So, Dubai has just announced that it will be building the largest capacity airport in the world at the site of its existing Al Maktoum International Airport. At an expected cost of approximately US$35 billion, the expanded airport is planned to have 400 gates, 5 parallel runways, 5 passenger terminal buildings, and capacity for up to 260 million passengers per year.
To put this into perspective, Atlanta International Airport is currently the world's busiest with nearly 105 million passengers last year. Dubai International Airport -- their other and main airport -- is second with just under 87 million passengers last year. From a physical perspective, though, this new airport is expected to be 5x the size of Dubai International.
On top of this, Dubai is also planning for the area around the airport -- called Dubai South -- to form the basis of a new city for 1 million people.
The scale is mind boggling.
Earlier this month, the new Hudson's tower in Detroit "topped out." Meaning, they laid the last steel beam at the top of building. This, to me, is fantastic news. (Here's the official project website in case you're interested.)
The tower, which was designed by New York-based SHoP Architects, is just over 685 feet tall. This makes it the second tallest building in the state of Michigan, after the Renaissance Center. And when it's complete, it will house 1.5 million square feet of office, retail, food, residential, hotel, and event space.
This week it was also announced that General Motors will be moving its headquarters and its 5,000 downtown employees to this new tower. I don't know who will backfill their old space in the Renaissance Center, but that's a topic for a different day. Today, I think we should be talking about the grit and resilience of Detroit.
This is a city that reached a peak population of approximately 1.85 million people in 1950, had its population decline by more than 65%, and then became the largest city in the US to declare bankruptcy (2013). Now they're building a big ass mixed-use tower in the center of downtown.
👊
So, Dubai has just announced that it will be building the largest capacity airport in the world at the site of its existing Al Maktoum International Airport. At an expected cost of approximately US$35 billion, the expanded airport is planned to have 400 gates, 5 parallel runways, 5 passenger terminal buildings, and capacity for up to 260 million passengers per year.
To put this into perspective, Atlanta International Airport is currently the world's busiest with nearly 105 million passengers last year. Dubai International Airport -- their other and main airport -- is second with just under 87 million passengers last year. From a physical perspective, though, this new airport is expected to be 5x the size of Dubai International.
On top of this, Dubai is also planning for the area around the airport -- called Dubai South -- to form the basis of a new city for 1 million people.
The scale is mind boggling.
Earlier this month, the new Hudson's tower in Detroit "topped out." Meaning, they laid the last steel beam at the top of building. This, to me, is fantastic news. (Here's the official project website in case you're interested.)
The tower, which was designed by New York-based SHoP Architects, is just over 685 feet tall. This makes it the second tallest building in the state of Michigan, after the Renaissance Center. And when it's complete, it will house 1.5 million square feet of office, retail, food, residential, hotel, and event space.
This week it was also announced that General Motors will be moving its headquarters and its 5,000 downtown employees to this new tower. I don't know who will backfill their old space in the Renaissance Center, but that's a topic for a different day. Today, I think we should be talking about the grit and resilience of Detroit.
This is a city that reached a peak population of approximately 1.85 million people in 1950, had its population decline by more than 65%, and then became the largest city in the US to declare bankruptcy (2013). Now they're building a big ass mixed-use tower in the center of downtown.
👊
This morning, I was on site at Parkview Mountain House reviewing construction progress and finalizing some finishes with our contractor. And during that time, he said two things to me that I was frankly happy to hear.
The first is that we are his only client -- ever -- where they didn't need to touch the construction contingency line item. (Knock on wood. We are about 2 months out from completion at this point.) And the second is that he loves working with us because we are also his most decisive client.
Now to be fair, both of these things are easier to do when you're not building your own home, or something else for yourself. The process becomes less emotional and more just about business.
Even still, this is generally the aspiration with all construction projects. As an owner, you want to leave your contingency untouched. You want to minimize changes. And you want to make decisions as fast as humanly possible.
In fact, this is a prime example of the mantra that "any decision is better than no decision." And that's because poor decision making is the kiss of death for construction projects. You need to keep things moving.
I also find that decisions tend to seem more daunting in the moment. When you're staring at 37 different shades of white paint and being asked to pick just one, it can be easy to get analysis paralysis. Is a yellow white with a subtle green undertone really the right one?
But more often than not, when the project is done, you're probably not going to remember the other 36 shades of white you didn't select. Or least that's been my experience. So choosing speed over perfection is typically your safest bet.
This morning, I was on site at Parkview Mountain House reviewing construction progress and finalizing some finishes with our contractor. And during that time, he said two things to me that I was frankly happy to hear.
The first is that we are his only client -- ever -- where they didn't need to touch the construction contingency line item. (Knock on wood. We are about 2 months out from completion at this point.) And the second is that he loves working with us because we are also his most decisive client.
Now to be fair, both of these things are easier to do when you're not building your own home, or something else for yourself. The process becomes less emotional and more just about business.
Even still, this is generally the aspiration with all construction projects. As an owner, you want to leave your contingency untouched. You want to minimize changes. And you want to make decisions as fast as humanly possible.
In fact, this is a prime example of the mantra that "any decision is better than no decision." And that's because poor decision making is the kiss of death for construction projects. You need to keep things moving.
I also find that decisions tend to seem more daunting in the moment. When you're staring at 37 different shades of white paint and being asked to pick just one, it can be easy to get analysis paralysis. Is a yellow white with a subtle green undertone really the right one?
But more often than not, when the project is done, you're probably not going to remember the other 36 shades of white you didn't select. Or least that's been my experience. So choosing speed over perfection is typically your safest bet.
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