We're reading the headlines so you don't have to. From projects under construction, federal funding allocations, and employment reports, here's what's buzzing in the building world from the week of December 18 - 22, 2023:

Highway 210 project receives federal funding
The upcoming Highway 210 / Washington reconstruction projects in Brainerd received federal funding. U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith announced on December 11th, the U.S. Department of Transportation awarded $25-million to the project. The money is provided through the department's Multimodal Project Discretionary Grant program, and it will allow the Minnesota Department of Transportation to address safety concerns along the thoroughfare. The project --- estimated around $45-million --- is planned for 2026-2027 and will see the reconstruction of Highway 210 / Washington Street between Baxter Dreive and Pine Shores Road in Brainerd. (12-11-2023 | Brainerd Dispatch)

Catalyst Construction breaks ground on Mayfair Medical Commons
Milwaukee-based developer Irgens announced construction has started for Mayfair Medical Commons, a new 45,823-square-foot medical building in Wauwatosa. The building is part of a larger redevelopment planned for a prime infill site south of the Research Drive entrance into the Milwaukee County Research Park, officials said. The project calls for a two-story, steel frame structure with a flexible interior design. Ample signage will give many users bidding opportunities, less than a mile from the Milwaukee Regional Medical Center and access to Interstates 94 and 43. The Sigma Group provided civil engineering services. (12-12-2023 | Daily Reporter)

Enclave Cos. pitches 200 apartments, day care in Bloomington
Enclave Cos. is proposing to construct a 201-unit apartment building and detached day care in Bloomington. The Fargo, North Dakota-based developer is expected to present plans to the Bloomington Planning Commission next week. The project is proposed for a vacant site located at 6701 West 78th Street, which once housed a Life Time Fitness facility, according to city documents. The property owner is a business entity tied to Chanhassen-based Life Time. (12-15-2023 | Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal)

Minneapolis secures $20M for traffic safety measures
The U.S. Department of Transportation recently awarded the city of Minneapolis $20-million as a part of its "Safe Streets and Roads for All" grant program. The city will put the funds toward its Vision Zero program, which aims to reduce traffic collision deaths to zero by 2027. (12-15-2023 | Finance & Commerce)

The 2021 infrastructure bill put $5B toward and EV-charging network. The first station just opened.
On the western outskirts of Columbus, Ohio, two doors down from a Waffle House, is a truck stop that, as of recently, has the first electric vehicle charging station in the country to be financed in part by the 2021 federal infrastructure law. The Pilot Travel Center at I-70 and U.S. 42 has four charging ports. They are part of a partnership between General Motors and Pilot that the companies say will lead to chargers being installed at 500 Pilot and Flying J locations. (12-16-2023 | Fast Company)

Woodbury authorizes $800k clubhouse renovation at Eagle Valley Golf Course
The Woodbury City Council authorized a contract on December 13th with Minneapolis-based Kraus-Anderson Cos. Inc. to carry out an $800,000 renovation to the clubhouse at Eagle Valley Golf Course. The contract still needs to be signed by Woodbury's mayor and city administrator, which Dan Morris, recreation enterprise manager for the city, said he expected to happen this week. The $810,561 will come from the course's $2.8-million annual budget. (12-16-2023 | Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal)

Affordable housing project in Edina advances with MN Housing funds
Solhelm Companies' plan to bring 89 units of affordable housing to Edina appeared to be stuck in the mud just six months ago, but things are looking up as it's one of the big winners in the latest round of funding announced by Minnesota Funding. The project, known as 5780 Lincoln, will offer homes affordable to households at 50% or less the area's media income. The new apartment building will replace the old Londonderry Office Park at 5780 Lincoln Drive, as previously reported. (12-18-2023 | Finance & Commerce)

Alliant Energy completes 623-acre solar project in Wisconsin
Madison-based Alliant Energy announced the completion of a 99-megawatt solar array in Waushara County. "The completion of this project is a major accomplishment that will deliver safe, reliable, cost-effective energy to our customers for decades," Ben Lipari, assistant vice president of resource development at Alliant, said in a statement. (12-18-2023 | Finance & Commerce)

Convenience store chain making $151M of Wisconsin capital investments
Convenience store chain Kwik Trip plans to invest more than $151-million in an expansion of its Wisconsin operations, state officials announced. The company, according to the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp., intends to: (1) Expand its dairy, commissary and baking facilities in La Cross; (2) Purchase an renovate a commercial office building in Onalaska; and (3) Construct a new satellite distribution center. (12-18-2023  |  The Construction Broadsheet)

Glen Taylor to donate $172-million for Minnesota and Iowa rural development
Glen Taylor, the state's richest man and the current majority owner of the Minnesota Timberwolves/Lynx organization as well as the owner of the Star Tribune, announced that he is donating $172-million to support people in southern Minnesota and rural communities across Minnesota and Iowa. The donation is the first phase of a larger charitable plan to support childhood education, rural community-revitalization, environmental sustainability and the social well-being of families in need and aims to create financial framework to support these and other causes. (12-19-2023 | Minneapolis/St Paul Business Journal)

Kowalski's is headed to Ridgedale Center
Local grocer Kowalski's Markets is heading to Minnetonka's Ridgedale Center. The Woodbury-based grocery store will be located in the 25,600-square-foot space previously occupied by Sears Auto Center. The family-owned and -operated grocery store is set to open sometime in 2025. (12-19-2023 | Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal)

Minnesota DLI alleges 'widespread wage theft' on 19 projects
The Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry said that is has uncovered 'widespread wage theft and unlawful practice' on 19 construction projects throughout Minnesota, including the Viking Lakes mixed-use development in Eagan. As a result of a its investigation, the department said its seeking $2.4-million in back wages and liquidated damages from Property Maintenance & Construction LLC (PMC, also known as Property Maintenance and Construction Inc), and Advantage Construction Inc. (12-19-2023 | Finance & Commerce)

Prudential campus redevelopment clears Met Council hurdle
The Metropolitan Council's Community Development Committee recommended approval of a comprehensive plan amendment for a proposed redevelopment of the former Prudential campus in Plymouth, but the project didn't make the committee's list of sites recommended for environmental cleanup money. The amendment re-guides 75-acres on the site at 13001 County Road 10 from "commercial office" to "mixed use," and accommodates "future redevelopment of the site with a mixture of multifamily housing, retail/commercial uses, and a medical technical business park," according to a committee staff report. (12-19-2023 | Finance & Commerce)

Ex-Viking Tim Baylor buys South Minneapolis Burger King for mixed-use plan
Minneapolis-based JADT Development Group, led by founder and CEO Tim Baylor, plans to develop a mixed-use building at the site of a South Minneapolis Burger King that shuttered during the pandemic. The fast-food joint is now being torn down after the property sold last week for $1.15-million, according to a public real estate filing with the Minnesota Department of Revenue. The public filing notes that the restaurant will be transformed into a new 75-unit apartment building with first-floor commercial space. (12-19-2023 | Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal)

Beacon Interfaith project in Maplewood gets funding boost
Beacon Interfaith, a nonprofit affordable housing developer, announced 40 new units will be built in Maplewood after the group secured state funding for the project. The state funding is a part of the historic one-time $1.3-billion investment signed in by Governor Tim Walz in May. More specifically, the $14.8-million awarded to Beacon Interfaith is a part of $250-million designated for financing affordable multi-family housing, according to a press release from Beacon. The 40 homes will be a community called Gladstone Crossing at 1375 Frost Avenue. Half of the home will be designated for people with incomes that are 30% of the area median income, while the other half will be for people with incomes that are 50% AMI. (12-20-2023 | Finance & Commerce)

Luxury housing project in Inver Grove Heights lands $60-million in financing
Trident Development has closed on financing for a 244-unit luxury residential community that it's planning in Inver Grove Heights, near the Eagan border. JLL Capital Markets announced it worked on behalf of St. Cloud-based developer Trident to secure a $45-million construction load from Grand Forks, North Dakota-based Alerus Financial and $15.14-million in mezzanine financing from Minot, North Dakota-based Centerspace for its apartment and townhome project called Avalon Apartments and Townhomes (12-20-2023 | Minneapolis - St. Paul Business Journal)

Minnesota's 2022 work fatalities similar to 2021
The number of fatal work injuries on Minnesota jobsites in 2022 was roughly unchanged from with the previous year, according to a report released by the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry. DLI, citing information from the U.S. Department of Labor, reported that 81 fatal work-injuries were recorded in Minnesota in 2022, up from 80 in 2021. The state's 2022 fatal-injury rate is 2.8 fatalities per 100,000 full-time-equivalent workers, which is unchanged from the 2021 rate. (12-20-2023 | Finance & Commerce)

New bill would require school districts to follow competitive bidding process
Wisconsin school districts would have to use competitive bidding for construction projects worth $150,000 under a proposal introduced by lawmakers. Assembly Bill 723 would require public school boards to enter the competitive bidding process when constructing new buildings and facilities, according to the bill text. The bill would raise the amount required for local governments to solicit competitive bids for public works projects, instead of awarding them directly, from $25,000 to $50,000. Some highway projects would be excluded. (12-20-2023 | The Daily Reporter)

Wayzata Schools buys Optum subsidiary Solutran's ex-Plymouth headquarters
The Wayzata school district bought the two-story, 32,000-square-foot building, located at 13305 North 12th Avenue for $7.75-million this week, according to a public real estate filing with the Minnesota Department of Revenue. (12-20-2023 | Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal)

Biden's Milwaukee visit highlights Black-owned businesses, lead pipe replacement
President Joe Biden toured a Black-owned plumbing company that's replacing lead pipes, a nationwide initiative that's been supported by his administration with billions of dollars, during his visit to the battleground state of Wisconsin. The trip was designed to spotlight a surge in federal government assistance for Black-owned small businesses during Biden's term and to highlight his administration's efforts to ramp up investment in distressed communities. (12-21-2023 | Finance & Commerce)

Enclave pitches 201-unit apartment in Bloomington
If Enclave Cos. has its way, Bloomington will soon be 201 apartments richer, as the developer plans to build on a lot that has been vacant for 17 years. The building, located at 6701 West 78th Street, would be five stories with 201 units. A detached, 11,000-square-foot day care center would also operate on the property, according to city documents. (12-21-2023 | Finance & Commerce)

Minnesota construction jobs up in November
Minnesota's construction industry added 300 jobs in November and has now seen growth in seven of the past eight months, according to data released by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED). Overall, the state gained 9,500 jobs from October to November, the fifth straight month of growth, DEED said in a press release, adding that it's the largest increase since January and "well higher than the national rate" of job growth. Also in November, Minnesota's labor force decreased by 7,433 workers for a participation rate of 68.3%. The U.S. rate is 62.8%. (12-21-2023 | Finance & Commerce)

Why Minneapolis' 2040 Plan didn't fix housing's 'missing middle'
Cody Fischer became an infill housing developer in Minneapolis in large part because of the Minneapolis 2040 plan. That comprehensive plan, which went into effect in 2020, is heralded in planning circles as one of the biggest reforms to what's consistently identified as a significant barrier to building more housing in America: the elimination of exclusively single-family zoning. (12-21-2023 | Minneapolis - St. Paul Business Journal)

Down year for multi-family but improvement could be near
When asked how he felt the market for apartments and other multi-family real estate fared in 2023, Northmarq's Ted Bickel had two words to describe it: "Choppy and slow." While there are other factors, interest rates are the first thing he points to when looking for a cultprit for the "choppy and slow" environment. (12-22-2023 | Finance & Commerce)

Wisconsin to spend $414M on wastewater, storm infrastructure
Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers, along with the state's Department of Natural Resources, announced that the Badger State would send $414,4-million to 84 municipalities through its Clean Water Fund program. The funding will help municipalities across the state build needed water infrastructure, according to the release. Projects that reduce phosphorus discharges and address aging equipment are included in the awards, with a focus on small and disadvantaged communities. (12-22-2023 | Construction Dive)