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Building professional sports venues is big business for leading contractors.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n A Gilbane-Turner JV is building a stadium for the NFL\u2019s Buffalo Bills, with <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>cost estimates now as high as $1.7 billion<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a>, a sizable increase from the original $1.4 billion projection.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Meanwhile, the Tennessee Titans are <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>planning a $2.1 billion stadium in Nashville<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a>, as the Jacksonville Jaguars embark on the initial stages of a $1 billion renovation at the team\u2019s stadium in Florida. The franchise has tapped St. Louis-based HOK for the design and Indianapolis-based AECOM Hunt and Southfield, Michigan-based Barton Malow as preconstruction manager.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n At the same time, MLB\u2019s Oakland Athletics have proposed a $1.5 billion stadium in Las Vegas pending the team\u2019s move to Nevada, which still needs to be approved by the league, <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a>. And in Milwaukee, legislators have floated the idea of <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>spending $614 million in public funds<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a> to renovate the Brewers\u2019 stadium there.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n While stadium projects that combine private and public money have become increasingly common, they also pose challenges for contractors. For example, Providence, Rhode Island-based Gilbane and New York-based Turner, the JV building the Bills stadium, took heat when initial workforce participation <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>goals for minorities and women fell short<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a>, according to a review by the state of New York.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n The Tampa Bay Rays\u2019 new proposed stadium, which would be part of a larger, $6.5 billion development in <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>St. Petersburg\u2019s Historic Gas Plant district<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a>, also has diversity and inclusion goals. As much as $50 million is earmarked for affordable housing funding, employment and business support, education programs and minority- and women-owned business enterprise hiring commitments.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n But like the A\u2019s venue in Las Vegas, the Rays stadium isn\u2019t a done deal. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>A timeline on the city\u2019s website<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a> said the agreement still needs final approval from the St. Petersburg City Council and the Pinellas County Commission. That approval process is slated to begin this fall.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n