Jun 25, 2009
By: Barbra Murray, Contributing Editor

With the country well ensconced in a recession and debilitated by the credit crunch, the clatter of construction equipment on the streets is not an oft-heard sound--unless you are at the site of the United Nations headquarters in New York City. In the face of a global economic meltdown, the international organization has not missed a beat with its $1 billion Capital Master Plan for the sweeping renovation of the 2.6 million-square-foot complex. And now that Skanska USA Building Inc. has kicked off the next phase of the project, the comforting buzz of building activity is not going to stop anytime soon.

Spanning 17 acres in Midtown Manhattan, the U.N. complex consists of six buildings, three of which, including the 39-story Secretariat Building, are over a half-century old. Parsippany, N.J.-based Skanska USA, a division of Sweden-headquartered construction group Skanska AB, was tapped to serve as construction manager for the five-year Capital Master Plan two years ago, and in 2008, the company broke ground on the project, which calls for the comprehensive upgrade of approximately 1.6 million square feet of the property.

Skanska's contract for the second phase of the massive undertaking is valued at $261 million and involves the creation of temporary office facilities, as well as the renovation of the basement in the North Lawn Conference Building and the completion of a temporary conference center. "The most important part of the project is the work on the temporary conference facility, where the General Assembly will move during the renovations," Werner Schmidt, public information officer for the U.N.'s Capital Master Plan, told CPN.

The U.N. is in a class of its own. Rarely, if ever, does news emerge of the unimpeded progress of a billion-dollar remodeling endeavor in the current economic climate. However, the organization is not exactly dependent on the credit market. "The budget for the renovation is being covered by member states of the United Nations, so we're in a lucky situation," Schmidt noted. "Most of the members paid up front, but a few are contributing in five annual installments as the project moves along." Despite the recession and credit crunch having gone global, Schmidt said that to the best of his knowledge, none of the pay-as-you-go members has baked out of monetary commitments. The project remains on track to reach completion in 2013.

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