffs Raise CRE Construction Costs
August 16, 2026 —
Pillsbury's Construction & Real Estate Law Team - Gravel2Gavel Construction & Real Estate Law BlogIn our latest roundup, AI creates new real estate play for VCs, Wall Street sells more rental homes, builders capitalize on flood of water projects and more!
- Data center construction has the potential to be a significant opportunity for extended stay hotels in the near and long term, provided sustainable demand patterns exist within a given market. (Jenna Graber, Hotel Dive)
- Artificial intelligence doesn’t represent an “extinction event” for AEC firms, but it will fundamentally change the way construction pros streamline certain tasks. (Matthew Thibault, Construction Dive)
- With the 21st Century ROAD to Housing now law, there are a number of outstanding questions about implementation and compliance for multifamily pros. (Julie Strupp, Multifamily Dive)
Read the full story...Reprinted courtesy of
Pillsbury's Construction & Real Estate Law Team
A Customized Approach to Data Center Construction
June 29, 2026 —
James P. Bobotek, Arielle L. Murphy & Robert A. James - Gravel2Gavel Construction & Real Estate Law BlogData center construction projects are, to put it mildly, distinct. They differ from traditional construction in a host of manners, and are particularly distinctive because the value of the facility depends on unique measures of performance. A center that cannot meet uptime, cooling, redundancy or connectivity standards will not achieve its mission, whether or not the structure itself meets standard industry contract-form “substantial completion” or “mechanical completion” definitions.
Owners, developers, lenders, operators and hyperscalers—especially hyperscalers!—want it all. They seek favorable and stable pricing, accelerated delivery and sophisticated components, all of which are evolving in “real project time.” Standard construction contract forms deserve extensive modifications to align clauses with expectations, with a heightened focus on systems integration, commissioning, and allocation of special risks. This article details customized considerations for drafting, negotiating and administering data center design and construction agreements.
Reprinted courtesy of
James P. Bobotek, Pillsbury,
Arielle L. Murphy, Pillsbury and
Robert A. James, Pillsbury
Mr. Bobotek may be contacted at james.bobotek@pillsburylaw.com
Ms. Murphy may be contacted at arielle.murphy@pillsburylaw.com
Mr. James may be contacted at rob.james@pillsburylaw.com
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Urban Digital Twins: How Virtual Cities Could Help Build Smarter Cities
August 11, 2026 —
Gravel2Gavel Construction & Real Estate Law BlogTraffic congestion, endless construction, flooded streets and power outages. For city leaders and residents alike, these disruptions are simply part of daily urban life. But an emerging tool, known as the urban digital twin, could help cities anticipate problems before they occur by allowing planners to simulate responses, stress-test infrastructure, and evaluate decisions before implementing them in the real world.
What Is an Urban Digital Twin?
An
urban digital twin is a dynamic, data-driven virtual model of a real city. It uses AI analytics and combines 3D modeling with real-time data and information from sources such as IoT sensors, traffic cameras, satellite feeds, infrastructure databases, utility networks, and environmental data including weather systems and heat maps to create a continuously updated digital representation of the urban environment that mirrors infrastructure, movement and systems in real time. In other words, it is a living digital replica of a city.
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Pillsbury
Applying Jury Verdict Method in Quantifying Damages Due to Defective Specifications
March 31, 2026 —
David Adelstein - Florida Construction Legal UpdatesAn older case deals with three important considerations: (1) defective specifications; (2) whether the defective specifications were misleading or misrepresentative; and (3) applying the jury verdict method in quantifying damages.
In Metric Construction Co., Inc. v. U.S., 80 Fed. Cl. 178 (Fed. Cl. 2008), a contractor was contracted by the federal government to construct a warehouse. There were defects in the structural steel design specifications underlying the standing seam metal roof installed by the contractor and, as a result, the roof system leaked causing damage. The contractor incurred significant costs in repairing the damage, and pursued recovery of these costs against the government. The contractor claimed the structural steel design serving as the framework for the metal roof was defective and misleading and caused the leaks.
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David Adelstein, Kirwin NorrisMr. Adelstein may be contacted at
dma@kirwinnorris.com
Insufficient Notice of Commencement and Construction Lien Rights
August 03, 2026 —
David Adelstein - Florida Construction Legal UpdatesWhen a party is preserving their construction lien rights, the party will look to the recorded Notice of Commencement. This is the recorded document that provides the lienor with the information for purposes of preserving construction lien rights. A Notice to Owner company will typically rely on the Notice of Commencement to serve Notices to Owners from lower tiers not in contract with the owner. However, when it comes to preparing the lien, a lienor should look beyond just the Notice of Commencement and also look to the property appraiser’s website as a backstop.
In a recent case, a window company had the homeowner sign the Notice of Commencement and then filled in the information. The company naturally did this for the convenience of the homeowner that probably was unfamiliar with the Notice of Commencement process. Regardless, information in the Notice of Commencement was inaccurate. It failed to include all the real property owners. Thus, when a payment dispute arose and a construction lien was prepared, it did not identify all of the real property owners. All of the real property owners were added later during the pendency of a lien foreclosure lawsuit. The trial court denied the lien because of the defective / insufficient Notice of Commencement — the lienor assumed the risk of error by filling out the information in the Notice of Commencement. The trial court further denied the lien holding that because the work did not commence within 90 days of the Notice of Commencement, the Notice of Commencement is void.
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David Adelstein, Kirwin NorrisMr. Adelstein may be contacted at
dma@kirwinnorris.com
Federal Bid Protest Standard of Review and Disparate Treatment with Ratings
August 16, 2026 —
David Adelstein - Florida Construction Legal UpdatesA recent decision out of the Federal Claims Court explains the post-award bid protest standard of review.
In Massman Construction Co. v. U.S., 2026 WL 1971985 (Fed.Cl. 2026), a protestor brought a post-award bid protest after the Army Corps of Engineers awarded the contract to another contractor. The protestor argued that the Army Corps (government) acted irrational in its evaluation through disparate treatment. The Court of Federal Claims agreed and remanded for the Army Corps to “either justify this disparity or explain why [awardee’s] lower-priced, but technically inferior proposal provides the best value to the government.” Massman Construction, supra at *1.
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David Adelstein, Kirwin NorrisMr. Adelstein may be contacted at
dma@kirwinnorris.com
Differing Site Conditions Claim Requires a Misrepresentation
May 14, 2026 —
David Adelstein - Florida Construction Legal UpdatesIf you are entertaining a
differing site conditions claim, consider this Third District Court of Appeals case from the mid-90s.
In Hendry Corp. v. Metropolitan Dade County, 648 So.2d 140 (Fla. 3d DCA 1995), a contractor was hired by Dade County to demolish the old Rickenbacker Causeway in Miami. The original 1941 plans of the causeway were made available to contractors. The lowest bidding contractor that was awarded the project based its bid “on its conclusion that the pilings supporting the old bridge were made of concrete.” Hendry, supra at 141. The contractor based this conclusion on the original plans, its visual observation, and experience.
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David Adelstein, Kirwin NorrisMr. Adelstein may be contacted at
dma@kirwinnorris.com
